After a lot of struggle with my inner self, I have decided to reopen my blog for the time being.
I joined this international kindergarten in mid july. First they called me for a trial day. They liked me very much and I was told to join from the very next day on the same salary and also the same working hours just like my previous job; however the good points are H can also be in the same school absolutely free of cost, I am provided with a job card which means I can travel through out the whole city and the state free of cost and have also been promised a salary increment after six months. Probably the biggest convenience for me that the bus which takes me to the school and back takes only ten minutes and is available right on my doorstep as well as the school's doorstep, so it means, I just have to hop out of the main door and into the bus.
This school is large, really large. It has a total of twelve groups, each group having two German and one English teacher and at least twenty children of mixed age group. Each group has a sort of suite with three- four rooms disposed for their use, a large play park and regular monthly visits are made to forest, river, fire station etc. for educational purpose.
Sar is the group leader, a thin as a match stick, sickly looking tall twenty seven year old woman. The second is An, an elderly woman nearly fifty or more years of age, having a loud, clear, powerful voice. I am replacing Gy, a British woman, again in her late twenties or early thirties, a nice person enough.
The first two weeks I nearly died due to the colossus amount of work and menial work at that. It didn't take me long to realize that my group teachers, both Sar, An as well as Gy were being mean to me by consciencelessly slumping the whole work on my shoulders alone whilst they themselves did nothing, or as good as nothing. They made me change the diapers of all ten children three times a day, and alone, fetch heavy lunch boxes from the kitchen alone ( in this school the kitchen is in another building and requires climbing ten flight of steps to and fro, meanwhile opening/ unlatching 4 heavy doors while you are holding a 1.5 sq ft plastic box full of scalding hot, liquidy food, and a small another box for dessert ), carry back to the same kitchen the box containing used dishes, clean them in machine, wipe them dry, then bring them back to the group and arrange on the shelf, sweep the class, clean the dust the classroom, make beds for the children and tidy up after them and the list went on and on and on.
I was seriously confused if I was hired here as a teacher or a cleaner. I just wanted to quit or blow up the place.
Then bigger revelations started unfolding one by one very soon.
I realized the teachers over here, well at least in my group, did NOTHING. They had no concept of morning circle. They just made the children say good morning in a dead sleepy tones in four languages, asked what was the day today, then discussed what was going to be done today and morning circle got over.
They were horribly horribly harsh and strict with the children, never loving them, lifting them up in arms, always scolding them harshly, screaming at them every five minutes, punishing them for any small offence (even like crying or making noise) by giving them 'Time Out' i.e. making them sit outside for fifteen minutes to even half an hour and not doing ANY academics with them. Once, a small child who was on potty training wet his pants. They were so angry, they ordered that he stay in wet clothes the whole to realize his mistake.
I joined this international kindergarten in mid july. First they called me for a trial day. They liked me very much and I was told to join from the very next day on the same salary and also the same working hours just like my previous job; however the good points are H can also be in the same school absolutely free of cost, I am provided with a job card which means I can travel through out the whole city and the state free of cost and have also been promised a salary increment after six months. Probably the biggest convenience for me that the bus which takes me to the school and back takes only ten minutes and is available right on my doorstep as well as the school's doorstep, so it means, I just have to hop out of the main door and into the bus.
This school is large, really large. It has a total of twelve groups, each group having two German and one English teacher and at least twenty children of mixed age group. Each group has a sort of suite with three- four rooms disposed for their use, a large play park and regular monthly visits are made to forest, river, fire station etc. for educational purpose.
Sar is the group leader, a thin as a match stick, sickly looking tall twenty seven year old woman. The second is An, an elderly woman nearly fifty or more years of age, having a loud, clear, powerful voice. I am replacing Gy, a British woman, again in her late twenties or early thirties, a nice person enough.
The first two weeks I nearly died due to the colossus amount of work and menial work at that. It didn't take me long to realize that my group teachers, both Sar, An as well as Gy were being mean to me by consciencelessly slumping the whole work on my shoulders alone whilst they themselves did nothing, or as good as nothing. They made me change the diapers of all ten children three times a day, and alone, fetch heavy lunch boxes from the kitchen alone ( in this school the kitchen is in another building and requires climbing ten flight of steps to and fro, meanwhile opening/ unlatching 4 heavy doors while you are holding a 1.5 sq ft plastic box full of scalding hot, liquidy food, and a small another box for dessert ), carry back to the same kitchen the box containing used dishes, clean them in machine, wipe them dry, then bring them back to the group and arrange on the shelf, sweep the class, clean the dust the classroom, make beds for the children and tidy up after them and the list went on and on and on.
I was seriously confused if I was hired here as a teacher or a cleaner. I just wanted to quit or blow up the place.
Then bigger revelations started unfolding one by one very soon.
I realized the teachers over here, well at least in my group, did NOTHING. They had no concept of morning circle. They just made the children say good morning in a dead sleepy tones in four languages, asked what was the day today, then discussed what was going to be done today and morning circle got over.
They were horribly horribly harsh and strict with the children, never loving them, lifting them up in arms, always scolding them harshly, screaming at them every five minutes, punishing them for any small offence (even like crying or making noise) by giving them 'Time Out' i.e. making them sit outside for fifteen minutes to even half an hour and not doing ANY academics with them. Once, a small child who was on potty training wet his pants. They were so angry, they ordered that he stay in wet clothes the whole to realize his mistake.
