BENEATH THE SURFACE

‘You can literally know nothing about a subject and still be a teacher’, my son was explaining how teachers make little effort to actually teach anything but instead pile on endless amounts of homework every single day. Telling kids to look up their assignments on Google Classroom and to figure things out for themselves. An experience which makes the task of going to school less than ideal and quite depressing.

We continued our conversation over small glasses of vanilla ice cream after our dinner. I shared my experience as a high school student and how there were a few teachers whose class I actually looked forward to attending. Like my French teacher who used to be in The Little Rascals, though he never revealed which character he played. And my German teacher who made class interesting as she herself showed interest in teaching.

Teachers who make the effort to teach, to do their own homework, and who show excitement for their job are rare these days. At least in America. After having spent my 10th grade year in a school in Yugoslavia, I realised how inadequate the teaching standards were in the States as compared to my time overseas where we learned no fewer than 15 various subjects throughout the year.

Upon my return, I decided to write a paper on the topic based on my experiences. A paper which was met with great displeasure to the point where one of my 11th grade teachers told me to ‘Go back to Mexico… or wherever you’re from!’. Clearly, he was clueless and seemed to have confused Yugoslavia with Mexico. Somehow. Though it puzzles me how. Yet, it served as another example to back the claim I set out in my paper.

My son and I continued to discuss his experience and realised that it makes little difference to voice these concerns to the school. I know because I have tried. I no longer waste my time. I have more important things to do, such as preserving my sanity. The years of effort to try making any sort of change were met with empty promises. Even my son tells me it’s no use because the shortage of teachers makes it easier for those remaining to wield their power and do whatever they please. Even if that means making the experience of school so unpleasant that children are left in a state of mental distress.

I enjoy the time spent getting to discuss various topics with my son. Whether that is on a walk around the school after he returns or during dinner when the effects of the day have worn off, stress levels having subsided. I have learned a lot by simply waiting. Usually whenever someone asks ‘How was your day?’, we are met with either a ‘It was good’ or ‘Okay’. But rarely is that the truth.

Only when we take the time to listen, even to the silence, we find that there is so much more beneath the surface.