The noble profession
In the olden days, teachers are one of the noble profession that most parents would want their children to become one. Islam teaches us to respect our teachers second to our parents. This is because, when we are in school, the teachers are the next responsible person to take care of us. Teachers are not just there to teach us the curriculum subjects, but they were there to instill good values, build characters and help our parents by developing us as a whole person.
Such are the responsibilities of a teacher that nowadays, most parents and children/teenagers does not understand the concept of learning in school.
To the modern parents, schooling is mostly about academic achievements. Most parents are more concerned of their children’s grades than the personality and character building that actually comes in a package the very first day of school of their children. This is apparent when we read in the newspapers how in some cases school children can be rude to their teachers and their parents felt it is not right for teachers to teach their children by scolding or disciplining them.
There are many views on this particular issue. I’m speaking my mind, as a mother and an educator/lecturer/teacher/facilitator/friend/sister/mother to my students. Yes, I take on a role that constantly intertwined and changes from time to time when the need arises.
I think parents should re-think the objectives of sending their children to school.
When parents themselves have little or no respect to the teachers, they are subconsciously teaching their children to be disrespectful towards their teachers. Think about it for a moment.. Would you like people to regard your children as being rude? Isn’t personality and character the important aspect of leadership apart from the excellent grades?
Just think again..
I send my 10 year old to religious knowledge class (KAFA) after school since he was 7 and gave the Ustaz a cane. We told the Ustaz in the presence of my son to cane him if he is naughty and rude. Sometimes Ustaz pinched him instead of caning him. The thing is that, my son never comes back whining or complaining. This is because he knows that I have already given the permission to Ustaz to reprimand or punish him whenever there is a need to do so. He knows that if he complains, I will cane him again. I do not think this is absurd.
In his teachings, Rasullullah (s.a.w) said that “ 6 years and below, shower them with lots of love, between 7 til 12 years old, cane them when they misbehave, 13 years and above be a friend to them..”
I might be old fashioned, but I think its better that my son knows if he does something wrong, he needs to be reminded by both parents and teachers. By doing so, the teaching is synchronized and synergized.
There is no easy way
My ex-students often approached me to seek advise on the prospect and the procedures of becoming a lecturer. I always tell them what my lecturer ( now, colleague) used to tell me once upon a time.. go on and get at least two years working experience first before applying for Masters Degree and eventually ending up as a lecturer.
I saw the wisdom in that advise when I was given one. The purpose of you having to gain the experience is to firstly, get exposure and learn the hardship of working in advertising or design agencies. This will give you the opportunity to broaden your mind tremendously. You will learn to think maturely. You will be able to analyze and synthesize and make better judgment of what is presented before you.
It is important to have the experience in working because you then can apply what you have learned in the University and make sense of it. You have the opportunity to explore and experiment and sell your creative ideas to the clients and get the highs from being recognized by your bosses. It is all part and parcel of making you a wiser person.
The experience will help you in the process of learning Masters degree.
Character and Personality
Character and personality are the two aspects that you need to consider when you want to become a lecturer. You have to first and foremost have the passion and desire to help develop others in becoming knowledgeable.
You need to know that a lecturers role, is not just teaching the students the subjects, but, a great lecturer would show the students the path of becoming a better person. By that it means, shaping, molding, demonstrating, role-modeling, showing, teaching the way for them to be a better person.
You need to genuinely, wholeheartedly, enthusiastically wanting to do this noble job. If you think that being a lecturer is the easiest profession, you are very wrong. It is not an easy job, and I have friends who can attest to that.
It’s painfully, stressfully, tiringly but wonderfully satisfying becoming a lecturer.
The satisfaction is when you receive thank you notes, via sms, phone calls, writing on the walls of Facebook. These are the priceless rewards of becoming a great lecturer. Students will know if you are being sincere in what you are doing, and you must taste the first fruit of your labor to actually love the profession. When you have reached that stage, you will become addicted and will want to work harder for your students to become the better person.
Other responsibilities..
But of course, apart from teaching, there are 1001 other things that you must do such as research, present papers in conferences, publish, community service, exhibition, conduct seminars, workshops and what have you.. Not to mention that you need to also do Phd along the way. You also need to do some administrative work from time to time as and when is requested by your superior. It has been observed that some lecturers does not understand and forget the fine prints accompanying the job offer. They will say yes to everything during the interview and forget later that there are needs to be fulfilled.
In the next entry, we will look into the other aspects of becoming a great teacher.
I welcome comments and feedback from the readers.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
volunteerism leadership
Dear beloved family, friends, current and ex-students,
I hope all of you are in good health and happy amongst family members and friends.
Firstly, I apologize for not being able to attend to friends request and reply to messages in the last few months. My current job is actually taking me away from the luxury of getting aquainted with all of you. More over, its the management policy that Facebook is one of the many sites besides friendster and other social media being banned from us in the management team getting access to. These are one of the may things that we have to sacrifice in the name of making UiTM a better place for the students and lecturers.
However, lecturers in faculties still get the privelege to do so. Anyway, that is good because we can get very good information and keep track on who is saying what to the intended parties in Facebook – I’m now refering to my current students. Even though I may not be teaching them in class, but all of the Faculty of Art and Design Students are my students.
I heard some returning students from practical training are complaining about the timetable, and using nasty language openly in Facebook.
May I remind you that whatever you do or say in campus or in public reflects the kind of mentality, character and personality that you have – Here in UiTM, we are giving you the landscape to learn knowledge of your field of interests as well as giving you the opportunity to develop your potential as leaders.
If you are not happy with the system, lecturers, subjects that are thought, methods of delivery, faculty, having to share parking lots with the lecturers etc.. I understand the constraints – we all are having nightmares every single day fighting silently with regards to having to give in to students who drives cars filling our parking lots!. Please be brave and come forward to the Deans office, and speak to our Deputy Dean ( Students Affair and Alumni), Prof Madya Dr Ruslan Abdul Rahim, who is also active in Facebook, and we will try to rectify and find solutions to the problem. ( by the way, he is aware of this current problem and ask the student to come forward, and I have identified the student as well)
Dont be a coward by complaining, cursing and using foul language just to prove a point. Thats not very clever, boys and girls, you are going to be University graduates very soon, please show some integrity and class! Be thankful that you were the chosen one amongst the many others who genuinely wants to study and become somebody. Be thankful that you have other priveleges, shelter, food, pocket money, teachers, family, friends who are there for you when you need them. Be thankful that you have a great opportunity to be of use to the society and community, I HOPE.
On that note, I would like to share with my beloved family, friends, current and ex students, of 1901 Hotdogs – Corporate Social Leadership program – Food for the Homeless. I’d like to thank Encik Afzam Adenan, Brand Manager of 1901 for inviting me to join the volunteer team for this noble purpose. I’m also grateful to the Executive Director and co-Founder of 1901, Encik Ahmad Zakir Ja’afar for giving UiTM the opportunity to participate in this drive and hopefully we can collaborate on doing more Corporate Social Leadership program such as this.
One fine character of a leader that I admire in Encik Zakir is his humbleness in joing the volunteer team on site ( 15 July 09) to mingle with these “Street Buddies” as he called them. This is the kind of role model that I aspire to instill in my students, be humble even though we are highly educated, respect everyone, and we will earn the respect in return.
In this experience, I learned to put my fears aside, I open my eyes, my ears and my heart to them, reaching out to talk to them, shaking their hands and comfort them with empathy. They are human beings, just like us, they have feelings,they have wants and needs, they’re hurting inside. Some of them are young adults, some are middle aged and some are very old. Some are runaways, some being driven away by their family.
Some can speak English and have high hopes on landing themselves on a decent job such as security guard or even a cleaner, so that they are able to be independent. However, these Street Buddies needs proper training before they can be employed. Alot of work needs to be done in changing their mindset, from negative to positive, from worthless to someone of use, raise their self-esteem and help them get back on their feet again. There are psychology issues which needs to be addressed as well.
Some 300-350 packs of food being given away to these Street Buddies every Wednesdays between
5-7pm, and the location is at the small green patch between Central Market and Dayabumi. (next to the river) Anyone who is in my circle of friends and are interested to be part 1901 Volunteer team please email me at csduitm.@yahoo.com.
1901 can only do so much, we can do much more if we all work together in helping the unfortunates and the people who are in real need.
If you dont have the time to join us, perhaps you would like to donate unused casual clothes such as t-shirts, shirts short and long sleeves, pants, jeans etc.. shoes, slippers, sandals ( in good condition), blankets, brand new toiletries – eg toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, shampoo and soap. Medicine such as panadol, antiseptics, lozenges, cracked heel lotion, plasters – basically First aid kit.
I am also a Volunteer of MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional ), they also need these stuffs, including toys and soft toys for children, books etc..
The Community Service Development Unit, University – Industry Linkages and Community Networks, UiTM is in the process of recruiting students and staffs to be Volunteers, UiTM alumni are welcome to join and be the core team leaders – Theres so many community projects ( apart from 1901) that we can embark on collaboration basis. Alumni who are working in local and International companies who is practising Corporate Social Responsibility are most welcome to propose ideas and work together hand in hand with UiTM. We need your support ! Lets help the country and make it a better place to live in!
Be The Difference Maker, Be a Volunteer
Warm regards,
Raba’ah
I hope all of you are in good health and happy amongst family members and friends.
Firstly, I apologize for not being able to attend to friends request and reply to messages in the last few months. My current job is actually taking me away from the luxury of getting aquainted with all of you. More over, its the management policy that Facebook is one of the many sites besides friendster and other social media being banned from us in the management team getting access to. These are one of the may things that we have to sacrifice in the name of making UiTM a better place for the students and lecturers.
However, lecturers in faculties still get the privelege to do so. Anyway, that is good because we can get very good information and keep track on who is saying what to the intended parties in Facebook – I’m now refering to my current students. Even though I may not be teaching them in class, but all of the Faculty of Art and Design Students are my students.
I heard some returning students from practical training are complaining about the timetable, and using nasty language openly in Facebook.
May I remind you that whatever you do or say in campus or in public reflects the kind of mentality, character and personality that you have – Here in UiTM, we are giving you the landscape to learn knowledge of your field of interests as well as giving you the opportunity to develop your potential as leaders.
If you are not happy with the system, lecturers, subjects that are thought, methods of delivery, faculty, having to share parking lots with the lecturers etc.. I understand the constraints – we all are having nightmares every single day fighting silently with regards to having to give in to students who drives cars filling our parking lots!. Please be brave and come forward to the Deans office, and speak to our Deputy Dean ( Students Affair and Alumni), Prof Madya Dr Ruslan Abdul Rahim, who is also active in Facebook, and we will try to rectify and find solutions to the problem. ( by the way, he is aware of this current problem and ask the student to come forward, and I have identified the student as well)
Dont be a coward by complaining, cursing and using foul language just to prove a point. Thats not very clever, boys and girls, you are going to be University graduates very soon, please show some integrity and class! Be thankful that you were the chosen one amongst the many others who genuinely wants to study and become somebody. Be thankful that you have other priveleges, shelter, food, pocket money, teachers, family, friends who are there for you when you need them. Be thankful that you have a great opportunity to be of use to the society and community, I HOPE.
On that note, I would like to share with my beloved family, friends, current and ex students, of 1901 Hotdogs – Corporate Social Leadership program – Food for the Homeless. I’d like to thank Encik Afzam Adenan, Brand Manager of 1901 for inviting me to join the volunteer team for this noble purpose. I’m also grateful to the Executive Director and co-Founder of 1901, Encik Ahmad Zakir Ja’afar for giving UiTM the opportunity to participate in this drive and hopefully we can collaborate on doing more Corporate Social Leadership program such as this.
One fine character of a leader that I admire in Encik Zakir is his humbleness in joing the volunteer team on site ( 15 July 09) to mingle with these “Street Buddies” as he called them. This is the kind of role model that I aspire to instill in my students, be humble even though we are highly educated, respect everyone, and we will earn the respect in return.
In this experience, I learned to put my fears aside, I open my eyes, my ears and my heart to them, reaching out to talk to them, shaking their hands and comfort them with empathy. They are human beings, just like us, they have feelings,they have wants and needs, they’re hurting inside. Some of them are young adults, some are middle aged and some are very old. Some are runaways, some being driven away by their family.
Some can speak English and have high hopes on landing themselves on a decent job such as security guard or even a cleaner, so that they are able to be independent. However, these Street Buddies needs proper training before they can be employed. Alot of work needs to be done in changing their mindset, from negative to positive, from worthless to someone of use, raise their self-esteem and help them get back on their feet again. There are psychology issues which needs to be addressed as well.
Some 300-350 packs of food being given away to these Street Buddies every Wednesdays between
5-7pm, and the location is at the small green patch between Central Market and Dayabumi. (next to the river) Anyone who is in my circle of friends and are interested to be part 1901 Volunteer team please email me at csduitm.@yahoo.com.
1901 can only do so much, we can do much more if we all work together in helping the unfortunates and the people who are in real need.
If you dont have the time to join us, perhaps you would like to donate unused casual clothes such as t-shirts, shirts short and long sleeves, pants, jeans etc.. shoes, slippers, sandals ( in good condition), blankets, brand new toiletries – eg toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, shampoo and soap. Medicine such as panadol, antiseptics, lozenges, cracked heel lotion, plasters – basically First aid kit.
I am also a Volunteer of MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional ), they also need these stuffs, including toys and soft toys for children, books etc..
The Community Service Development Unit, University – Industry Linkages and Community Networks, UiTM is in the process of recruiting students and staffs to be Volunteers, UiTM alumni are welcome to join and be the core team leaders – Theres so many community projects ( apart from 1901) that we can embark on collaboration basis. Alumni who are working in local and International companies who is practising Corporate Social Responsibility are most welcome to propose ideas and work together hand in hand with UiTM. We need your support ! Lets help the country and make it a better place to live in!
Be The Difference Maker, Be a Volunteer
Warm regards,
Raba’ah
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
