LETTER | Recently, many Malaysian school-leavers received their UPU (Unit Pengambilan Universiti) placements, which will now provide them with a choice to make instead of them deciding their own future post-school life.

Some of those pupils already at their foundation or matriculation levels have also completed their first foray into tertiary education.

Simply put, they are all elevating to a new height after nearly 10 years of school.

And thus, they will be thrust into an alien environment as well.

Many young and old Malaysians seem to forget or not know that college life is different from that of school—no more memorising and ‘regurgitating’ information onto test papers.

No more hand-holding from teachers. No more direct guidance and no more adult-imposed workflow for the incoming students.

Unfortunately, many failed to aid or warn these children about what is to come. And unfortunately, “many” here can also refer to fellow educators.

Many of the current generations of educators came from times when tough love was the real deal: the one to make or break a child.

The idea of physical and mental toughness still lingers within the current crop of educators.

New paradigm

Some believe that the new, incoming generation would be self-centred, soft, and full of complaints, mainly thanks to the ease brought by technological advancement.

Many are still romanticising the canes, the harshness, and the gaps between students and teachers that their former educators applied in the past.

Thankfully, many are beginning to realise a new paradigm in handling young adults today, especially in higher education.

To be fair to many educators, some still bear their own respective trauma, conscious or unconscious, from their own experiences.

Thus, they never realise or are too self-centred to admit that such learning processes that educators in the past have used can undermine human development.

Some others acknowledge their trauma and brace themselves to ensure such a thing will not happen again to their students.

This is a good example of educating from the heart.

With all the available resources at hand, one can turn themselves into a great educator.

Training, seminars, modules and teaching strategies such as Outcome-based Education, flipped classrooms, blended learning, communication skills, et cetera are testament to the abundance of techniques and skills that educators can equip themselves with.

Sadly, one aspect has extensively been talked about but never truly been applied: empathic skills.

The post-Covid era has seen a surge in training that educators have gone through, especially within higher institutions.

This was to deal with the traumatising experience school leavers have had in the past 3-4 years due to the movement control order.

While it is great that many educators went through such upskilling, seeing the new paradigm receding slowly is also saddening.

Now that Covid has been deemed ‘less threatening’ by members of society, many perhaps believe that there is no more need for them to apply empathy when educating the youth.

The voices calling out “Excuses!” when confronting a student trying to reason, or “Is my subject not important to you?” while lamenting the last-minute work by some groups, can be heard again.

This is not to say that students can be exempt from punishment or adulthood training, as we love to coin it.

But rather, it is a wonder as to what has happened to give the benefit of the doubt.

What happens to place ourselves in others’ shoes? We would love to have others do that to us, but we run away when it is our turn.

Empathy

My dear Malaysians, educating the youth must come with empathy. Meaning it must come from the heart.

Educating is not just day-to-day work but practically investing our lives in others. Nay, let me rephrase: for the next generation of Malaysia.

This is also why I kept asking my students if they tell me they want to be teachers: “Do you TRULY want to be one?” or “Why do you want to teach?”

Trust me; this is not me gatekeeping a job. But I know being an educator is not for everyone.

It is not for the ones who think that being a teacher can bring monetary benefits, pension, long holidays, going home early and many more perks that the older generation has always touted.

It is a long-drawn adventure that requires us to be there for those who need guidance and those who crave knowledge.

It requires us to want to do it.

Being a teacher is like being a superhero. Not everyone can be a superhero.

Because superheroes have to have a heart.

The writer is a matriculation teacher at the Centre for Foundation Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.