Teachers give young people power of education contributing to country’s growth

In the school year 2021-2022, witnessing a student who was obedient and gentle one afternoon punch the wall with his hand until his hand bled, the heart of teacher Huynh Dinh Nhan, Secretary of the Teacher Union of Tran Khai Nguyen High School in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 nearly broke. The teacher had more than a 2-hour talk with the student to understand the little student.

Understanding the psychological inhibition in this student's heart, the teacher contacted his parents to find a way to solve it. However, contrary to the teacher's wishes, the communication gap between parents and students was too great forcing teacher Nhan to propose the student and his parents meet a psychologist to relieve the student's psychology.

In the following days, leaving behind the busy work at school, every day the young teacher came to the student's house to talk with the student as well as remind parents to create favorable conditions for the student to study well because the 12th-grade year is a critical year as students continue to apply themselves to their academic endeavors in high school while at the same time making arrangements for their future.

Talking about the pressure of the teaching profession, teacher Huynh Dinh Nhan said that a class has both good, obedient students whose parents cooperate well with teachers and 1-2 students with psychological problems. There are many students today who study normally but tomorrow become different people or some children who are happy in the morning, but naughty and unhappy in the afternoon. Being a teacher, Mr. Nhan said, he recommended his peers to love students with all their heart and soul to understand students.

Meanwhile, Ms. Phan Thuy Van Trinh, homeroom teacher of class 2/1 at Huynh Van Ngai Primary School in Thu Duc City said that many parents nowadays do not accept their children with physical or mental defects.

Every school year, she teaches 2-3 students with physical or mental defects in class. She noticed that parents of these special students have not cooperated well with teachers whereas other parents of normal students do not want their children to seat in the same class as these special students. She was very skillful to reconcile the kinds of students and parents, said Ms. Van Trinh.

To do that, a teacher is like a second parent. Additionally, a teacher plays a role as students’ great friends who are willing to share and accompany students' joys and sorrows to understand children's thoughts and feelings; thus, they can become a bridge between a child and his classmates, between schools and families.

Ms. Do Thi Phuong Tram, Vice Principal of Kindergarten 2 in District 4 who has worked in the teaching profession for 34 years said that a teacher is like a ferryman, who drove generations of students to the landing of success. Society has many professions but the teaching profession is the most respectful job. However, teachers daily face many difficulties, hardships, pressures from parents, and heavy responsibilities assigned by society. Seeing students become successful is one of the most gratifying rewards of the teaching profession.

Ms. Phuong Tram emphasized the relationship between teachers and parents which should be maintained on the basis of respect for the benefit of children. Teachers and parents should connect well to create good educational environments between families and schools so that students can receive a good education.

Regarding education for older students, teacher Luu Hong Phong, Vice Principal of Binh Tay Secondary School in District 6, said that each family currently has only 1-2 children, but every day in class, teachers have to teach dozens of students. Each child has a different personality and thoughts, which requires teachers to treat them with hearts.

In particular, homeroom teachers must understand the psychology and family situation of each child in order to have appropriate educational methods and ways to handle situations. To carry out well this mission, a teacher must receive the support of parents and society.

Family, school, and society have a significant role in the formation of a person’s personal development. Families train by social authority, schools by the authority of knowledge, and society by its subconscious wisdom. In a child's growth, the individual moves from physically inherited habits to opinion and attitude and finally by his own motive. Therefore, a person will lose their balance and not stand firm in the face of life's storms without guidance and taking care of family, schools and society, said Mr. Hong Phong. Consequently, at the beginning of each school year, the school must develop an action plan based on agreement with the representative board of students' parents.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Gai, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Education Industry Trade Union, said that one of the biggest difficulties and challenges for teachers in the period of integration and development is how to balance doing well in work and family life, between the common and the private, spiritual and material, the strong transformation between progressive teaching methods towards individualization and the inertia of knowledge transmission like before. To well done their mission, teachers must love their students even those with defects and have a sense of responsibility.