I'm trying to…
I have been lecturing for almost six years. Lecturing was my initial dream job. When I got my dream job at the age of 25, I was the youngest lecturer without Ph.D. in this highly competitive field.
The subjects I was lecturing include but are not limited to the areas of linguistics and education.
Fast forward six years, I hit the plateau. That was why I took an indefinite break from teaching.
While other teachers who are Government-bonded didn't have this privilege, I realized that I was indeed spoilt with the choice of having an indefinite sabbatical (even though I am not on their payroll during this break, but I'm okay with it).
In reality, I returned to my self and asked if this shall be one of my life pursuits, worth pursuing or not.
Despite the good pay, flexible hours and fantastic course coordinators, deep down, I was disgusted with the workings of our education system.
From flawed syllabi created by non-educators to the lack of teaching support from schools and university, educators are expected to put up with the BS, churned as the outcome from our nonsensical system.
One of the BS I had to endure painfully was the case of a student who wanted to sue me.
It happened semesters ago when I was marking her assignment. She did poorly and so; I gave her a C.
But she thought she deserved it better (without asking me why she'd fared so badly)
So she pulled the trick like how some entitled, rich kids would.
She called for the University to interfere.
The Uni called, of course. I wasn't in trouble and not going to be because they thought her work was a C.
However, as C-deserving as she does, she settled for a B, without querying what went wrong with her work (red flag alert for grade hoarders. All that matters is the As and not the learning process)
I told the Uni that she should be grateful I didn't give her an F because my C was indeed a lenient leeway.
Lecturer - 0, Student - 1
All because of the money.
The educators have become their employee. You're obliged to give them better results, just because they're your paying customer. The educators are no longer the nurturer, but the grades provider.
That's when I started becoming more judgmental. As much I tried not too, I can't swallow the bitter fact that as long as you're filthy rich, you can do whatever you want or have everything your way.
And it doesn't seem to matter how they'd get it done. What only matters is that you're certified, notwithstanding the quality of your education.
As much as I want to advocate for quality education, and I still do with my students from all walks of life (and age), I sighed with disappointment and maybe a slight sliver of hope that someday, somehow we can all make a tiny difference to this flawed social order.
The hope that someone out there truly wants to learn not for the sake of her/his grades but sincerely wanting to improve and grow through trials and errors.
Final thoughts
As an educator, my hope is for my students to become better lifelong learners.
If you've ever gotten a low grade from your lecturer, you should most definitely reach out to him/her and ask why did you do badly in the first place. Take it from there and improve rather than complaining to the Uni.
Obviously, the Uni will do their best to get you better grades for the sake of shutting you up, since you're the paying customer. But this 'privilege' still won't change the fact that you still suck in your work.
At the end of the day, you're still the same old C student, despite the fact that you got a B now.
And as your educator, I'd rather you'd be a better C student, than an empty can of B novice.
Too many graduates these days but how many of them are truly great at what they do?
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. — Winston Churchill
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