After working as a full time teacher in four different schools in Florida, I feel totally confused and am not sure anymore
what this profession is about. After I share my personal experience, it will be up to you, my dear reader (if you live in the United States) to judge and decide if what I am talking about here is a general tendency throughout the whole country, or I have bad luck and keep choosing wrong schools, or maybe I am a lousy teacher who is in denial and blames everybody but herself. Here comes my story.
I've been teaching all my life, and that's the only job I know and want to do. Before coming here, to the United States, I taught overseas. The first teaching job I found in Florida was a small private Christian school. I loved the job, the
students, the colleagues, etc. Two years later our
principal retired, and the new person didn't quite know what she was doing. I was asked to leave after two parents complained that I was too strict and didn't provide enough fun for children. My next school was also private Christian, but a big one. The principal observed all the teachers very often, and was always very pleased to see what I was doing in the class. However, three out of seventeen parents kept complaining throughout the entire year that I was giving too much homework, or not enough homework, did too many projects, or very few projects,etc. In other words I was accused of totally different things. At the end of the year the principal told me that even though I was a great teacher, I could not be offered a contract for the next year because I failed "to keep all the parents happy". Since the tuition pays our salary, they could not rehire teachers who caused any kind of dissatisfaction. I know that I was neither the first, nor the last teacher who was "let go" for the same reason. After that I decided to try a public charter school. It was a high school for the students from "underpriviledged" (whatever it means?) families. I assumed that "underpriviledged" meant low-income, but most of the parents would bring to the students lunches from KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, etc.,but it's a different story. Hoping that my dealings with fussy parents' complaints were finally over because this school was free of charge, I started my new job with much enthusiasm. Alas, this job lasted only five weeks! But this time I quit myself. I would never believe that teachers may have to deal with so much abuse, insult and disrespect. The students were talking to each other about me as if I wasn't even there. They were making fun of my foreign accent, pretended they couldn't understand me, threatened to punch me... But the day the principal told me that I had to choose my words very carefully while talking to students in order not to make them upset because they were very proud and sensitive, I decided it was more than I could handle. What about my pride? Why were they allowed to say to me "f*** off"? I was advised not to pay attention to this because it was part of African-American culture. I strongly believe that this statement is the worst insult to any black person in this country. Since when is profanity part of anyone's culture?
Now I am in another private school (non Christian). The tuition is $11,000 a year. What do you think? I feel sometimes like I am in a sick institution. The children are allowed to scream at a teacher,"Be quiet! Leave me alone!" " I hate you all!" The parents are very rich people and in addition to tuition sponsor the school in many ways. I am not sure how long it will last, but I am exhausted of the job search. I don't want to change my profession because this is what my heart is up to. At the same time I am anxious to see what awaits me again.