Ma’s Perception of HR and HRE

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is considered more important and it is like any other household task that does not required much expertise. Ma says, “Taiwanese parents think that teaching is not a profession. It is just to take care of young children and for that teachers are being paid.”

For this situation Ma has held teachers responsible.

Taiwanese teachers need to do extra effort so that teaching can be established as a profession. It is some teachers’

unprofessional attitude towards teaching that has ruined the image of teaching as a profession. The irony is that those teachers who are very professional at their workplace are generally unnoticed or overlooked.

For Ma, teaching is a profession that requires tremendous flow of “high emotions”. She used the expression “high emotions” to denote impassionate attitude and involvement on the part of a teacher. A teacher minus passion or positive energy is a teacher minus soul. “High emotions” render life to teaching otherwise it would become a mechanical process. If teaching is lively it leaves a lasting impact on students. Ma believes that teaching is a lifelong learning process. In teaching, every day is a new day in terms of unexpected incidents, challenges, and beautiful experiences. In a nutshell, teaching for Ma is a profession filled up with “high emotions”.

4.12.2 Ma’s Perception of HR and HRE

Ma says, “HR is for human dignity what oxygen is for human existence”. HR are necessary for survival of any democratic society. HRE plays a significant role in

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establishing and ensuring HR at grassroots level. HRE creates a culture of respect for not only those who come from the same culture but to those also who are from other cultures, ethnicities, societies, or countries. It also destroys misconceptions which the students form at home and bring them to the school as matter of fact. Ma says:

The biggest problem is that children carry some concepts to school which they imbibe from their parents. Students always defend these notions and concepts by saying that their parents had said this or that. For instance, they are not very clear about the concept of equality. In their understanding black men and women are not equal with white men and women because black men and women do menial or labor intensive work. This kind of understanding is based on partially understood American history. This leads to the formation of half-baked ideas such as blacks and whites are not equal.

Most of the time, these notions of students are directly coming from their parents. When I told them about Abraham Lincoln, they were surprised to know that a white man was struggling for the rights of black people.

It seems that there is a tendency among Taiwanese parents to teach American history to their students. It is apparent that they interpret issue of black and white from the window of their own notions instead of a historical perspective. It shows their shallow understanding of American history in general and race relations in particular. This opinion is further strengthen by Ma’s second example:

The similar trend is visible regarding the issue of gender.

There is a general misconception that men and women are not equal. It is man who is capable of doing big things not

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woman. We read one book on environment protection in which a woman discovered that DDT was used in the fields and which caused deaths of a lot of birds and animals in the surrounding areas. She continued her fight for environmental protection. My students were surprised to know that a woman took up such a big challenge and succeeded too. The literature they read not only broke down their preconceived notions but also entertained them.

Ma’s observation that parents pass their notions on to their progeny is valid. It seems that a significant number of parents foster gender stereotypes. It gets reflected in their desired profession for their children. With a few exceptions, the Taiwanese society endorses certain thoughts, ideas, opinions, stereotypes, prejudices and ideologies unconsciously or by preaching them to their offspring. Interestingly these preconceived notions are too rigid for them to give up and adolescents have been seen reacting strongly whenever these are contested or debated. This brings the role of the teacher in sharper focus. If the teacher critically presents facts and concepts and her own position, it is possible to weaken or abrogate irrational tradition. It is also applicable to as well as crucial for HRE. One of the purposes of HRE is to discourage the traditional thinking that creates barriers in the way of achieving gender equality and eradicating other inequalities.

Ma believes that the introduction of issues of HR, its violations and teaching about them in the classroom requires tremendous passion in a teacher. HRE can only happen when an impassionate teacher who is truly a believer and practitioner of HR takes the responsibility of it. She says:

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HRE is rooted in practice. If a teacher preaches one thing and practices another, students get a sense of it. They can judge the teacher’s behavior very well. For instance if I asked them not to come late and myself not punctual they would certainly see the discrepancy between what I said and what I practiced. If I say to my students that one should respect all human beings and my own conduct towards a school peon is disrespectful, how can I expect my students to take me seriously and sincerely?

For young children the teacher is someone who knows everything, who is always right, who is adorable and ideal to follow. It does not mean that they do not have the sense of what is right and wrong. They are very judicious in their approach. They can see the contradiction in the theory and praxis of a teacher and gradually the charisma of the teacher fades away. A teacher has to be very careful and sensitive about what s/he says and practices. HRE is not merely the transfer of information and knowledge to the students. It also brings changes in their affective domain that leads to the next stage of activism. In this way, the possibilities for social and political action as a means to advance the cause of HR can be introduced.