So it's already the end of November, and the second time I write in my blog.
Things haven't really changed since last I wrote here, except that I'm feeling like I've got a better grip on the situation, and that I've established that the best thing ever is being a teacher.
Seriously.
I originally thought I'd write this blog in order to whine and spew my distaste for our educational system all over you guys, but the longer I work "as a teacher" (frankly, I spend most of my time surfing the net, I only hold a few classes every week), the more I feel like this is where I belong.
For one thing, it's the kick you get when a student actually tells you that the class was interesting, or that they learned something.
And I don't mean tell you openly, because lord knows students are good at faking interest, I've done it so many times.
No, I mean, when you show them something, and the response you get when it's over is "When do we see the next episode?" or "Is there more of this?" Or when you ask them to write what they like and don't like about Sweden, and they express a deep satisfaction that they've got people who care for them even when they themselves sometimes lose interest.
This is very rewarding. But you really need to keep an open mind, and accept that these people will most likely try to lie to you every now and then to get out of doing a task, or something like it.
But don't we all? I don't consider myself a professional in any way, I'm way to inexperienced, but you can tell when you meet a teacher who is, or is going to be, bad.
We have a few in my class (my Uni class, I mean. Sometimes I forget I'm still studying :P) that just give off... bad vibes. I don't know what it is, but I dread seeing these people as teachers. Some are so insecure in themselves they get teary-eyed whenever their thoughts and opinions are questioned, others are pig-headed and stubborn to the point of thumping their heads bloody against the wall. Still others look at students like some kind of... annoying pest that ask stupid questions and can't leave well enough alone.
Students are human beings, and those we have especially are in a very vulnerable situation. They're teenagers, and have just been tossed out from a public school system that promote, more often than not, teacher-led work with zero-to-no initiative from the students themselves. Grades 1-9 are suffocating, and when they come to our schools, they have no idea how to take responsibility and work on their own.
We don't have homework, but we expect them to use the time in school efficiently to compensate.
This was a problem 8 years ago when I started the Gymnasium, and it's still a problem today. Personally, I can't really put a finger on the problem, but I think a large factor might actually be that municipalities in Sweden these days are responsible for budgetting their own schools, and the appointment of principles. Increased work-load, reduced wages and long days too add to the inefficiency of the teaching staff, in a kind of evil spiral that threatens our entire educational system.
Personally, I just find the idea that a school should be earning a profit horrible. School's shouldn't earn a cent, they should be a money-sink, because it is the foundation upon which the rest of society rests on. In Sweden, this is no longer the view of our government, and I fear we're on a slippery slope now.
