By Stepehn Wilson
'It is necessarily to
demonstrate to the government and society the
meaningful
significance of teachers and raise their prestige in
society..... A teacher
represents a broad category of citizen who is
responsible for what
kind of person a social being becomes. In
striving to raise the
educational level of our country , it would be
a good idea to share
this role with people in such away that
teachers attain more
respect and show society how important
their activities are
". stated a member of the Russian Duma,
Sergei Voctrestrov.
He therefore has proposed to turn 'The
Day of Teacher' into a
Red Calendar day which would mean that
on the 5th of October,
everyone, including teachers, would get
a day off.
Such a move seems an
attractive proposal. It would at least
be highly symbolic and
send a good gesture to the Russian
public that the
Government and wider public ought to respect
teachers ! It would
remind some Russians that teachers are
vulnerable
human-beings with a right to dignity.
The Day of Teachers,
which began in 1965, is now currently
celebrated in over 100
countries, including Russia. In fact, there
are three days in
which teachers can be expected to be showered
by endless flowers:
The Day of Knowledge,1st September, Day
Of Teacher, 5th
October ,and 'The Last Call', during the last week
of May. Unfortunately,
a later statement was issued by the
government indicating
that there was no formulated legal project
to implement this
proposal. In other words, the proposal was mooted.
Second City Teacher
asked some Russian teachers what they
thought of this
proposal and whether the prestige of Russian teachers
had either increased
or decreased over the last ten years. Most of
those answered that
their prestige was still falling, while some claimed
"It was difficult
to say," but a few people stated it has.
"I'm absolutely
indifferent to this proposal . But I do think that the prestige
of teachers has risen
over the years and this is partly due to the increase
in pay as well as more
people entering the profession. Now there are
more younger teachers
as well as males. Whereas previously you
would not see a male
teacher in the English department of the Institute
of Power and Energy,
now I can see five male English teachers. And
there are maybe more
whom I don't know about who work in the evenings,"
stated English teacher
Oksana Chebotareva.
Julia , an English
teacher who works for Cherry lane school, stated "I would
be for this proposal
if it makes school teachers happier ! Why not ? It is
difficult to say
whether the prestige of teachers has increased. i don't really
know ".
"I don't know if
this is such a good idea. That might mean you also need to
give people a day off
on 'Day of Police officers' or so on. I think the prestige
of teachers has dramatically
decreased since the Soviet times. The older
school teachers told
me that many years ago if children were doing badly at
school they would
scold their children. Now if their children don't get high
marks they don't scold
their children but blame the teachers. They come to
the school and
complain about the teacher rather than their children," stated
Polina, a 26 year old
history teacher who works at a Gymnasium which
specializes in Latin
and Greek.
"I don't think
that making the Day of Teacher a day off would do much to
increase their
prestige. This is because the changes which Russia has
undergone from the
collapse of the Soviet Union are too deeply rooted.
Whereas in the Soviet
Union teachers were almost treated like Gods,
and could be heroes,
now young people don't accept their authority and
have new heroes such
as businessmen and entrepreneurs. They also
have different sources
of information rather than just the teacher such
as the Internet so
they no longer trust or accept a lot of information they
get from
teachers," states 31 year old Anna, an English teacher.
The Director of the
Institute of Teaching Children, Tatiana Volovets agrees
with Anna. She stated
: "A pupil can get information from the Internet in
a few seconds what
teachers can give them in 10 years. The teacher is
no longer the Godlike
figure he was 30-40 years ago."
What is evident is
that the role of teacher has become much more
difficult, daunting
and demanding as many parents as well as officials place
more unrealistic
demands on them, including in many cases, how
to fully bring up
their child and thus become a surrogate parent. Perhaps
the decline in the
prestige of the teacher is best illustrated by a recent
article written by
Zuganov, the chairman of the Communist party . He
stated : 'The truth
about the value of a teacher was attained in the Soviet
era. Films, books
songs,and pictures glorified the labor of the teacher and
supported his
authority.' All this seems a far cry from the present moment
when the authority of
the teacher, in both Russia and America is not only
no longer fully
respected, but even openly denigrated by officials and
politicians. It is
suffice to mention the 1983 A Nation at Risk Report
which labelled
teachers as incompetent and lazy, and "The No Child
left Behind project
where untrained graduates were to be let into schools
to teach . The crude
belief "That anyone can be a teacher" has led to a
deep distrust of
teachers. Tests are more trustworthy than teachers. So
let us test rather
than teach students. So we are witnessing a slow
negation of the role
of the teacher in both Russia and America where
they need more people
to defend them.
President Obama
declared : "It is time to start rewarding good teachers,
stop making excuses
for bad ones ". Well what about making bad excuses
for bad politicians?
Since when has a politician performed a trustworthy
and honest role? I
don't hear anyone in America calling for 'A Day of
Politicians!
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