Leave No Child Behind...

I am a teacher. I teach for a living. This was not always the case.


I remember the years working to attain that baccalaureate in Education. Learning to understand the mechanics of language. Appreciating the masters of literature. Stepping out of my comfort zone participating and not just observing in drama class. Dealing with my “fear” of machines when I had to produce educational media. LOL!


I remember coming home with that fancy piece of paper after my commencement. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, anxious about my new chapter. I was to enter the workforce. Lil’ ol’ me…actually contributing to society. How exciting!

I arrive for my first day of work. WHAM! I run into a door marked, “Bureaucracy & Administration”. Turns out my new boss did not need my expertise. Whoop dee doo! I guess someone was sleeping on the job the day they matched supply with demand.

I’ll spare you the painful details but my light for teaching was almost completely snuffed out within two years. I quit. I found other passions, tried new career paths.

Fast forward 14 years. Supernatural forces returned me to the teaching profession. I kid you not about the supernatural part but that’s a whole other blogpost :-)


This time around, I see a similar door – Bureaucracy & Administration. Oh, did I mention some Politics are always involved? But…but…this time around, I am not only allowed, I am even encouraged to put into practice all that I had learned from the hallowed halls of my beloved McGill. This time around, I was given the freedom to soar, as I knew I could. And soar I did. In fact, I am still flying high, oh yeah baby!

Don’t get me wrong. Those big, bad B, A, and P-words still exist. (Darn it!) There is a subtle difference, however, in the mentality or attitude of those running the school. Now, there is an understanding that what makes the school great is not simply its name or reputation. There is understanding that the school is great because of the remarkable people who thrive within its walls.

A school is great when educators are allowed to educate instead of administrate (yes, the word exists in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, so bite me! Haha!) A school is great when the students do more than passively accept what is taught, and instead, actively think outside the box! A school is great when both teachers and students understand that there is a big and awesome world outside the classroom and there is a real and urgent need to bridge the world and the classroom.

A school is great when kids graduate as mini citizens of the world, kids who are individuals capable of thinking and evaluating on their own, young people who are not fettered by narrow-minded societal norms that state children are too young to make a difference.

Philosophies of education come and go. One that has stayed close to my heart over the years is, “Leave no child behind”. And so, I pour out my mind, strength, heart and soul into what I do everyday.

As I journey deeper into this season called “middle age”, there are occasions when I wish I was more influential, that I had more letters to follow my name or a more important title to precede my name. In the end, the following keeps me grounded – for most of my students, I would be a fixed part of their lives for seven (7) whole years. I can choose to be an inspirational adult in their lives or a mediocre one. I can choose to light a fire, fan the flame or simply open a textbook with no additional creativity. Plutarch said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” If mine is not a job with power and influence, I do not  know what is....

After all is said and done, I absolutely love what Ivan Welton Fitzwater said:

I am a teacher! What I do and say are being absorbed by young minds who will echo these images across the ages. My lessons will be immortal, affecting people yet unborn, people I will never see or know. The future of the world is in my classroom today, a future with the potential for good or bad. The pliable minds of tomorrow's leaders will be molded either artistically or grotesquely by what I do.


Several future presidents are learning from me today; so are the great writers of the next decades, and so are all the so-called ordinary people who will make the decisions in a democracy. I must never forget these same young people could be the thieves or murderers of the future.


Only a teacher? Thank God I have a calling to the greatest profession of all! I must be vigilant every day lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow.


‘Nuff said! Dreamer, signing off.

The Case for Multilingualism....

Within 24 hours of landing in the country that gave birth to me, this conversation took place:


Daughter: What is the name of the language here?
Me          : Bahasa Melayu
Daugther: I know the Bahasa Melayu word for “What”
Me          : And what do you think that is?
Daugher  : Apa!
Me          : (jaw dropped coz my daughter got it right)…Wow! How do you know?
Daughter: I was listening and I figured it out (du-uh…with her most polite look)


Those who know me well, will know that I am a proponent for multi language acquisition. Having grown up in a multilingual society, I have not much appreciation for those who insist on staying within the boundaries of their own language. I mean, if you could, why wouldn’t you wish to understand more?


I mean, take a classic Hollywood movie, bad guys and not so bad guys. So there’s the Russian president and his translator, “talking” to the American president and HIS translator in a scene. How much do you wanna bet that in real life….all these foreign heads of states communicate well in English and simply use translators as protocol while not very many of the heads of states of English speaking nations understand more than their own language? I bet you a chocolate chip cookie, the former is true. PS - don't get offended if you are Russian or American... I'm just using a "classic" example..."classic", I tell you.... :-)


2 decades after moving to arguably, the most European city in North America, I still don’t get the hang-up many French Quebeckers have about “protecting” their language by insisting on French only signs and "encouraging" new immigrants to learn French as a way of assimilating to life there. While I say one language on your sign of commerce simply restricts how much business you get, I also say, more power to the immigrants. By the way, French is a bee-you-ti-ful language.


Maybe the French don’t notice it but I certainly do. The face of Canada is changing, it is becoming more “beige” as the years go by and these new “beige” faces speak a minimum of 3 languages well, the 2 official languages of Canada plus their mother tongue. Hmmm… I wonder who has the advantage in the long run, the unilingual French Quebecker or the multi-lingual new Quebecker? Sometimes the boundaries we set to keep others out, also serve to keep ourselves in and that is not always a good thing, n’est-ce pas?

I wonder the same for Malaysia...who has the advantage, the unilingual Malaysian or the multilingual one....hmmm.....


Back to my kids learning a 4th language while on vacation in the tropics. KiKi and King T – more power to you! Mommy’s proud of you!