Teacher Attacks

INSULTING RUSSIAN TEACHERS - BEING BOORISH IS ABOVE THE LAW

By Stephen Wilson

"School teachers are losers afflicted with their own complexes who are not

in a condition to develop themselves. In general, they are not capable of

being transformed or changed ... Of course, each school has its star teacher

which amounts to one out of five teachers. The rest of the teachers are a

grey mass ... A person must master a profession, be it a historian,

mathematician, physicist or foreign language teacher, then afterwards he or

she should learn the modern methodology of teaching and the psychology

of teaching children," declared Ivan Fedotov in a speech to the International

Forum at Saint Petersburg. Fedotov is a rector of a University of Economics.

This boorish speech which echoes the blatant contempt of the Prime-Minister

Medvedev who suggested low-paid teachers should go out and start a small

business if they are unsatisfied with their pay, aroused an angry response

from many teachers. He was described as 'out of touch', 'an uncultured

buffoon' and 'hypocrite'. "Let him do a job as a school teacher". "He should

be fired " for this insult. One teacher, Tamara stated: "We teachers do a

thankless job. We have mountains of paperwork, stress and work with difficult

children. This so-called expert needs to offer a public apology".

Like many rectors, Fedotov earns about 20 times the salary of an average

school teacher or lecturer. According to a declaration of income in 2013,

his pay amounted to a staggering 9,319,395 rubles a year and he owns

a Harley Davidson Xl 1200 as well as a collection of expensive cars.

Compare this salary to a teacher who at most obtains about 70 or 80

thousand rubles a month in Moscow.

Fedotov, who is supposed to be an academic, never clarifies or defines

what he regards as 'a successful teacher' as opposed to 'a loser'. Is

a teacher a loser because he has a low salary, fails to get his students

through exams or upgrades his skills? It is not entirely clear so Fedotov

comes across as just another angry and ill-tempered official who has woken

up with a hang over. But if he took himself the trouble to be acquainted with

some recent research he would find that Russian English school teachers

did a great job in successfully preparing students for the Unitary State

exam. Instead of teachers being applauded for this, the Minister of Education

stated: "We have to make the English exam harder ". It was as if the English

exam was not difficult enough! Some International research indicated that

Russian school teachers are the most qualified and educated teachers in

Europe. They enthusiastically seek to upgrade and perfect their skills. Many

teachers often don't have the time or the resources to improve their skills. Yet

what amazes the outsider most is how Russian school teachers manage to

accomplish so much despite so many trying obstacles.

What is unfair are the double standards! If a teacher described a politician or

official in the same language as this rector he could be liable to a heavy

fine and imprisonment. For example, if you called Putin 'a thief' or 'a loser'

you could be fined 300,000 rubles for insulting a public official. A recently

passed law renders it illegal to express 'disrespect' of an official or politician.

It is okay for an official to insult teachers, but quite another for teachers to

insult an official. An attempt to make it illegal for a politician or official to

insult the public was of course rejected by the Duma. But what would one

expect from politicians?

So much for freedom of speech or academic freedom. An academic is obliged

to at least clearly define what he exactly means and at least offer evidence

to support his arguments. I don't see any of this in Fedotov's speech. It just

seems yet another inarticulate anti-teacher rant. At least school teachers go

beyond the academic. Fedotov falls below the academic. He is just way below

the belt.

One of the best ways you could attempt to improve educational standards at

schools and in institutions would be for teach people to be polite. What makes

a great school teacher is not just qualifications, practical skills and knowledge

but being polite to your students in the deepest sense. Politeness at the highest

level implies loving respect. A good teacher loves his or her students. Now if a

teacher doesn't love other teachers, you can hardly be astonished if they don't

also love their own pupils.