78: Adieu Kate

kate said:

"at the end of the day,

all teachers look for are mistakes"

i was about to defend my profession

i was about to defend myself
but then i realised
that in our dualistic system of
black or white
loose or tight
wrong or right
we have lost sight

of kids like kate:

in the middle of the line

in the middle of the graph

in the middle of the spectrum
in the middle of everything

and yet nowhere to be found.

we stuff them into boxes

expecting them to still breathe

and then we wonder

why they choke when we ask them to speak;

we make them give answers

based on prepared marking schemes
they can't think too far

-- can't give more than the examiner wanted;

we want them to be unique

yet shut them down when they are

and sweep under the carpet

their blood, sweat and tears like specks of dust

we tell them to listen listen listen

and then we talk talk talk talk talk
because only adults
can have opinions, right?

and then we complain

that kids like kate
become notorious rebels

or passionless zombies.

so when kate finishes school

i wonder if i can honestly say
"adieu, kate!"
as she faces the world beyond the school gate
because she will come to realise
that school didn't really prepare her for all that
but in some ways, it did
just not exactly like

what we had said.

---

kate said

"at the end of the day

all teachers look for

are mistakes"

i was about to defend my profession

i was about to defend myself

and then i realised

that she was not far from right.

because in our dualistic system of

black or white

loose or tight

wrong or right

we have lost sight

of kids like kate,

those who are

in the middle of the line

in the middle of the graph

in the middle of the spectrum

in the middle of everything

and yet nowhere to be found

and

we stuff them into boxes

expecting them to breathe

and then we wonder

why they choke when we ask them to speak;

we force them to answer

based on the scheme

not what they had discovered

-- hey, it's more than what the examiner wanted.

we want them to manage 

by themselves,

so we sweep under the carpet

their blood, sweat and tears like specks of dust

we give them rules to follow

which we ourselves

don't heed or understand

and then say 'tut tut' when they are confused

we tell them to listen listen listen

and then we talk talk talk talk talk

because only adults

can have opinions, right?

and then we complain

that kids like kate

become notorious

or lifeless beings.

so when kate finishes school

i wonder if i can honestly say

"adieu, kate!"

as she faces the world beyond the school gate

because she will come to realise

that school didn't really prepare her for all that

but in some ways, it did

just not exactly like

what we had said.

---

i was once a kate, and i hope i educate.

---

kate said

"at the end of the day

all teachers look for

are mistakes"

i was about to defend my profession

i was about to defend myself

and then i realised

that she was somewhat right.

because in our dualistic system of

black and white

loose or tight

wrong and right

we have lost sight

of kids like kate

they are those

who are somewhere

in the middle of the line

in the middle of the graph

in the middle of the spectrum

in the middle of nowhere

and

we stuff them into boxes

expecting them to breathe

and then we wonder

why they choke when we ask them to speak;

we force them to answer

according to the scheme

not what they had discovered

because it's more than what the examiner wanted.

we want them to manage 

by themselves,

and we sweep their problems 

under the carpet like silly specks useless dust

we give them rules to follow

which we ourselves

don't heed or understand

and then say 'tut tut' when they are confused

we tell them to listen listen listen

and then we talk talk talk talk talk

because only adults

can have opinions, right?

and then we complain

that kids like kate

become notorious

or zombies.

but

when kate finishes school

i wonder if i can honestly say

"adieu, kate!"

as she faces the world beyond the school gate

because she will come to realise

that school didn't really prepare her for all that

but in some ways, it did

just not exactly according to

what we had said.

---

i was once a kate

and i hope i educate.