God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
I’ve always loved that prayer, and it never rang so true until I had this job. Everyday, I have to tell myself “You can’t do everything”, and everyday I try to prove this statement wrong. But I’m must face facts and be okay with not being able to fix everything.
It’s a real challenge picking what I can change and what I can’t. It’s like saying what do I care more about, or picking which problems are fixable as opposed to lost causes. It’s not always an easy decision. And finding the serenity to accept I can’t change certain things is difficult.
When PC first told me about my assignment, they told me that it was very likely I would see corporal punishment in the classrooms. Luckily, I haven’t seen that. But what is seen as acceptable for how people talk to each other is hard for me to handle. It’s acceptable for people to call each other stupid or yell at them to shut up; this goes for teacher-to-students as well as peer-to-peer. Anger is more often expressed. On numerous occasions, I’ve seen students cry and no one does anything about it.
There are also problems with way the education is valued (or not valued). Moreover, all the other problems I’ve mentioned before.
I end up putting a lot of energy into trying to inspire change with certain things without ever seeing a result. It’s very tiring. And although I know I must accept I can’t change everything, sometimes I wonder if it’s okay if I never stop trying to change certain things that may be impossible for me to change.
It’s a real challenge picking what I can change and what I can’t. It’s like saying what do I care more about, or picking which problems are fixable as opposed to lost causes. It’s not always an easy decision. And finding the serenity to accept I can’t change certain things is difficult.
When PC first told me about my assignment, they told me that it was very likely I would see corporal punishment in the classrooms. Luckily, I haven’t seen that. But what is seen as acceptable for how people talk to each other is hard for me to handle. It’s acceptable for people to call each other stupid or yell at them to shut up; this goes for teacher-to-students as well as peer-to-peer. Anger is more often expressed. On numerous occasions, I’ve seen students cry and no one does anything about it.
There are also problems with way the education is valued (or not valued). Moreover, all the other problems I’ve mentioned before.
I end up putting a lot of energy into trying to inspire change with certain things without ever seeing a result. It’s very tiring. And although I know I must accept I can’t change everything, sometimes I wonder if it’s okay if I never stop trying to change certain things that may be impossible for me to change.
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