採訪教育界人員(安親班)

小林是一位高二生，短髮、身高175、個性溫和。

最近由於108新課綱，小林要做一個專題報告。他透過親戚，找到了一位從事過安親班和補習班的老師─呂老師

小林：「您好，很榮幸有機會可以採訪你。」

呂：「不會。你想要問什麼？」

小林：「我想知道您以前從事安親班的經歷，您可以大致描述一下嗎？」

呂：「好的。我大學畢業後就到了一家安親班工作，那時候正值馬英九政府推行22k(二萬二)補助企業的方案。」

小林：「22k? 那是什麼？」

呂：「那時候我工作的安親班可以跟政府申請一年的補助，也就是說我的薪水是政府付的，不是我老闆付的。」

小林：「什麼意思？補助企業一個月22k，那應該實際薪水是30k之類的吧？」

呂：「沒有。我老闆沒有付我一毛錢。我的月薪就22k而已。」

Brian Lundquist on Unsplash

小林：「什麼！那比現在勞基法規定的最低工資還要低。而且大學畢業不是應該起薪30k嗎？」

呂：「是阿。那之前大學畢業大概起薪30k，但是馬政府推出這方案反而讓畢業生起薪22k，我老闆還美其名說跟進政府？？？ 他說，你看政府說22k而已。真的不能低估資本家的臉皮。」

小林：「現在最低工資好像都26k多了吧。」

呂：「對。我想馬政府用意是好的，想要補助企業，讓失業率降低，可惜實際執行上卻可能被一些企業理解成政府帶頭壓低薪資，只要給大學畢業生22k就好了。」

小林：「那你為什麼要接受？」

呂：「那時剛畢業，啥都不懂。想說有工作就好了，還因為接受這工作被家裡罵了一頓。只是想說要有點契約精神，已經簽了一年，那就先做一年吧」

小林：「我們現在來聊一聊您當年在安親班的工作經歷吧。」

呂：「好的。我進入了那安親班才知道，整個安親班只有請我一個老師。也就是我要教國小數學、國文、社會、自然，和幼稚園+國小+國中的英文。」

小林：「什麼意思？安親班還要上課的嗎？不是顧小朋友，不要讓他們發生危險就好嗎？」

呂：「不是的。我還得像是團班補習班的老師，在前面寫黑板上課呢。備課壓力超級大，要花很多時間念書、想上課大綱、打上課講稿、練習講課、錄音。雖然上班8小時，實際工作大概一天11-13小時。」

小林：「那應該超級累吧？」

呂：「是的，超級累。很耗腦力。光是每天讀書就覺得又回到了高三時期。」

小林：「那這樣的情況你還堅持了一年嗎？」

呂：「是的。我也很佩服當初的自己。」

小林：「那當安親老師除了上課還要做什麼呢？」

呂：「還要幫忙修改學生學校作業。」

小林：「什麼意思？學校作業不是應該由學校老師改嗎？」

呂：「是的。照理說是這樣。但是由於家長希望小朋友回家就不用再寫作業。所以會要求學校作業在安親班寫完；有的家長希望學生得到甲上上，所以安親班老師要先改過。」

小林：「這樣好像哪裡怪怪的。我以為在安親班寫作業，應該是小朋友自己寫，遇到不會的再跑去問老師。老師只是輔助，啟發同學。」

呂：「我的理解也是這樣。所以我和我老闆吵架了。」

小林：「為什麼會吵架？」

呂：「有一次有一位家長來客訴我，說他小孩的作業怎麼會被學校老師圈起來，說他小孩作業寫錯了。」

小林：「國小生作業寫錯很正常，為什麼會被客訴？如果每題都寫對，學校老師反而可能會懷疑作弊或抄解答吧！」

呂：「我也是這麼覺得。寫作業本來就是鞏固，我們盡量去輔導同學，可是一班有30-40人，本來就不可能一個一個，一題一題慢慢教。只能讓同學自己寫，寫完交上來，我們看到有空白或大量寫錯的地方去關心他，給他一點解法啟發他之類的，用引導的方式盡量幫助學生。」

呂：「而且我光寫聯絡簿，就得花大量時間了。時間根本不夠，再加上要管秩序，常常遇到學生拿橡皮擦丟別人、偷拉頭髮有的沒有的，那都要時間。家長的要求根本不可能實現。」

小林：「那你怎麼辦？」

呂：「當年剛畢業，我也還是個楞頭青，我直接跟家長說不可能。學生應該用引導的，而不是要求完美。每一題都要寫對，那他應該專門請一個家教，一題一題慢慢教。」

小林：「然後呢？」

呂：「然後家長就說叫你們老闆出來。」

小林：「蝦米？！」

Chris Curry on Unsplash

呂：「然後我老闆就跟家長鞠躬道歉。說我不懂事，叫我也道歉。」

小林：「我不理解家長為何這麼做？」

呂：「可能面子問題？也可能是完美主義作祟？其實我也不是很懂」

小林：「那你為什麼會和老闆吵架？」

呂：「因為老闆為了達到客戶要求，叫我直接拿解答給學生抄。」

小林：「什麼！」

Ryan Snaadt on Unsplash

呂：「我覺得這樣是不對的。作業應該是幫助孩子去思考、去鞏固。而不是抄一抄應付了事。這樣的行為根本是害了孩子，這我沒辦法接受。所以我和老闆說這我無法做到。我從事教育行業的目的不是為了害孩子。」

小林：「你講話那麼直，那你有被老闆炒魷魚嗎？」

呂：「這倒是沒有，可能我這種免費勞工太好用、太多功能，老闆捨不得吧。他把我炒掉，大概率就要自己上了。我覺得應該找不太到其他人像我那麼傻的。」

小林：「那位家長後來還有客訴你嗎？」

呂：「後來學生不繳錢了。就補到當月份。」

arash payam on Unsplash

小林：「你當安親班老師有遇到什麼印象深刻的事情嗎？」

呂：「有，我有一次過了半小時才想起來要騎機車去接小朋友。因為我是全職老師，所以不像是美勞老師上完課就可以走。我還得騎機車去附近的幾間國小接小朋友。騎完機車之後還得去補習班正對面的國小去帶路隊，帶小朋友走過來。有一次我在公司改學生作業，忙到沒注意到時間。所以就沒有準時去接他──我那時候看到小朋友不安的臉，真的很愧疚。」

今天就先到這裡

小林：「很感謝您接受今天的採訪。我期待著將您的故事帶給更多人。」

困難是可以克服的。願您在教育事業中取得豐碩的成果，繼續成為孩子們的啟蒙者，為社會的未來添磚加瓦。謝謝您！

Xiao Lin is a sophomore, with short hair, 175cm tall, and a mild personality. Recently, due to the 108 New Curriculum, Xiao Lin has to work on a research project.

Through relatives, he found a teacher named Mr. Lu, who had experience working in daycare centers.

Xiao Lin: "Hello, I am honored to have the opportunity to interview you." Mr. Lu: "No problem. What do you want to ask?"
Xiao Lin: "I would like to know about your previous experience running a daycare center. Can you briefly describe it?"
Mr. Lu: "Sure. After I graduated from university, I started working at a daycare center. That was the time when the Ma Ying-jeou government implemented the 22k subsidy program for businesses."
Xiao Lin: "What's the 22k subsidy?"
Mr. Lu: "Under that program, the daycare center I worked for could apply for a one-year subsidy from the government. In other words, my salary was paid by the government, not my employer."

Xiao Lin: "What do you mean? With a 22k subsidy, shouldn't your actual salary be around 30k or so?"
Mr. Lu: "No. My employer didn't pay me a single penny. My monthly salary was just 22k."

Xiao Lin: "What! That's even lower than the minimum wage required by the Labor Standards Act. And isn't the starting salary for university graduates supposed to be 30k?"
Mr. Lu: "Yes, that's right. Before that, university graduates typically started with a salary around 30k, but the government's program lowered it to 22k. My boss even had the audacity to claim that he was following the government's policy. You can't underestimate the cheekiness of business owners."

Xiao Lin: "I think the current minimum wage is over 26k." Mr. Lu: "That's correct. I believe the government had good intentions with the subsidy program to help businesses and reduce unemployment. Unfortunately, in practice, some companies interpreted it as the government endorsing lower salaries for university graduates by just giving them 22k."

Xiao Lin: "Why did you accept the job then?" Mr. Lu: "I had just graduated and didn't know any better. I thought having a job was good enough, and I even got scolded by my family for accepting such low pay. I wanted to be true to the contract since I had signed up for a year, so I decided to give it a try."

Xiao Lin: "Let's talk about your experience working at the daycare center back then."
Mr. Lu: "Sure. When I joined the daycare center, I realized that I was the only teacher there. I had to teach elementary school math, Chinese, social studies, and science, plus English for kindergarten, elementary, and junior high students."

Xiao Lin: "What do you mean? Aren't daycare centers supposed to take care of children and ensure their safety, rather than conducting classes?"

Mr. Lu: "That's not the case. I had to act like a tutoring class teacher, teaching in front of a blackboard. The preparation was incredibly demanding, requiring a lot of time to study, plan lessons, write teaching scripts, practice teaching, and record audio. Although I worked for 8 hours, my actual working hours were around 11-13 hours a day."

Xiao Lin: "That must have been exhausting." Mr. Lu: "Indeed, it was extremely tiring and mentally taxing. It felt like I was back in high school, studying for the college entrance exam."

Xiao Lin: "With such conditions, how did you manage to persist for a year?"
Mr. Lu: "Yes, I also admire my past self for that."

Xiao Lin: "Besides teaching, what other responsibilities did you have as a daycare teacher?"
Mr. Lu: "I also had to help with correcting students' schoolwork."

Xiao Lin: "What do you mean? Shouldn't the students' schoolwork be corrected by their school teachers?"
Mr. Lu: "Yes, that's how it should be. However, because parents wanted their children to finish their homework at the daycare center so they wouldn't have to do it at home. Some parents also wanted the students to get a perfect score on their schoolwork, so they asked us to correct it first."

Xiao Lin: "That sounds strange. I thought children should do their own schoolwork at daycare centers and seek help from teachers if they encounter difficulties. Teachers should only provide guidance and inspiration, not do the work for them."

Mr. Lu: "That's how I understood it too. So I argued with my boss about it."

Xiao Lin: "Why did you argue?"

Mr. Lu: "Once, a parent complained to me that the school teacher had circled mistakes on their child's homework, saying that the homework was incorrect."

Xiao Lin: "Isn't it normal for elementary school students to make mistakes in their homework? Why would they complain? If every answer is correct, the school teacher might suspect cheating or copying answers, right?"

Lu: "I also feel the same way. Writing assignments is meant to reinforce learning, and we try our best to support the students. But with 30-40 students in a class, it's simply impossible to individually teach every student and every question. So, we let the students write on their own, then we review their work and offer guidance whenever we see blanks or many mistakes, using a guiding approach to help them as much as possible."

Lu: "And just writing the communication book takes a lot of time. Time is never enough, and on top of that, we have to manage discipline. We often encounter situations where students throw erasers at each other, or some may pull each other's hair, and dealing with such incidents takes time. Parents' demands are simply impossible to meet."

Xiao Lin: "So, what did you do then?"

Lu: "When I had just graduated, I was still quite impulsive, and I directly told the parents that it's not feasible. Students should be guided, not demanded to be perfect. If every question has to be answered correctly, then they should hire a private tutor who can teach them one-on-one for each question."

Xiao Lin: "And then?"

Lu: "Then the parents asked to speak to our boss."

Xiao Lin: "What!?"

Lu: "And then our boss apologized to the parents, saying that I didn't understand the situation and asked me to apologize too."

Xiao Lin: "I don't understand why the parents did that."

Lu: "Maybe it's about face-saving, or perhaps perfectionism at play. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure."

Xiao Lin: "So, why did you end up arguing with your boss?"

Lu: "Because my boss wanted me to directly give the answers to the students to copy, just to meet the customer's demands."

Xiao Lin: "What!"

Lu: "I felt it was wrong. Assignments should help children think and reinforce their learning, not just be copied to get by. Such behavior is harmful to the children, and I couldn't accept it. So, I told my boss that I couldn't do it. My purpose in the education industry is not to harm the children."

Xiao Lin: "You're quite straightforward. Did your boss fire you for that?"

Lu: "No, fortunately, my boss didn't fire me. Maybe I'm like a free laborer with too many skills, and he can't bear to let me go. If he fired me, he'd probably have to take over the job himself. I don't think he can easily find someone as naive as me."

Xiao Lin: "Did that parent complain about you again later?"

Lu: "No."

Xiao Lin: "As an educator in a daycare center, have you encountered any memorable experiences?"

Lu: "Yes, once I completely forgot to ride my motorcycle to pick up the kids for more than half an hour. Since I'm a full-time teacher, I can't just leave like an art teacher after class. I have to ride my motorcycle to nearby elementary schools to pick up the kids. After riding the motorcycle, I have to lead the group from the cram school to the nearby elementary school. One time, I was busy correcting student assignments at the center and lost track of time. So I didn't arrive on time to pick up the kids—seeing the anxious look on the child's face made me feel really guilty."

For now, let's end it here.

Xiao Lin: "Thank you so much for accepting this interview today. I look forward to sharing your story with more people."

Difficulties can be overcome. I hope you achieve fruitful results in the education field and continue to be the enlightenment for children, contributing to the future of society. Thank you!