Dozens of movements and competitions, big and small, every year
The new school year has begun, which is also the time when teachers and students are about to take part in large and small movements and competitions. To give a brief overview, there are at least a dozen movements and competitions that take place regularly every year in schools, such as competitions for excellent teachers, excellent homeroom teachers, excellent students, arts and sports movements, UPU letter writing, painting to prevent social evils, protecting the environment, making teaching aids, etc.
In addition, there are also the movements "Building friendly schools for active students", "Each teacher is a model of self-study and creativity", online math competitions, online English competitions, math competitions in English, English speaking competitions, Law on Marriage and Family...
Any movement or competition takes up a lot of time from teachers and students, but if schools and teachers do not participate, they will be criticized and have their competition points deducted. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of these competitions has not been specifically evaluated.
The competition for excellent teachers would not be worth mentioning if it did not make teachers worry, lose sleep, and feel pressured... just because of the title and achievements of the school and the Department of Education and Training.
Suffering when taking the exam to become a good teacher
As a History - Civics teacher at Trinh Phong Secondary School (Dien Khanh, Khanh Hoa), I was once selected by the school to compete for the best teacher in the district and province. It has been 22 years now, but I still cannot forget that journey.
The journey began with the participation in the school's Excellent Teacher Competition in October. Many colleagues complained that the school competition was sometimes more difficult than the district and provincial competition because individuals were responsible for their own teaching without any support. After passing the school level, the Board of Directors selected "chickens" to compete in the district competition. We teachers jokingly said that we "choose the right person to entrust our gold" to "bring the bell to strike in a foreign land".
I lost sleep and appetite to prepare for my lessons. Lesson plans, pictures, teaching aids..., then I taught a few practice lessons so that my colleagues in the group, the team, and the principal could observe and give feedback, and then I would revise and edit them over and over again.
Currently, according to Circular 22/2019/TT-BGDDT, the content of the excellent teacher competition includes: Practicing teaching a lesson according to the teaching plan at the time of the competition (lottery); Presenting a measure to contribute to improving the quality of teaching work of an individual at the educational institution where the teacher is working, the time to present the measure is not more than 30 minutes,
Teachers who compete are like actors, while the script and director are the team, and the Board of Directors builds them. Next, if they are selected to compete for the provincial level excellent teacher, the procedure is transferred: the professional team of the Department of Education observes the trial teaching session, gives feedback five or seven times, then waits for the day to compete.
Teachers who take the exam have a hard time, but teachers who are not selected to take the exam also have a hard time, having to teach instead and keep the class. What about students? To serve teachers who teach trial lessons for district and provincial exams, schools mobilize classes to participate, change lessons, change hours, change shifts, teach instead, and test this or that method..., causing a lot of disruption, affecting the quality of students' learning. In some schools, the Board of Directors even gives teachers time off to focus on investing in teaching lessons for exams, leading to students missing lessons and classes, affecting the quality of learning.
On December 20, 2019, the Ministry of Education and Training issued the Regulations on the Competition for Excellent Teachers in Preschool Education Institutions; Excellent Teachers, Excellent Homeroom Teachers in General Education Institutions with the principle: "Based on the voluntary participation of teachers; no coercion, no pressure on teachers to participate in the Competition";...
When we learned about this regulation, we teachers were very happy because we were freed from the constraints of the excellent teacher competition. Moreover, this is also a remedy for the disease of achievements and formalities that have existed for too long in the education sector.
We also hope that the Ministry of Education and Training will adjust movements and competitions so that teaching and learning will focus on real quality, not on formality, achievements, and pressure that make teachers suffer.
