Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Judged!



A big mouth, a watch, a hanged-man and a book of statutes were chosen to symbolise himself by his old friends. Those symbols corresponded with his educational background in law.


He was deemed to be talkative (the big mouth), precise and punctual (the watch), knowledgable of the law (the book of statutes) and punishing bad people (the hanged-man). This was how people judged him then.


Standing there by himself, his educational background had little to do with what he was facing now. He was judged again. All plans went haywire and he could feel that he had lost his grip. He could only sigh and nervously waiting for the result.


As he expected, there was much flaws. Technically, as one of the freshies, those flaws could be forgiven. He realised that there was still a lot of room for him to improve. He felt relieved because he knew that he was yet to reach his peak despite the fading color of his hair.


But one comment really stung his conciousness. He knew that his pupils loved him but the rationale behind that love was a little big worrying. It was a real big question mark. An unsolved mystery.


It was never his intention to make them loved him because of his jokes. He didn't think that he he had that much sense of humour to make laughable jokes. He had never been a funny guy. But, yet, jokes were still used to attract his students to what he taught. It became a worrying realisation that the students might be attracted to him more rather than his teaching.


He cleared his mind and made some reevaluation. There might be the slightest of truth in it looking at the overall performance of his students. Some showed some improvement. Some showed none.


That comment had been a reminder for him. He might be loveable but not his teaching. Or he could do otherwise.


However, he knew that they were not the only choices he had. Why not be loveable and at the same time make his teaching loveable?


Looking forward, he understood that he would be facing a new challenge. He felt so excited!

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