time for me to complain about work
There are a million problems that I have at work right now, but I'm not going to tell you about the big, important issues because it would probably into some profound novel. And I'm too lazy to write a profound novel.
Anyways there are a lot of cultural differences that I'm finding hard to accept. I know I should be culturally sensitive, and I did choose to work here. But sometimes these "differences" in thought bother me so much and I just want to flip out and say to the other person, "are you taking crazy pills?"!!! Yes, that's precisely what I would like to say.
Here is a list of recent annoyances:
1) Today I found out that a child in the older group (not my group) was being forced by her parents to write with her right hand. The parents just told the teachers today that they must not allow her to write with her left hand. Mind you, she is 5 years old and has always written with her left hand and is clearly a natural lefty. I know that this happened not so long ago in Russia, but I thought that the youngest generation would be more open-minded. Some of the most brilliant people in the world were/are left-handed. Including yours truely =). There is nothing wrong with being a lefty. We are not diabled in any way and we can do anything that righties can do...maybe even better. Why even bother forcing this on a child. What concerns me is that she is/was the only lefty in my school so I wonder who else has had this forced upon them. And now I have nobody left to represent with me.
2) Boys will be boys. I've had a problem with this phrase for awhile now and i've really seen this psychology in action here in Russia. Boys are allowed to be rude and aggresive as children and therefore turn into the "quality" men we can find here in Russia. To all male Russians: some of you are awesome! I'm not talking about everyone. But in school I see way too much violence and a total double standard. I made a list of rules when I first started teaching here. Of course, one was "no hitting or fighting". The older boys seemed surprised and started to ask me all these "what if" questions, as if they have never heard this before. There is no what if. In school there is no reason to fight. If there is a problem, a teacher is always nearby. You can wrestle with your friends/brothers at home, but don't play like that at school! Of course, eveyrone is still constantly hitting each other. Sadly, it won't be easy to break them out of this habit.
p.s. There are reletively few biological differences between boys and girls at this preschool age! I don't care what you say, anyone who has studied early childhood development knows this.
3) At the last parent-teacher conference, one father told me that his daughter is a genious because she is a product of two civilizations, Indian and Russian. Uh...that's call RACISM. And if that's true, it just proves how superior Americans are because most of us are total mutts. Of course, I'm joking. But he wasn't.
And this leads me to the general annoyance I have with parents who push their kids to do way more than is developmentally age-appropriate. I'm supposed to give this one 4-year old homework every day, including 10 worksheets each weekend. What the heck! If you want your kid to do stuff at home, why don't you engage him in activities yourself. I don't have time to organize stuff just for him. I will continue to give him a normal amount of homework like everyone else because I am not being paid for private lessons. And I hate giving "busy work" type of homework to 3 and 4 year olds.
4) This also leads to my annoyance with parents who want me to magically "fix" their children as if I'm a wizzard. Russian parents are even worse than American parents when it comes to accepting their children for who they are. I suspect that many of my children have problems that are beyond simple behavioral issues. I love them nonetheless. But I have tried every technique in the book with them, and they will not and cannot at this point behave like they should for their age. I think it's ok, and that I can work around it. But they don't want me to work around it, they want me to fix their children. They want their children to "be like everyone else". Of course, we all do. But guess what. We are all different, and developmental delays/disabilites are fairly prevelant in school. Again, deal with it. And love him/her for who he/she is!!!
5) The older group, with children who average 6-years old, was told by the head teacher and director that they should start division. Enough said. Yes, they can repeat sums, but does this mean they understand concepts? All repetition and memorization. Little real understanding of concepts.
6) Class differences. My assistants make about $350 a month and work ten hour days. I am a "teacher" and therefore priviledged. I should not be expected to complete such lowly tasks as making copies or serving my own lunch because it "looks bad" when parents come to tour the school. The assistants/nurse must do this kind of work. I'm not used to being served like this, nor do I want to get used to it. Sometimes it's just easier to make my own damn copies when I have something particular in mind. Then again, I can be a control freak.
And I don't want to get into our watchdog nurse who stares at us during our lunch breaks and won't let us get near the catered food. I mean, everyone I work with is sweet. I just wonder what generation i'm living. Oh, and by the way, pizza is officially considered the evil of all evils at my school. The nurse went off on me about it one time. But giving children hard candy to run around with in their mouths everyday is ok. Huh?
I think I'll leave it at that. I'm sure I could add another twenty points, but i'll give you a break from my pessimism.
*Amy*
Anyways there are a lot of cultural differences that I'm finding hard to accept. I know I should be culturally sensitive, and I did choose to work here. But sometimes these "differences" in thought bother me so much and I just want to flip out and say to the other person, "are you taking crazy pills?"!!! Yes, that's precisely what I would like to say.
Here is a list of recent annoyances:
1) Today I found out that a child in the older group (not my group) was being forced by her parents to write with her right hand. The parents just told the teachers today that they must not allow her to write with her left hand. Mind you, she is 5 years old and has always written with her left hand and is clearly a natural lefty. I know that this happened not so long ago in Russia, but I thought that the youngest generation would be more open-minded. Some of the most brilliant people in the world were/are left-handed. Including yours truely =). There is nothing wrong with being a lefty. We are not diabled in any way and we can do anything that righties can do...maybe even better. Why even bother forcing this on a child. What concerns me is that she is/was the only lefty in my school so I wonder who else has had this forced upon them. And now I have nobody left to represent with me.
2) Boys will be boys. I've had a problem with this phrase for awhile now and i've really seen this psychology in action here in Russia. Boys are allowed to be rude and aggresive as children and therefore turn into the "quality" men we can find here in Russia. To all male Russians: some of you are awesome! I'm not talking about everyone. But in school I see way too much violence and a total double standard. I made a list of rules when I first started teaching here. Of course, one was "no hitting or fighting". The older boys seemed surprised and started to ask me all these "what if" questions, as if they have never heard this before. There is no what if. In school there is no reason to fight. If there is a problem, a teacher is always nearby. You can wrestle with your friends/brothers at home, but don't play like that at school! Of course, eveyrone is still constantly hitting each other. Sadly, it won't be easy to break them out of this habit.
p.s. There are reletively few biological differences between boys and girls at this preschool age! I don't care what you say, anyone who has studied early childhood development knows this.
3) At the last parent-teacher conference, one father told me that his daughter is a genious because she is a product of two civilizations, Indian and Russian. Uh...that's call RACISM. And if that's true, it just proves how superior Americans are because most of us are total mutts. Of course, I'm joking. But he wasn't.
And this leads me to the general annoyance I have with parents who push their kids to do way more than is developmentally age-appropriate. I'm supposed to give this one 4-year old homework every day, including 10 worksheets each weekend. What the heck! If you want your kid to do stuff at home, why don't you engage him in activities yourself. I don't have time to organize stuff just for him. I will continue to give him a normal amount of homework like everyone else because I am not being paid for private lessons. And I hate giving "busy work" type of homework to 3 and 4 year olds.
4) This also leads to my annoyance with parents who want me to magically "fix" their children as if I'm a wizzard. Russian parents are even worse than American parents when it comes to accepting their children for who they are. I suspect that many of my children have problems that are beyond simple behavioral issues. I love them nonetheless. But I have tried every technique in the book with them, and they will not and cannot at this point behave like they should for their age. I think it's ok, and that I can work around it. But they don't want me to work around it, they want me to fix their children. They want their children to "be like everyone else". Of course, we all do. But guess what. We are all different, and developmental delays/disabilites are fairly prevelant in school. Again, deal with it. And love him/her for who he/she is!!!
5) The older group, with children who average 6-years old, was told by the head teacher and director that they should start division. Enough said. Yes, they can repeat sums, but does this mean they understand concepts? All repetition and memorization. Little real understanding of concepts.
6) Class differences. My assistants make about $350 a month and work ten hour days. I am a "teacher" and therefore priviledged. I should not be expected to complete such lowly tasks as making copies or serving my own lunch because it "looks bad" when parents come to tour the school. The assistants/nurse must do this kind of work. I'm not used to being served like this, nor do I want to get used to it. Sometimes it's just easier to make my own damn copies when I have something particular in mind. Then again, I can be a control freak.
And I don't want to get into our watchdog nurse who stares at us during our lunch breaks and won't let us get near the catered food. I mean, everyone I work with is sweet. I just wonder what generation i'm living. Oh, and by the way, pizza is officially considered the evil of all evils at my school. The nurse went off on me about it one time. But giving children hard candy to run around with in their mouths everyday is ok. Huh?
I think I'll leave it at that. I'm sure I could add another twenty points, but i'll give you a break from my pessimism.
*Amy*