Teaching Encoded
During the summer holidays, a video showing a teacher yelling a phrase (with the same abbreviation as "Who To Fire") to a police officer went viral. A "parent's union", along with police unions, made statements and held rallys to denounce the teacher. Funeral wreaths and banners (not fit to print here) were placed in front of the school employing the teacher. Then the spokesman of a group (that claims be a voice for those who love Hong Kong) is rumoured to hold protest and play the video (of the teacher saying the phrase) in front of the school. The man later said he won't protest at the school, but the same group has received approval from the police to protest in front of the school anyways. The city's Chief Executive even ordered the Education Secretary to write a report on the incident and the teacher's conduct (after a parent expressed her concern in a Q&A session).
What the teacher say was inappropriate, but the incident was blown out of proportion. Where are the parent union and police unions when teachers are found guilty of committing violent or sex crimes? It seems certain people, perhaps including the Chief Executive himself, won't stop until the teacher, a "non-patriot", is fired and her reputation is completed tarnished.
Satire mode on
With the incident in mind, the local education authorities are rumoured to be drafting a new teacher's code of conduct. Teachers who violate the code on their own free time would be severely punished. A teacher is deemed to be in violation of the code if one is caught committing any of the following:
- Eating junk food — teachers should set a good example to children. If a teacher is caught eating unhealthy food, students would accuse the teacher of being a hypocrite when the teacher tries to teach them healthy eating habits
- Drinking alcoholic beverages — alcohol is known to distort brain function. If a teacher consumes any amount alcohol, even outside of work, one may talk or behave in an inappropriate manner. Such activities may be captured on camera and the video uploaded to video-sharing web sites, tarnishing the teacher's and, worse, school's reputation
- Become a parent — while the decision to have children is a personal matter, a teacher should refrain from becoming parents while being employed as a teacher. Otherwise, the news would eventually spread within the school quickly. When students hear the news, they would become curious and ask their parents questions relating to the facts of life, a matter many parents are embarassed to answer
- Dress in such a way that others can recognize one's gender — children are sharp observers. When they notice adult men and women look different, they would ask their parents why, embarassing them in the process (see the previous point)
- Engage in sporting activities — when playing sports, people dress in a such a way that certain body parts are exposed or highly visible. If students cataches their teacher playing sports, they may ask the parents questions on the anatomy
- Reading/watching/listening material with inappropriate content (appropriateness to be defined by parents union or the school) — if a teacher reads articles or watches videos with viewpoints different from the school's philosophy, they may share such media to their students. This would cause students to question the school's philosophy, which leads to conflict within the school and an environment unsuitable for learning
- Expressing their views on current events — teachers should focus on teaching alone. If a teacher express their own views on current affairs, the students may express such views to their parents, who may hold different views of such matters. This can lead to arguements/violence within the home or, worse, damage relationships between family members
- Expressing their own views in events attended by dignitaries — if a teacher express their own views while attending events attended by dignitaries, students may become disobedient and disrespectful towards those more powerful than them, such as their parents, the school, or the government
There is no plans of establishing a similar code of conduct for parents, as schools and the education authorities have the power to determine whether a teacher is fit to teach. Meanwhile, education authorities and schools have no means to determine if a parent is fit to parent. In addition, parents know best.
Satire mode off
Hopefully there won't come a day when the above "code of conduct" becomes reality.