Respect

In general, I shall not do copy-and-paste in this site. Nonetheless, I would take the following article by our man from Pluto as an important exception. It was first published in his Facebook page (see https://www.facebook.com/notes/joseph-sung/do-they-deserve-our-respect/10152237628654188). I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I play plagiarism for once.

Here you go:

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Recently, I received a complaint from a lecturer in English Language Teaching Unit who taught in our school since 1997. As she is approaching her retirement this year, she received a statement in the Course Teaching Evaluation (an assessment form filled in by students at the end of a course) using the most obscene and rude expression asking her to… (I would not dare to repeat what he/she said). She found this comment very hurtful.

In her letter she said “My husband and I have raised a son and a daughter. Our son graduated from the NYU and even before he graduated, he had been offered a job in Boston. Our daughter is graduating early from the University of Chicago and is getting ready to enter law school there. Because both of them are about the same age as my students, I bring to classroom the same level of dedication and hard work that I have given to my children, for I see in each and every students of mine my own sons and daughters… I am truly saddened by this student’s remark for he/she wrote it under anonymity, indeed, a vindictive and coward act. The remark is an obscenity and no teacher should be subject to such a verbal abuse.” I totally agree with her.

I do not know what has happened. I do not know how good (or bad) this teacher teaches. But I can feel the pain and frustration in her, to see such behavior in our younger generations. I have gone through my days as a student, and I have been taught by lousy teachers: teachers who did not prepare his/her class well, teachers who were boring and disorganized, teachers who were stern or even rude. But never in my wildest imagination I would use such words to abuse my teachers. I do not know who this student was, and I have no intention to find out. I do not know his background or his major. I do not have a clue why he/she was so bitter and disgraceful, or was it merely a joke (but that was not even funny). Nothing would be a good enough reason for verbal abuses from a learned person.

The teacher who filed the complaint said in her letter “It is true that I am deeply offended, but this feeling will, in no time, dissipate because deep in my heart, I know that I have always taught with integrity, fairness and respect for my students. Sadly, the student is the real victim of his/her act, for he/she has no appreciation for what truly matters… the discernment to know right from wrong.” I was speaking to myself, “if we have not taught them anything, at least teach our future generations to respect others as well as respecting themselves.”
I am sad that in the current educational system, and under the big wave of commercialization of education, the teacher-student relationship has deteriorated to such level. In many colleges, especially those private universities, students become “customers” and school becomes “vendors”. In order to attract families who are capable of and willing to paying high tuition fees to some schools, the facilities are upgraded, and students’ (and their parents’) opinion are highly regarded. Yet, complains from students continue to increase, from double bunks accommodations, school bus service to quality of food at cafeteria. Teachers are supposed to give nicely printed hand-out in classes, or at least post their power-points before lectures. I have personally encountered students coming into my class late holding soft-drinks in his hands. I have stopped my lecture because I saw students talking on cell phone in my class.  Teachers would not say a word about this as this will affect their “student evaluation score”. They would rather finish their class promptly and return to their office or laboratory to continue on their research. Students become more upset as they found that their teachers are not interested in them.  And the viscous cycle simply goes on. Funding agencies and ranking organizations of university look at student evaluation and feedback as one of their most important parameter of “quality education”. Schools therefore will do everything to please their customers in order to gain reputation and higher funding.

No, let us stop this. Let us rebuild our relationship and mutual respect between teachers and students. Let all teachers treat their students as their own children, talk to them (instead of to the slides on the big screen), listen to them, and inspire them. Let students pay due respect to their teachers, greet them with a smile passing by, concentrate in classes and work on their assignment with honesty and integrity.  Teaching and learning is a two-way traffic. Confucius said “I will not enlighten a heart that is not already struggling to understand, nor will I provide the proper words to a tongue that is not already struggling to speak. If I hold up one corner of a problem and the student cannot come back to me with the other three, I will not attempt to instruct him again.” Analects 7.8

I hope that the student who wrote this remark to our English lecturer will see this blog… and go to apologize to her.