呂和謙(Sam)

Recently, I watched a short video of a legislator questioning government officials, stating that Taiwan’s education system is facing severe issues that threaten the nation’s future. Some school teachers among my own students have expressed similar sentiments, saying they plan to retire the very moment they become eligible.

A few years ago, I took on an after-school art tutoring class. The organizer painted a grand, idealistic vision, which I foolishly believed. However, it turned out that I was acting more like a disciplinarian; I barely had enough time to maintain order, let alone actually teach. Recently, I muddled my way into accepting a summer class, only to find the exact same situation. Almost all my energy is spent on classroom management. Students who actually want to learn end up getting nothing out of it, while one troublemaker starts a commotion and the rest blindly follow.

These children are coddled by their families—over-praising is truly a poison—making them believe they are already amazing, so they just refuse to draw anymore. It feels as though parents pay for these tutoring classes not for education, but simply to pass their parental responsibilities onto the teachers or institutions.

The entire educational ecosystem in our society has truly shifted. Teachers no longer hold noble ideals or a deep sense of responsibility; their only goal now is to safely make it to retirement and collect their pensions. No wonder that legislator warned that the future of our country is worrying. I will never dare to take on children’s art classes again; right now, I just want to get through this safely. Ideals are just ideals—reality, after all, is much harsher.

前一陣子看了一篇短影片，因為立委在諮詢官員說台灣的教育出了很大的問題，影響著台灣的未來。而我的學生當中有一些老師也曾經這樣子說，只要可以退休的時間到了他們就要退休。前幾年接了一個課後美術輔導班。主導者說了一個大夢，我信以為真的以為如此，結果好像是在課堂上當訓導老師，光是管秩序都來不及了那有時間教課。最近有糊裡糊塗接了個暑期班。結果情況一樣幾乎都在管秩序。想學的學生學不到東西，一個帶頭起鬨其他的跟著起鬨。學生被家庭寵養著，（過度的稱讚是毒藥）覺得自己非常的棒，不想再畫了。家長感覺花錢讓學生來輔導，其實感覺是付錢把責任推給導師或者是輔導班。整個社會的教育體系真的改變了，老師不再有崇高的理想，也不再擁有責任，只要安全的領到退休金就好。這也難怪立委諮詢說這國家的未來堪憂，我下次再也不敢接小孩子的美術課程了，只求趕快安全渡過。理想歸理想，現實還是比較實際。