Working as a State School Teacher in Karaman

by Özge Yücel, FLE 2013

Hi everyone!

I have been teaching as a state school teacher in Ermenek, Karaman since September, 2013. I will share my experiences and feelings about working in a remote town as a graduate of METU. So many thanks to Dear Yasemin Hoca for giving me such a chance.

I am about to finish a school year in this city (!) and sometimes I still feel strange when I look around. Where am I? What am I doing in these rocks? Believe me I am not exaggerating.  Before coming to Ermenek I have never seen such a rocky place. We are living at the top of the mountains. I have to travel sixteen hours by bus to get to my hometown, İzmir. By the way, there isn’t any airport that I can get to easily and in a short time. Although there are many hardships, I get used to living in this small city. The people are very nice and hospitable. Besides, I get on well with my colleagues. They are very warm and helpful. Because I am a new teacher, they always help me with the procedure at school. They never leave me alone, too. We often go to picnic at the weekends to the lakeside. (Yes, at least we have a lake here.) Also, two weeks ago, a cafélike place opened and we can go there after school. These small things are the source of our happiness. I studied in a big city more importantly in METU. We had many opportunities as a student but now we can’t do everything we wish, even though we had more money. However, I am not complaining for being here. I appreciate the natural beauties and lovely people around me. If I were in a big city, I wouldn’t find such a peaceful environment. Because there is nothing to do, people socialize more and share many beautiful moments. I am sure I will have many unforgettable memories when I leave here. One of the worst things (especially for girls) there is nowhere to shop but just like local people you can improve yourself in online shopping

I want to point to working in a state school as a METU graduate. I know most people think that there is no need to be a graduate of a good university for being a teacher. That’s because, all teachers get the same certificate and you don’t have any difference from other university graduates. This is unfortunately right. The important thing in state schools is seniority not your knowledge level in teaching. Also, if you have all the documents you need to prepare each year, you are the best teacher. You may not doing everything perfect in classrooms, it doesn’t matter. You have all the useless papers, that’s enough. All these things sometimes make me annoyed. However, what about the love and pleasure of teaching, job satisfaction? What about being able to say comfortably “I am doing my best and I feel the difference of being a METU student.”  I am sure that all my friends feel the same way I do. Maybe, we can’t do everything perfectly as we learned before but we all have a difference in our schools. I have witnessed many examples for thinking like that. I have been trying to correct my students’ mistakes in grammar and pronunciation for mounts. In addition, the expectations of my principal and my colleagues make me really happy. They think I am already a good teacher thanks to being a METU graduate, even though this is my first year in teaching. The more important thing is that my students think the same way, too. After two months, they learned that I am not even a-year-old teacher and they were really surprised. They said me that I was just like an experienced teacher. I am so happy to hear all these things and I believe the important thing is to be able to feel like a good teacher. METU is one of the most important turning points of my life.

I am a teacher in an Anatolian Teacher Training High School. It sounds perfect to many people because I am working with the chosen students. Unfortunately, this view is not true. At the beginning of the year, my students were unwilling to learn a language if they didn’t think to study language at the university. They only cared about their marks. For example, when I started a listening lesson, they all started to complain. They thought it was just a waste of time because they could never understand it. However, I never give up and always try to encourage them. Now, at least some of them have self-confidence in learning English. They try to listen to English songs, watch movies and even download English practice games to their phones. The best moments are when I hear such kind of sentences “ Hocam, I have never liked or studied English before but  I know that  you care for us and work so hard. I am trying to love English with you and I won’t let you down!”  They make me really relieved. This is awesome, they like English and I have an effect on them.

My school is a boarding school and I assure you it is a perfect experience. I have learned many things about children even though I have just spent a year here. At first I was scared because I had to be a guard besides being a teacher. (I am not sure about the translation of “belletici” so I use guard” However, I feel really lucky now. We are just like friends with my students. They tell me about their lives, problems, relationships etc. because they trust me. We are like their families here and need to do many things in addition to teaching. I can also observe my students after school. Of course, it is a really hard job. I need to stay at the dormitory and work the whole night and then go on my routine at school the other day. Even though I need to work hard, I feel like a more experienced teacher in a short time. I improved my communication with the students and this makes positive attributions to my lessons, too.

To sum up, I am happy to work in a state school. This experience teaches me a lot, too. I am not sure if you like to work in a small city after METU but what about trying and having a different experience at least for a while? I am sure when you turn back to university you will have gain a different point of view about how to teach.