Whoever thought the letter 'M' could cause such trouble?
No i'm not talking about MC Hammer, Macaulay Culkin or Marky Mark
You're probably wondering why i have posted that question to you all. Well here is the answer.
Last Monday my crazy Lower Kindergarten Class had to practise writing the letter M. Well i forgot to write the letter M in three of the kids books before they started the exercise. So i quickly wrote the letter M and before i knew it, my co-teacher Miss Tsang was getting blasted in Chinese by our supervisor Anna because my 'M' wasn't perfectly written.
Now Anna told me afterwards that her reaction to the flawed 'M' s was in response to parents concerns that some students were not being taught the "proper" way. Now if anyone has seen my handwriting then i really should have been a doctor as we all know their handwriting sucks. To any doctors who are reading this..seriously your writing sucks.
Anyways i felt like shite because i wasn't being told off in the manner that Miss Tsang was and i felt really sorry for her. She was busy preparing the kids cooking program for this month (which was a 'traditional' Chinese New Year sesame ball) which leads me to this conclusion...
Hong Kong parents are the most anal retentive i have ever some across.
If a parent is concerned that an 'M' isn't written the 'proper' way, if a parent says that another student teased them and the other child should be punished (even though the remark was in Cantonese and even though i have been here over a year, i don't understand the language) even though a parent thinks their child is so smart that when i asked some of them the simplest questions (how old are you?) they have no idea how to answer..then i'm sorry Hong Kong Parents in general are anal retentive.
Here are some things i have picked up about the Hong Kong parental Lifestyle:
- Some of the parents are actually quite nice. They do take a dedicated interest in not only their educational but social needs as well. These parents usually understand that coming from a different backgound, western teachers do things differently and as long as their kids have all ten fingers at the end of a day, a smile on their face and some stickers in their workbook for an excellent job well done, then they are happy with the status quo.
- Remember..i just said some
- Most parents here are too dedicated to their childs development at school not only because of their academic acheivments but because good grades get you into that exclusive primary school and boy ...do parents here love to brag about that. "My sone is going to ......school." I'll get some names of primary schools around here and you can compare the school names here to where you went to school.
- Parents will ring up the school and blast the Chinese teachers if their son or daughter comes home with either a wrong letter in a word or a date was stamped not at a perfect 90 degrees on a worksheet.
- One parent in particular in my class is well known for causing trouble. I remember her getting angry over the way the buses were coming into the school carpark after a field trip because they were taking a long time to actually get into the car park. I watched her from inside the bus. She was waving her arms about and had a very angry ' i could do it this way' look on her face. Remember big bus, little roads....these things take time. She complains about everything. This same parent said i was a bad influence on her son becasue he was fighting with his older brother at home. My god i have an older brother, brothers fight! It's tradition! Can't pin that on me babe!
- One parent asked about the 'leadership qualities' of their 4 year old child. Enough said.
- Some parents let kids sit in the front seat of the car whilst their adult helpers sit in the back. Arrogance being taught at an early age
- Parents here don't know how to control thier children.
- Some actually try with candy but not only do the kids teeth go rotten but when there is no candy and the children want something..the kids go ballistic!
- The parents here spoil their kids far too much. It's disgusting.
- Rather than saying that moneys a bit tight this month, the parents usually pull the kids out if they know they are not going to get a full months education then stick them back in if they know they will.
- Some parents just shop all day and leave the raising of their children to the helpers.
- According to Miss Tsang, last week i said something to a kid which made him not want to come to school anymore. I found out later that it wasn't me but one of the helpers who change pants due to pee/poo spilled liquid who said it.
Well thats just the parents and as for the kids...soft. SOFT I TELL YOU
"Mr Mark..Jerry pushed me" - A push in Australian Primary Schools usually meand Dettol and 3 band-aids afterwards
"Mr Mark I don't want to play" - 5 year old boy not wanting to play with building blocks. Too scared
"Mr Mark Isabelle took my rubber and she won't give it back" - Well just ask her nicely
As i have tried to put into words how things work over here, there is so much more to say that can be better explained in a real conversation. So to all you people intrigued by teaching in Asia...listen to Markey when he says " Make sure your M's are Marvellous"
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