Neighbourhood Schools..

I've to admit I do not have a good impression of students from neighbourhood schools. Perhaps it has something to do with stereotyping and the fact that I do not have close friends from neighbourhood schools (with the exception of one, but she only entered one because she didn't sit for PSLE). The information I gather about these students are from newspapers and 'horror' stories from Barbara. With regards to newspaper articles, it's mostly about them getting involved in gang fights or crimes. As for Barbara, she complains about them being roudy, inattentive and disrespectful. This is not to say that ALL of them behave this way. A handful of them behaving like that is enough to create a bad impression of them in my head.

I hate to say this but I feel that I behave like an elitist. This is most evident when I entered a neighbourhood JC. Coming from an autonomous secondary school, I felt superior as most of my classmates came from neighbourhood schools. In fact, I suffered from a 'culture shock' when I first stepped in there. Mostly spoke Mandarin and their standard of English was quite atrocious. Not many people faithfully did their tutorials. In other words, their work attitude was terrible. This was especially so in my JC2 class (which only took 3 A Level subjects). It was quite easy to top the class, especially for GP and Mathematics C. I seldom bothered to mix around as I couldn't communicate with many of them. These people are nice but somehow, there seems to be a gulf between us in terms of mentality, attitude and thinking. And I always laughed at the way they addressed whichever tutor. Instead of "Miss Tan" or whatever, they would shout out "Cher!" (teaCHER). To sum it all, I found the behaviour of most neighbourhood students (those in my class) odd. To be fair to them, I'm just too prim and proper. So I guess it ain't their fault.

So it wasn't surprising when being asked which kind of schools I prefer to teach in, without any hesitation, I answered "branded schools". I immediately regretted my frank answer. But now that I step back and think about it, the reason why I said it was because I don't know what to expect of a neighbourhood secondary school. The greatest fear for most situations is not knowing what to expect. It's just like interviews or sometimes exams. Most people get worried because they are unsure of what would be asked or tested. It's the same for me. Hearing and reading about neighbourhood students is one matter. Witnessing them behaving in a classroom is another. Thus, in reality, I have no idea what a neighbourhood school is like. By stereotyping, as from what I encounter whenever I pass by a neighbourhood school, I reckon most of them to be ah bengs and ah lians . As I'm far from an ah lian, I'm in fact a little wary on how to deal with them. All I hope for now is that my impression of them would not be reinforced when I step in the classroom this Wednesday.