On being a Teacher

When I was in High-school, even if I was a top 10 student often I doubted myself for being a complete dumb.?I was continuously bored even in the subjects I like. As a result I often thought that I couldn't pass both my 10th and 12th grade national exams. Yet I passed both exams with excellent grades. I even got 4.0 in my 10th grade national exam. That means at least I am not dumb, I guess. But I didn’t find the reason why I felt like a complete dumb.

Then I joined university and graduated after three years. My university stay gave me an unlimited access to the internet and I start wandering on it. While wandering I often spent my time on lecture videos, education related videos and articles. Those videos and articles gave me the chance to see how education is delivered all over the world. They showed me that reading a text book ten times isn’t the only way of learning.?A student can learn through videos, demonstrations, and audios. These things were new discoveries for me. They revealed that rote memorization wasn’t the only way to learn. And I discovered why I felt academically dumb and continuously bored when I was in High-school. At that time I started thinking that things should be done in a better way and assumed the main problem was the lack of passionate teachers who could use different methodologies and go all the way to make things clear. Thus, I wished to be that kind of teacher.

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However, it was a bit late I was already on another lane; studying another field. Thus, I thought I couldn’t be a teacher since I am not trained to be a teacher. Then I graduated and started working in some horticulture farm around Mojo. The company has a mandatory preliminary training for new employees. In those training days I met newbies like me and we started talking.

Among my new colleagues one taught for a year in some private elementary school in Addis Ababa. When she told me that she taught chemistry without being a chemistry graduate at first I found it hard to believe. Yet when she adds that other schools had also offered her a job I believed her. I told her that my interest on teaching and I asked her if I had a chance to be a teacher. She assured me that I could be one even with a better salary.?After ten days we completed our training and assigned to different sections on the farm. My assigned duty was in no way related to what I thought I could work. It was a job that could be done by anyone who is trained for 3 days. And I have to wait two years to be promoted from that position. Due to those predicaments and knowing that I could become a teacher. I couldn't find a reason to stay there. Thus I left the job, returned to Addis Ababa for good and started searching for a teaching job.

I found a teaching job after two weeks of quitting my Mojo job. In a private elementary school as an English and General Science teacher for grade three students, for almost a double salary from my previous job. I was enthusiastic for getting that chance. I was happy every morning in my way to work. While months went through my enthusiasm started facing some difficulties. Most of my students fail every exam that I gave, however easy it is. Often students can't read properly, even easy texts, students couldn't spell basic words properly and saw many more problems.

At first I thought those problems were caused by improper teaching practices, so I have tried my best to improve my way of teaching and I did. Yet there was no significant difference on the performance of my students. When I saw that my extra effort didn't bring a difference I suspected that may be improper teaching practice wasn’t the only cause. Therefore, I gave a simple test to my students to write the English alphabets in small and capital case, days of the week and months of the year.

My objective was to know if they differentiate capital and small case letters and if they know the proper order of the days of the week and months of the year. I gave this simple test for about 90 third grade students and only one student write the whole thing correctly, few students wrote the whole thing correctly except for the spelling and order of the months of the year, and majority of the students don't differentiate capital and small case letters let alone knowing the order and spelling of days of the week and months of the year. I was shocked. I was aware that things weren’t that good and improvement was needed. But I had never imagined a 3rd grade student who learned six year in a private school could face a difficulty differentiating capital and small case letters. After that I understood the problem was much deeper than improper teaching practice.

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I shared my new discovery to my colleagues expecting an outrage. Instead, some of?my colleagues told me?they saw worse, that some students doesn't even write their name properly and?started telling?me to not waste my time and energy on a lost cause. Others started seeing me as a conservative rookie that will settle after a while.

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However, that didn't stopped me I told the school owner about the problems I faced twice; even in our second discussion I even pushed for a meeting with the whole staff. Yet he gave me some lame excuses and promised that things will improve.?However, nothing improved; rather they started giving me a hard time for reasons like you don't check student’s exercise book weekly type of things. Finally, they call a meeting around the end of the academic year.

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?I hoped that we would discuss on issues that I raised in the middle of the year. The meeting happened as scheduled and what happened was far from my expectations. The main agendas of the meeting was that teachers should check students exercise book more often and how teachers should treat students well and that they should refrain from any corporal punishment. I was flabbergasted that they call us just to say this and I couldn't stay quite. I raised my hand and I said that it was good discussing about checking exercise books and treating students well, but we should also discuss about how effective our subject delivery was. We should ask ‘do our students know what they should?’ As soon as I said those sentences the owner snapped and started speaking ferociously to invalidate my claims. I tried to confront him. Finally, he said I raised those kinds of questions due to my lack of knowledge on teaching methodologies. Consequently, the principal assert his accusation by stating how they are using different evaluation mechanisms to know the efficiency of their delivery. At that point I became speechless and I understood that they are burying their head in sand. I decided to leave that school on that day and to never accused of incompetence again. Thus, I left the School after a month and started my graduate education after two months.

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I went in to graduate school for one reason only to become an excellent teacher. And I told this to whoever asked me why. Hence, they conclude that I wanted to be a university lecturer. Thus, I should always to correct them that I want to be an elementary or high-school teacher. Then everyone tries to convince me that why I shouldn't be that. By everyone I mean my?best friends, my previous high-school teacher, my friend's father that was a teacher for more than thirty years and everyone else I know. I understood their point but I tried to explain why I choose that path, the gaps and opportunities but often the conversation ends by warning me I should really consider my choice.?Covid costed me six months yet I graduated after exhausting two and half years on October 2022. And I became a preparatory biology teacher after three months.?

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It doesn't took long when I felt like I am in a dejavu. The first thing I did in my first class was to ask my students to introduce themselves and to tell me what they planned to study when they join university. Half of the students gave me some common answers like doctor, engineer and astrophysist kind of answers. Though when I asked them why they choose those fields often they gave me a half-baked answer. The remaining half told me that they didn't know or thought about it before. Imagine these are preparatory students that will join university after a year or two.

Through time I start seeing the true color of teaching in this country. Since I am the least experienced teacher in my staff, I got the chance to discuss on what private education and teaching look like with teachers that have three up to thirty years of experience. And what made all similar were their stories and perspectives are often doom and gloom. Here are some gloomy things that all the teachers that I talked with agree upon.

They teach because they don't have any choice. And they would leave the profession without a second thought if they got a slightly better alternative.

They all agree that teaching is a disrespected profession by the society. One of my colleagues told me this sad experience as a joke. Once a student gave him a hard time and he call the parents of the student. The student's mother came. My colleague told the mother how the student wasn't doing the things he should like, doing homework, giving attention to his lessons taking notes and so on. After listening my colleague cautiously the mother uttered this, "son why don't you do your homework? Attend your classes and listen what your teacher said."

“Look if you don't do these things and learn properly your teacher didn't get his salary. This means he can't pay his rent and fulfill his basic needs so please son for the sake of your teacher livelihood learn properly." I hope this sad but funny experience show the depth of disrespect towards the profession.

They also agree on that now a days teaching become depressing and unsatisfactory job. They state the disrespect towards the profession, students disinterest towards education and the barely sufficient salary it generates as the major reasons for why it become depressing and unsatisfactory.

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From what I experience in the last eight months, I can confirm the above gloomy claims are the sad realities of the private education sector in Addis Ababa. However, I wrote all this not to say we are doomed, and there is no hope. Yet, it is to share the current realities and to say there should be a better way.

Your opinions are welcomed.