Le Thi Mai, a small merchant on Tay Son district in Hanoi, brought her son, a third grader, to a bookstore last weekend, because the boy said that he needed a reference book in literature.
“I brought him to the bookstore and told him to choose books himself, because I did not know what he needed,” Mai said.
Mai was so surprised that the boy could not find any textbooks after a long time of reading. “What books did the teacher tell you to purchase?” she questioned, feeling surprised that the boy could not find the ones he needed, though there were too many books on the shelves.
“I cannot choose anything to purchase, because the books only show the essays describing the landscapes at a park, while there is no book with the essays describing the park at the dawn,” the boy complained.
And Mai realized that her son wanted to purchase a book where he can find the templates that help him write an essay describing the park at the dawn as per the request by the teacher.
Mai’s son, like many other primary school students, cannot write essays without the suggestions of teachers or templates.
Another woman was seen holding a lot of reference books in different subjects, from history, geography to mathematics and literature on her hands. The woman said that the books show the methods that help better learn the most important subjects.
However, she added that she purchased the books not for the child, but for herself. “It would be better not to let my child to read the books, because there are questions and answers already. If my child can read the answers, he would just have to copy the answers without thinking,” she explained.
What she does with the reference textbooks will be reading the books, asking the child do the exercises in the books and then explains to him how to solve the questions if necessary.
It seems that many other parents also follow this way in teaching their children. Vietnamese students nowadays learn at school with their teachers, and then learn at home with their parents. Therefore, not only teachers, but parents also need reference books in order to teach students.
The role of teachers
What textbooks to buy is always a difficult-to-answer question. However, it seems that all parents buy at least one textbook that guides essay writing for their children.
The textbooks, in fact, provide the sample essays on different topics. Some educators have warned that the textbooks would make students more lazier, because they just have to copy sentences or paragraphs from the sample essays, while they do not try to write essays themselves.
A lot of teachers complain that reading sample essays has become a habit of all students, and that the textbooks are now considered a “kind of fast food” which allow students to churn out essays in the most convenient way.
Most of the polled teachers say they do not encourage parents to purchase reference textbooks. The problems of many students are that they lack real-life experience and knowledge and they are lazy to read and lazy to think.
However, parents still try to buy as many textbooks as possible, believing that the books are needed for their children. Most parents believe that they need more knowledge than the simple knowledge they receive from the teachers at school. Therefore, they need to do more home exercises and read more books.
Kim Thi Hanh, a teacher of Dich Vong A School, said that parents should consult with her when purchasing books for their children, because she best knows what students need. However, very few parents have done this so far.
Nguyen Huong
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Consulting, Investment and Management, focusing three main economic sectors: International PR; Healthcare & Wellness;and Tourism & Hospitality. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programs. Sign up with twitter to get news updates with @SaigonBusinessC. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment