Teach for Malaysia

While I was browsing HuffingtonPost this morning, this headline caught my eyes: Depression at Work: 10 Careers with High Rates of Depression. My immediate thought was; teaching has got to be one of them! And sure enough, teachers appeared at number 6 with this description:

The demands on teachers seem to be constantly growing. Many work after school and then take work home.
In many areas, they learn to do a lot with a little.
"There are pressures from many different audiences -- the kids, their parents, and the schools trying to meet standards, all (of which) have different demands," Willard says. "This can make it difficult for teachers to do their thing and remember the reason they got started in the field.”

Hardly the stuff you want to read with only a day left before school reopens...

Later that day however, my sister told me about the Teach For Malaysia programme. I looked it up on the internet as soon as I reached home.

In a nutshell, the programme aims to enlist university graduates to teach in high-need areas in Malaysia for 2 years.

Teach For Malaysia is part of the Teach For All network which has chapters in 16 countries all over the world.

My mood was lifted after perusing the sites. They made me remember why I had chosen to teach in the first place. Like all potential Teach-For-Malaysia recruits, I had the same lofty ideas about making a positive difference in the world. But as explained by the Depression-at-Work article, the idealism fades when one is consumed by work, its pressures, frustrations and the accompanying stress.

This entry is not meant to pour cold water on the initiative. Rather, I really hope that the programme will be a smashing success. Educating the future generation is a big responsibility and we need all the help that we can get.

I do need to warn interested applicants though. The classrooms that you'll be teaching in will not be so ideal as portrayed in the video.

I mean, you're unlikely to get a classroom full of well-behaved, angelic-looking, eager-to-learn kids.

Maybe it's because I teach in a secondary school but the students that I normally encounter are prone to be disruptive and they don't look quite as eager.

In fact, to quote Frank McCourt in Teacher Man; "In every class there's a pest put on earth to test you". Haha.

But it's okay. They'll grow on you and you'll grow on them :)

And despite of all the occupational hazards associated with it, you'll learn to love teaching as well.

Oh, and another thing, you won't look as smart and immaculate as the teachers in the video look. More often than not, you'll look tired, overworked and harassed. Haha.

Again, that comes with the job ;)

Seriously, do apply to Teach For Malaysia despite my fear mongering. Why? Because... (to quote Albert Schweitzer)

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve"