What's Wrong With Fun?

Recently, I had another case of 'Parental Obstruction'. That's what I call a situation when a parent stops a student from coming to my class, even though the student wants to stay in my class. It's happened before in the past, it's still happening now and I'm afraid it will still happen in future.

I'm fully aware that as a non-parent, I have no experience in raising a child. I also believe that a parent knows what's best for his/her child... most of the time. We are all humans after all and do make mistakes from time to time... such as what this parent did by pulling her child out of my class.

My boss, who's a very understanding lady, told me this, "Her mother said your class is too much fun. So, she stopped her daughter from coming to your class. Her daughter is now taking English class at another center. I asked her how is the class? She said, 'boring'." While my boss doesn't fully understand my concept of teaching, she accepts it and supports me. She advises me to balance my learning and fun, which I just nod to. Despite the fact that I've been balancing learning and fun all along, I don't blame her for not fully trusting in my teaching methods sometimes.

The problem with a lot of Malaysian parents is this - they think that LEARNING = BORING. So, when class is FUN, then there is NO LEARNING - which is totally WRONG! It's very difficult to change this perception that has been ingrained into their minds. To them, all that really matters is the string of 'A's their child gets in PMR or SPM. We can thank our "wonderfully intelligent" education ministry for this mentality that most Malaysian parents have. Let's not also forget the "fantastic" new English syllabus that they've changed to this year. Ugh! All right, I should stop here or else I might start breaking something.

It's funny to think that parents would rather subject their child to torture than let them enjoy their learning experience. When I hear my ex-student say that her new English class is 'boring', it kills me. It really does. Well, I'm disappointed but not devastated. I learnt from my bad experience last year that I've just got to keep fighting the system. Our education system is greatly and painfully flawed and I will continue to fight it! I would be a hypocrite if I were to give up all that I've stood for and give-in to parents' demands for "more exam practises". Gawd! I'm going mad just thinking about it!

Well, if there's one way I can prove to any parent that students will learn more by having fun in my class, it's in their exam results. I've lost count of how many students who've graduated under me, who got 'A's for English in their PMR or SPM. Yet, I'm never too proud of that fact. Rather, it's when my students grow up to be good people, instead of just good students, that I'm really proud. Nothing beats the joy of seeing young minds opening up to a whole new world of knowledge and life's lessons that no book can ever teach them; and to see them having fun while at it! How cool is that?

I hate sounding boastful but sometimes, I have to stand up for what I believe in and defend my teaching methods. If they say LEARNING = BORING, well, I say LEARNING = FUN! And we shall have it!

Speaking of 'fun', well, I sure had plenty with my ex-fifth formers a few days ago. Bet they had lots of fun too. I've always tried to be a friend to my students and every year, I put in more effort and make more sacrifices too as the number of students who graduate under me increase. Now, instead of just three class reunions a year, I have to organise nine! But I enjoy it and it goes without saying that my students appreciate the effort I put in. I'm lucky to have them!

This is actually the second reunion I've organised for this class. Our first reunion was so 'sad', with only six faces, I was determined to get at least half, if not all of the class together. Amazingly, 90% of the class made it - a new record! I couldn't hide my joy. I was going crazy, singing and fooling around in that room that day! Yeah, I'm childish! Haha!

After the singing, we had lots of time to look like lost Japanese tourists (or so I tried to) and even had another round of craziness during dinner at Wong Kok Char Chan Teng. That's where I ate 'Jing Tian' (Oops! I mean, 'Tian Jin') and boy did it taste nice - 'ham ham sap sap' LOL!

We also made time to take one round of what-you-call-that-Japanese-photo-booth-thingy. That was pure childish fun! I loved it! Haha! After that, it was finally time to say 'goodbye'. What was supposed to be just three hours of Karaoke turned out to be a whole day. And what a great day it was! As my ex-student would say, let the pictures do the talking! =)