Why I Become a Teacher

Frankly, I never really wanted to become a teacher. The only time I can remember myself wanting to be a teacher was back in the year 1994 when I was 8 years old. The reason was simple: all my teachers back then smelled nice, and wore awesomely nice dresses. I've had a long list of ambitions after that but becoming a teacher never got a place again in the list. I spent most of my years growing up aspiring to be a doctor, because the way I saw it, the best of students become doctors. So that was what I wanted to be, before I grew up and realized that I never really did want to become a doctor. I wanted only to be the best, I wanted to make my parents proud.

I grew up in poverty. Back then, it was something that I was ashamed of. Now, it makes me grateful. Because of the poverty I had to go through, I am now strengthened from within. I learned to be strong-willed and I don't give up easily. I started earning my own pocket money when I was 9 by selling potato chips at school. I would take orders everyday from my friends and when I go home that day I would pack the chips into small packets according to the orders. I earned 10 cents per packet as commission. The next year when I was 10, I moved to another school in a different state. At this school, I sold stationery. For each item sold, I earned 10 cents. When I was 11, I moved back to my previous school. I learned to make some crafts and quickly realized that I could make money out of that. I started taking orders for bead brooches and trinkets. I also made stickers and sold them. The 'business' was quite flourishing  I earned up to RM50 a month selling those in between lessons at school. This continued until I was in Year 6. 

I sat for my UPSR in 1998. My father lost his job the previous year and he was jobless for several months. Money was tight and debts were mounting. He finally started selling fruits at weekly markets. In the same year, my brother who was studying in an MRSM was sitting for his SPM. As the eldest child at home, I had to help my parents. Since both my parents were out working, I had to cook my own lunch when I got home after school. Sometimes I had to cook for the whole family. During holidays, I had to help them at the markets. I had to do these because we were poor. I had no chance to go to paid tuition classes like some of my friends. The only extra classes that I went to were the ones organized by the PIBG because it was cheaper, even though I had to cycle 3 km to school at night, alone. 

I still remember the first day of the UPSR. My father was about to send me to school with our fruit lorry, which was our only transport. That morning, out of the many mornings that could have been, it broke down. The lorry failed to start. I remember the look on my father's face that morning. He was panicking and worried like never before, but alhamdulillah, after some fixing (and some luck, I guess), he managed to get me to school in time for the exam.

16 November 1998, if I remember correctly, was the day the UPSR results was announced. It was a Monday. The GPK 1 was giving her speech in a school assembly when the GB's car drove in. He got out of the car with a brown envelope in his hand. All our eyes were on him and the GPK stopped her speech to give way for the announcement. The GB walked to the front, put on his glasses and opened the envelope. Five of us got 5A's. He announced the names one by one. I had an indescribable feeling when mine was one of the names announced. It felt like a war won, a dream accomplished, a promise fulfilled. My father cried tears of joy that day.

I got to an MRSM the next year. My father had to borrow money from a lot of people to pay for my expenses and fees. My family spent most of the money we had just to send me there. We were really, really poor. In our home back then, we did not have proper rooms and the water we drank and clean ourselves with came from an old well. My parents are kampung folks. In fact, my father only went to school until Year 6. Even so, he taught me whatever he could and my mother always helped me with my homework. I remember my father being a very fierce Mathematics teacher when I was in Year 2. I always cried during his 'lessons'. But apart from having amazing parents who always put education their top priority, I have to say that I owe my success mainly to the teachers who had taught me all those years in SK Pauh, Perlis. Getting straight A's in UPSR is nothing much now, but I see it as a motivation to kickstart further successes in life.

To Cikgu Sharifah Idziah binti Syed Ismail who taught me Bahasa Melayu in Year 1 Kenanga (1993), Year 2 Seroja (1994) and Year 3 Seroja (1995), to Teacher Noryuzaimah binti Mohd Yunus who taught me English when I was in Year 3 Seroja (1995), Year 4 Seroja (1996), Year 5 Seroja (1997) and Year 6 Seroja (1998), you are huge figures in my life. I have had many good teachers in my life, but the two of you are the most influential. I might not realize it back then, but as I grow older and look back to those innocent years, I could have easily strayed away from the right path without your guidance. You were my strength when I was weak. You were my voice when I couldn't say. You were my eyes when I couldn't see. You saw the best there was in me. You lifted me up when I couldn't reach. You gave me faith and believed in me. I'm everything I am because you loved me. 

Thank you for all your hard work, troubles and time spent in nurturing me as a child. Thank you for guiding me with good examples. Thank you for teaching me values. Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for everything. I hope I can teach my students half of the things that both of you had taught me. I hope I can be half of the teachers that both of you are. I hope I can give back to the world what both of you had given me. I hope I can change the lives of others the way you did to mine. You, my teachers, are the reasons why I become a teacher myself.

Year 3 Seroja of 1995

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Pedagogi Anak Kelas Hujung

Written by Zul Fikri Zamir. Original article can be obtained here.

“Kami memang orang miskin. Di mata orang kota kemiskinan itu kesalahan. Lupa mereka, lauk yang mereka makan itu kerja kami,”

- Gadis Pantai, Pramoedya Ananta Toer

BADRI paling awal sekali keluar dari program Projek ‘Bedtime Stories’ malam itu. Tanpa disuruh, tatkala melihat kelibat Kak Jihah, dia terus bangkit dan keluar mencari seliparnya. Diikuti Zarul, mereka adalah di antara 6 orang anak-anak Teach For The Needs (TFTN) yang akan menjalani kelas intensif ‘program membaca’ kendalian sukarelawan TFTN.

Di dalam ruang khas ini, mereka sabar menunggu Kak Jiher mengeluarkan pensel, pemadam dan buku Bacalah Sayang milik mereka. Badri (9 tahun) dan Zarul (7 tahun), sudah menunjukkan peningkatan yang memberansangkan.

Kelas intensif ‘program membaca’ ini, diadakan sebanyak dua kali seminggu iaitu pada malam Selasa dan Rabu. Diupayakan sepenuhnya oleh sukarelawan TFTN, tiga mahasiswa dari UiTM Shah Alam iaitu Kak Husna, Kak Jiher dari MSU serta Abang Afiq dari IPG Kampus Ilmu Khas, Cheras.

Bersempena dengan Kempen #TFTNMembaca 2013, TFTN melancarkan ujian saringan literasi terhadap semua anak-anak TFTN di seluruh negara. Dapatan awal kami menunjukkan jumlah yang membimbangkan untuk jumlah anak-anak berumur 5 hingga 16 tahun yang masih belum boleh membaca.

Untuk setiap rumah anak yatim di bawah kelolaan TFTN, data memperlihatkan anak-anak yang masih belum menguasai kemahiran membaca adalah sekitar 10%.

Musim Peperiksaan

Masalah utama sistem pendidikan konvensional yang kita semua anuti kini adalah apabila kita mengamalkan sistem penilaian seragam untuk semua murid untuk menilai aspek intelek semata-mata. Beberapa minggu yang lalu, peperiksaan UPSR untuk menilai pelajar tahun 6 yang berumur 12 tahun baru sahaja selesai.

Menyambung musim peperiksaan ini adalah peperiksaan PMR pula untuk menguji pelajar tingkatan 3 yang berumur 15 tahun. Menyusul sehingga ke hujung tahun adalah peperiksaan SPM untuk menguji pelajar Tingkatan 5 yang berumur 17 tahun.

Malangnya, untuk anak-anak seperti Badri ataupun Zarul, apakah harapan mereka untuk peperiksaan seperti ini? Apakah anak-anak kelas corot ini, yang mendiami rumah-rumah anak yatim sepanjang tahun serta tidak punya keluarga untuk menyemak kerja rumah mereka, dapat bersaing dengan anak-anak dari kelas lain yang sepanjang malam menghadiri kelas tambahan, menghabiskan berbakul-bakul set soalan tahun lepas serta mengulangkaji melalui siri televisyen Astro Tutor TV?

Anak-anak ini bukan sahaja ketinggalan dari aspek fizikal iaitu sumber kewangan yang terhad, ketiadaan buku latihan, malah lebih menyukarkan mereka ketinggalan dari aspek psikologi dan kasih sayang. Untuk sebahagian besar anak-anak ini, asrama adalah dunia mereka 24 jam 7 hari seminggu.

Di mana Falsafah Pendidikan Negara?

Ketika inilah lahirnya soalan; di manakah Falsafah Pendidikan Negara (FPN) ketika anak-anak seperti Badri dan Zarul di seluruh negara memerlukannya?

Oleh yang demikian ada baiknya kita baca semula Falsafah Pendidikan Negara yang berbunyi;

“Pendidikan di Malaysia adalah satu usaha berterusan ke arah memperkembangankan lagi potensi individu secara menyeluruh dan bersepadu untuk mewujudkan insan yang seimbang dan harmonis dari segi intelek, rohani, emosi, dan jasmani berdasarkan kepada kepercayaan dan kepatuhan kepada Tuhan.  Usaha ini adalah bagi melahirkan rakyat Malaysia yang berilmu, bertanggungjawab dan berkeupayaan mencapai kesejahteraan diri serta memberi sumbangan terhadap keharmonian dan kemakmuran masyarakat dan negara. “ 

Untuk memudahkan kita memahami falsafah ini, secara ringkasnya FPN menggariskan item Jasmani, Emosi, Rohani, Intelek dan Sosial serta meletakkan kayu ukur seimbang  kesemua item tersebut di hujung pendidikan. Bacaan semula falsafah ini amat penting untuk memahami corak pendidikan yang sedang kita jalani kini, hala tuju serta ideologi yang menggerakkan keseluruhan sistem yang menyokong di belakang gerak kerja Kementerian Pelajaran.

Berbeza, falsafah pendidikan negara Jepun menekankan item ‘kejujuran’, falsafah pendidikan Korea Selatan yang pro-Cofucianism menekankan ‘kerja keras’, manakala falsafah pendidikan Finland menekankan ‘pedagogi yang berkesan’ atau ‘pedagogical autonomy’.

Cinta, Cinta dan Cinta

Kisah Badri dan Zarul bukan hanya cebisan dua kisah sahaja. Di seluruh negara, terdapat ribuan rumah-rumah anak yatim yang menempatkan puluhan ribu samada anak yatim atau anak dari keluarga miskin yang nasib mereka di sekolah hanyalah di kelas-kelas corot.

Begitu juga golongan marginal yang lain seperti anak-anak pedalaman di Sabah dan Sarawak serta anak-anak orang asli di penempatan orang asli. Anak-anak ini hadir ke sekolah dengan niat yang suci untuk belajar dan menimba ilmu pengetahuan, tetapi kemudiannya menjadi mangsa kepada sistem. Lebih mencengangkan, jumlah anak-anak ini begitu ramai sekali kerana sistem sedia ada hanya memberi perhatian dan pengiktirafan kepada anak-anak yang cemerlang, bukannya menghargai setiap individu dengan keupayaan mereka.

Ini mengakibatkan dua teres strata wujud dalam keadaan tidak kita sedari. Di satu hujung, wujudnya kelompok dari golongan cemerlang yang dirai dan disukai oleh masyarakat, manakala di satu hujung lagi wujud kelompok dari kelas corot yang dibenci oleh masyarakat. Ketika kita berbangga dengan keputusan anak-anak cemerlang dan memuji-muji mereka dengan pujian seperti rajin dan bijak, kita sergah anak-anak kelas corot dengan makian seperti pemalas dan bodoh.

Hakikatnya, kedua golongan ini bersaing di dalam sebuah sistem yang sama sekali tidak adil dan rata buat mereka. Jelas sekali, yang kita perlukan kini adalah Cinta, Cinta dan Cinta. Jika kita ajarkan anak-anak kita erti Cinta, dan bagaimana kemanusiaan ini dengan Cinta, sudah pasti anak-anak kita kini tidak akan tegar meninggalkan rakan-rakan mereka yang tidak benasib baik terkontang-kanting di kelas corot.

Untuk anak seperti Badri dan Zarul, sekolah kini bukan lagi tempat untuk mengajarkan mereka tentang dunia, tetapi sebuah penjara yang perlu dihadiri setiap hari kerana hukumnya begitu. Jika benar sekolah adalah tempat untuk mengajarkan mereka apa yang benar dan apa yang salah, mengapa anak-anak ini masih kekal di kelas hujung dan corot?

Pedagogi Anak Kelas Hujung

Dalam sejarah pendidikan, satu-satunya pedagogi yang akan diingati kerana memihak kepada kaum tertindas adalah tulisan Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire menegaskan, pelan-pelan pendidikan di akhirnya akan menyumbang kepada penyisihan terhadap golongan marginal dan tertindas ini.

Berbeza sekali dengan konsep pendidikan itu sendiri iaitu pembebasan, sistem dan konsep pendidikan zaman ini tidak membantu masyarakat keluar dari stereotaip golongan ‘penindas dan tertindas’. Melalui tulisannya juga Freire menegaskan pendidikan itu sendiri adalah sebuah tindakan ‘Cinta’, bahawa pendidik haruslah bertindak atas nama ‘Cinta’ serta fokus untuk menyiapkan dunia yang penuh ‘Cinta’.

Lebih ekstrim, Ivan Illich di dalam Deschooling Society menegaskan;

“Most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting. Most people learn best by being “with it,” yet school makes them identify their personal, cognitive growth with elaborate planning and manipulation.”

Illich kemudian membayangkan bahawa manusia belajar lebih banyak daripada pengalaman seharian daripada ketika duduk di sekolah;

“A…major illusion on which the school system rests is that most learning is the result of teaching. Teaching, it is true, may contribute to certain kinds of learning under certain circumstances. But most people acquire most of their knowledge outside school, and in school only insofar as school, in a few rich countries, has become their place of confinement during an increasing part of their lives.

Most learning happens casually, and even most intentional learning is not the result of programmed instruction. Normal children learn their first language casually, although faster if their parents pay attention to them. Most people who learn a second language well do so as a result of odd circumstances and not of sequential teaching. They go to live with their grandparents, they travel, or they fall in love with a foreigner. Fluency in reading is also more often than not a result of such extracurricular activities. Most people who read widely, and with pleasure, merely believe that they learned to do so in school; when challenged, they easily discard this illusion.”

Masa depan bergerak, teknologi semakin pantas dan dunia menjadi semakin kecil, tetapi sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran anak-anak kelas hujung ini masih seperti 30 tahun yang lalu. Sistem nampaknya tidak berubah walaupun iPhone kini menggunakan iOS7. Pelan-pelan pendidikan mahupun pedagogi sedia ada nampaknya tidak mampu membantu anak-anak kelas hujung seperti Badri dan Zarul.

Guru perlu mengajar kerana Cinta anak bangsa dan keinginan untuk melihat mereka berubah dan keluar dari lingkaran kemiskinan, bukan kerana perlu menghabiskan silibus. Anak-anak perlu diajar untuk Cinta  ilmu agar kelak mereka mampu mengubah diri dan keluarga mereka. Negara perlu membaca semula falsafah pendidikan nasional agar nasib anak-anak seperti Badri dan Zarul tidak tersisih seperti mana mereka di dalam sistem sedia ada.

Berhadapan dengan kerumitan sistem yang tidak stabil, politiko-sosio yang kecamuk dan krisis identiti nasional yang mendalam seperti hari ini, hanya ada satu pilihan di tangan kita iaitu dengan meletakkan Cinta di hadapan sebagai falsafah dan pedagogi – terutamanya untuk anak-anak kelas hujung.

Lebih besar tanggungjawab kita pada hari ini adalah untuk memahamkan anak-anak kelas hujung; mengapa sekolah perlu untuk mereka – serta bagaimana sekolah berfungsi sebagai alat pendidikan untuk membantu mereka menjadi manusia pada masa depan.

“The pupil is thereby ‘schooled’ to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. His imagination is ‘schooled’ to accept service in place of value.”

- Ivan Illich

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Losing Big on Small Mistakes

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Are You An Asset or A Liability?

There are two types of people walking around on planet earth today. Just two. There are givers and there are takers. You know what I mean. The question is – which one are you?

Time for a Change?

The other day on twitter I picked up this quote from Dr Tayo Adeyemi in the UK – it really caught my eye:

You are either a blessing or a burden; an asset or a liability; a problem solver or a problem. Your choice!

And that got me thinking through all the people I know. It was really easy to categorise them either on one side of that ledger or the other. I’m imagining you’d be able to do the same.

So then, I began to imagine a world in which more of us became assets rather than liabilities. In fact – call me crazy – imagine a world where everyone is an asset and no one is a liability. Just imagine how different this world would be.

Of course, you and I can’t change every one of the 7+ billion people on the planet. But there is one person we can change. Ourselves!

On Balance – Which One Are You?

I wonder if you consider yourself for a moment, on balance – are you a blessing or a burden to the people around you. An asset or a liability. A problem solver … or a problem?  

The Apostle Paul, sitting on death row in a Roman dungeon, wrote this to his friends in Philippi:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. (Phil 2:3,4)

It’s an exhortation to be a blessing instead of a burden.

Imagine a land locked sea like the Dead Sea for instance, where all the rivers flow in, but none of them flow out. The only way the water gets out is through evaporation by the heat of the sun. And the reason it’s called the Dead Sea is because there’s so much salt in it that nothing can live in it’s water.

Our selfishness is like the Dead Sea. We want everything to flow inward towards us – we want others to be a blessing to us, we want circumstances to favour us, we want, we want, we want …

It’s all about the direction of the flow of the blessing. Many a man’s life, many a woman’s life (writes  S.D Gordon) is just like the circumference of that Dead Sea. When everything flows inwards … it’s dead. And by experience you and I know that that’s true. 

A Transformed Life – From Liability to Asset

Paul addresses both sides of this equation in that short passage we just read.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but instead … look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

In other words stop living your life trying to be blessed all the time, and start blessing others. Turn the direction of the flow from inwards, to outwards.

Be a blessing instead of a burden; an asset instead of a liability; a problem solver instead of a problem. It’s about a complete, fundamental, 180 degree change in direction from inward, to outward. 

So, you are either a blessing or a burden; an asset or a liability; a problem solver or a problem.

Your choice!

By: Berni Dymet

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Some Smiles Can Break Hearts

This is Amira, a 9 year-old girl who couldn't read or write. On the first day of school this year, this girl had almost succeeded in shattering down my fortress of patience with her naivety. She asks the silliest of questions and always at the wrong time - when I had just finished explaining the very answer to the question. But I put up with her, I know she couldn't read, so she is probably a bit slow. I know that it's a good thing that despite her disability, she still wants to learn. Most kids like her just give up trying. Even though she couldn't read, she would do all the homework that I gave and would be the first to tell me that she has finished it. I know that there is something different about this kid.,but what I did not know then was that, it was Amira's first day of school, ever. She did not go to school until she is 9. That explains why she can't read or write. 

It has been years since Amira last saw her father. He abandoned the family and left Amira's mother to support their seven children. When I asked about him, her voice was shaken a little when she answered, "Kite dah lame tak jumpe ayah kite. Tak tahu ayah pegi mane." (I have not seen my father for a long time. Don't know where he went.) I never ask again, but sometimes she would tell me stories of how her father used to buy her ice-creams. She misses him.

I took pity on this little girl's fate. So, one day I asked her. "Amira, nak tak belajar baca?" (Amira, do you want to learn how to read?). "Nak!" (Yes, I want to), she said eagerly. So that day I made a promise to myself that no matter how insanely busy I get, I will spend some time to teach this girl something. Starting from the next day, I spent every afternoon after school teaching Amira how to read and write.

One day, while she was doing one of the exercises I gave her, Amira asked me, "Teacher, boleh tak ajar kite solat? Kite tak tahu solat. Ustazah tanya, tapi kite tak tahu." (Teacher, can you teach me how to perform solat? I don't know how to. My ustazah asked, but I don't know.) I was surprised by this. So I asked her back, "Ibu tak ajar solat ke?" (Didn't your mother teach you how to perform solat?) to which she shook her head. I didn't know what to say, so I told her "Nanti balik, mintak la ibu ajar." (When you go back home, ask your mother to teach you.) and she nodded.

After my Master's classes started, I could only spend a few hours after school every Friday to teach her how to read and write. She looks forward to this and would wait in the staffroom until I finish my class. Sometimes she would fall asleep on the sofa out of tiredness, but she still wants to learn. One day, Amira came to me with her finger bleeding and her school uniform stained with blood. I took a look at the injury and asked what happened. She told me her fingers had been very itchy, so she scratched them. It looked like scabies, so I asked her,"Dah pegi klinik ke?" (Have you been to a clinic?). She shook her head. "Ibu kerja. Ibu takde masa." (Mother is working. She doesn't have time). "Takpe, lepas ni teacher bawak jumpa doktor, nak?" (It's okay, I will bring you to see a doctor after this.). I was cursing the mother in my heart. How could she let her child suffer like this and say she doesn't have time? If something/somebody is important to you, you will make time for it/him/her. I was being judgmental. So I took her to a clinic to see a doctor. It was scabies. The doctor gave her some medications and I SMSed the instructions to her mother. So since then, once every few weeks, I took her to the clinic to get the meds. Altogether, I have paid more than RM150 for this, but I'm glad I did because her scabies has disappeared and she is no longer suffering.

I've been teaching Amira for half a year already and I see progress in her. She can read now, but slowly. Today she told me she got bored staying at home for 2 weeks during the school break. She didn't have any homework to do. So I gave her a book to practice reading in her free times. She said coming to school is far more fun. She wants to learn. She wants to be able to read and write. I was so happy to hear this and after our lesson, I took her to lunch at a KFC. She was very happy. In fact she finished the whole meal. I bought another for her 11-year old brother because I know he too has not eaten anything much since morning. When I sent Amira back home, her brother came running from their 4th floor flat house just to say "Thank you".

They were smiling to their ears and it breaks my heart, somehow.

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27 Acts of Kindness

I have always wanted to do this. This year, I will make it happen. 27 acts of kindness within 2 months before I turn 27 on 10 August 2013. 

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2013 MELTA-Smart Kids Way with Words Competition

Never underestimate the power of confidence. It will make you or break you.

Honestly, when I registered my students for the 2013 MELTA-Smart Kids Way with Words competition, my only goals were that this competition would give them experience, expose them to a new way of seeing English, give them a chance to compete with other schools in an English competition and above all, let them have fun while learning English. I never expected they would win a prize, considering the other schools who was participating were mostly 'elite' urban schools and convent schools. They are clearly out of our league. Obviously, I have underestimated my own students. They had no idea who they were competing with and to them, those kids were just kids like them and like any other kids, they can beat them. And guess what, they did. Against all odds, my Year 4 students won the second prize. I couldn't be any prouder, considering that all the other teams were mostly Year 6 students from elite schools. Such an amazing feat that was. The organizer even asked how old are my students, and when I told her 10, even she was shocked.

Anyway, huge congratulations to Irfan Syafiq, Zareq Iskandar and Muhammad Zulfikry for winning the second prize in the competition. Congratulations as well to 'Adlin Nabila, Amirul Zarfan and Muhammad Nasrul Hakim for qualifying into the final round. Not to forget Nur Filzah Naqiyah, Nurilya Natasya and Nurin Irdina for the spirit they showed in the competition. You guys are all champions to me.

My students (youngest kids on the right) with their prize. First prize went to SK Sri Tebrau (middle) and third prize won by SK Infant Jesus Convent (left).

All the three teams from SK Kopok.

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