It’s a Living: Work & Life in Vietnam Today

Chapter 14: Teaching and Learning

TEACHING & LEARNING 278 TEACHING & LEARNING 280 kindergarten teacher My name is Trang. I’m 24 years old, and I work as a kindergarten teacher and an at-home tutor. I’m also a part-time university student specializing in preschool education. I’m always busy because I have lesson plans to prepare and errands to run. I have to wake up at 6 a.m. just to fit everything into the day. I make sure I squeeze in some time to exercise every morning when I wake up, and then I hop into the shower. Once I get dressed and eat breakfast, I head to the school, which is about a ten-minute motorbike ride from my apartment. My family’s originally from Hưng Yên, but these days I live in Hanoi and my dad and brother live in Sơn La, so I’m pretty far from family. After lunch, when all the other teachers get to take a nap, I have to stay awake to prepare lesson plans for everyone. I’ve been teaching and managing the curriculum for the teachers like this for three years now, and I find it really rewarding. Aside from my responsibilities as a teacher, I’ve also kind of taken over the management of parent-teacher relations. If there are any concerns or problems that need to be addressed, I’m there. TEACHING & LEARNING 281 I never thought I’d end up here. When I was growing up, my mom wanted me to become a kindergarten teacher, but I never really considered it. Then she passed away seven years ago and — even though many of my friends discouraged me — I decided to become a kindergarten teacher in remembrance of her. When I have troubles and feel stressed out, I think of my mom and write everything down in my diary. I ask my mom, “What should I do now, mom?” and she seems to be near me. Sometimes, I read over all the pages I’ve written to my mom and feel sad, but really, she’s become a big part of my motivation to keep going. I think that one of the most important parts of being a kindergarten teacher is being carefully and thoroughly trained. Secondly, you should be patient and passionate about the job. And finally, you have to be able to take a lot of stress; this job comes with a lot of pressure — pressure from the school, pressure from the kids, and especially pressure from the parents. The best part of my job is the fact that I get to play with kids. Each child is different and has a unique personality, but I’ve never met a kid who doesn’t love to draw. One loves to draw smiley faces, while another loves to draw houses and toys. They’re all so precious and letting them draw expands their imagination. I remember my first day at the kindergarten. I’d decided to teach the kids a new song called “Cá vàng” [goldfish]. I thought that it’d be fun to bring a goldfish to class. As soon as I brought the goldfish out, none of the kids paid any attention to me anymore, all they could see was that little fish. It got to a point where I had to yell so loudly that I lost my voice. By the time I finally got everyone calmed down again, it was time for the kids to go home, and I never got to teach them the song [laughs]. You don’t earn much working as a kindergarten teacher. It covers my tuition and meals, but there’s no way I’ll ever have money to burn. And even if I did have money, I wouldn’t have TEACHING & LEARNING 282 time to spend it. My days are filled with teaching, and because we’re a private kindergarten, we don’t get a lot of vacation days. Instead of two months like at the state schools, I only have one week off during the summer. If I have some days off, I go for a trip with my friends. Last year I went to Cửa Lò, and this year, my colleague and I took a quick trip to the beach at Sấm Sơn. Personally, I wouldn’t want my kids doing the same job as me. It’s not easy...