In Chinese or Japanese, the teachers are often called by their students, actually most people who know their profession as teacher, 老師 (lao shi) in Chinese or 先生/せんせい (sensei) in Japanse. The title of teacher carries you everywhere, at supermarket, on the street, doesn't matter. If you know that a person is a teacher, it doesn't matter if he/she is your teacher, your kid's teacher, your neighbor, you still address him/her as teacher or 老師 (lao shi). This is how I was brought up in Taiwan.
Now I live in America. The teachers are addressed by their students as Mr., Miss, Mrs. at school. Good, no conflict here. However, when it's my turn to talk or email my children's teachers, how should I call them? Do you call them like how your kid would call them? Or do you call them by the first name? Lots of teacher sign their emails by their first name when addressing to parents. Lots of parents call teachers by their first name. I just can't do it.
My challenge is to adhere to the Eastern culture of respect, higher social status that teachers get, while maintaining friendly and co-operative environment that the Western culture fosters. Can this be done?
What do you call your child's teacher?
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ReplyDeleteHi, Each place is different. In some places, it’s perfectly normal for parents to refer to teachers by their first name. At many places, parents address their child’s teacher by their salutation and last name. It is the convention in education for professionals to address each other by their last names. It is also seen as a sign of respect. For anyone who doesn’t work in education, it’s best to follow standard norms to make sure your relationship with your child’s teacher gets off to a good start. What I believe is that teaching is a very noble profession. In my opinion, a teacher whether he is a Chinese tuition teacher or taking volunteer tuition must be addressed and talked with respect and it must be reflected in your voice and gesture no matter how you address him. Thanks for a thoughtful post.
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