Early Childhood Educator: Who will stand up to speak for us genuinely passionate teachers ?


- We are Teachers. Yes. I repeat. We are Teachers. (Well, supposedly an honourable profession)


- We would save YOUR children if a bomb threat happens at school or the school is on fire. Yes, its no surprise, we would die to protect YOUR children. (No, not drama at all, unexpected things happen all the time, nothing is impossible anymore.)


- No we are not perfect, but we try to be every single day.


- You have 1, okay no, maybe a maximum of 5 children at home. We attend to more than 10, up to 25 or 30 within each class at school. Yet, when you tell us your child fell at home, we are there to advise you on how you can better manage things and avoid future incidents. When your child falls in school, we quietly acknowledge your shouts, your screams, lower our heads and apologize. We apologize while our hearts ache for YOUR child because we love them. (Yes. You heard me. We love YOUR children with all our heart and soul.)


- Some of us, who are mothers, spend more time with YOUR children than our own flesh and blood.


- We will NEVER give up on any one of YOUR children. The day they walk down that aisle in their graduation gown, we tear, we feel that ache, we feel that pride that YOUR children have grown up, ready for Primary 1, ready for life. And we will miss them dearly. We will miss their laughter, voice, cheekiness, stubbornness, tears, hugs etc.


I could go on and on. But I won't. Because this is not going to reach the ears of those who need to hear this. Instead, it is going to only reach out to my friends, one in every five are Early Childhood Educators.


P.S. I am certain there are definitely reasonable, understanding and objective people / parents out there. So if you are reading this, thank you, thank you for seeing us as teachers.


This post first appeared on the FaceBook wall of Miss Stacey Elizabeth Toh. You may wish to share your perspectives and afterthoughts with her on the page itself.


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