Subj: Why I Should Not Teach RE
Dear LM Netters,
Today my headmaster asked me to teach Grade 7 RE (Religious Ed.) next
year. Not only do I feel unqualified to take on such a task, but I don't
have enough time now to get all my work done, it would be even worse if I
had to take on a class out of my area. (I did teach 4th grade CCD back in
the States, but with a spoon fed curriculum and lesson plans. And besides
being a Cradle Catholic, I have no background to teach RE.) It involves 2
periods per 6-day cycle, but planning and grading time would more than
double that commitment. The headmaster and the Upper School principal
together were trying to guilt me into saying yes, i.e. "We think you are
the best person for the job," "We want a Catholic," (Not that that should
matter. Though we are Catholic in name, most of our students are not
Catholic and our RE curriculum is more general.)
To give some background, we are a small (about 250 students, P-12) Catholic
founded int'l school in Kobe, Japan. As such, many of the staff
cross-teach. The upper school principal and the curriculum coordinator
both teach RE, the French teacher also teaches English and most of the
sports coaches come from depts. other than PE. Staff are asked to reach
out and do things they might not do in a larger school. We are also asked
to do substitutions when teachers are out sick or take a personal day.
Currently, I work from 8:00- 4:30 (I am only contracted to work until 4:00,
but my bus doesn't come until 4:45, so they are already getting an extra 30
minutes gratis.) and I have a part-time aide who comes in about noon every
day. But at least 2-3 times a week (at least lately) she is pulled to
cover for an absent teacher. I see each grade level from P-6 once each
six-day cycle. Next year another kindergarten class will be added, so that
will be 9 classes. While I am in the elementary library with the classes,
the upper school library is left unsupervised. I have a parent who comes
one morning a week to help catalog. (The last librarian left a HUGE backlog
of books that needed to be cataloged and we have still--almost a full
school year later--not cleared it.) Also, I am a co-leader of the school's
Girl Scout troop, which I resurrected this year. (The program fell apart
after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 when many of the families
involved left Japan.)
The library was seriously neglected for many years and this year I have
barely made a dent in all that needs to be done. The two weeks I will be
closed at the end of the year will whiz by in a flash, I'm sure. OH, and
we're preparing for our accreditation review. Which in the state it is in,
the library will never pass.
So folks, what I need--and right away because I was only given tonight to
sleep on my decision-- are some strong arguments to back me up. I can't
just say, "I don't want to." So while I sleep here on the other side of
the world, please help me out. I look forward to many wonderful replies
when I wake up tomorrow.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Cathy Mori, librarian
Marist Brothers Int'l School
Kobe, Japan
librarian@marist.ac.jp
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