Qi Chen Blog Week8 A04

Qi Chen

Week 8

 

Right and Fight for Right

Teachers' salaries and benefits have not always been the highest, especially in public schools. The scholars have paid a lot for academic research: some professors are doing research, taking students to do experiments, correcting papers for students, and so on. In China, teachers go to work at six in the morning and leave at eight in the evening. They continue to lecture, give test papers to students, and mediate students' psychological problems. However, the salary of this group of people is extremely low, which is not directly proportional to their labor and output. Chinese teachers are paid only a little more than the minimum wage. In the piece "Resistance is Not Futile," the author is treated unfairly in the academic circle. Despite her excellent educational qualifications and hard work, she received a very low salary, even lower than other teachers. It's sad.

The school has always been regarded as a sacred place, where students study hard and teachers educate people. However, more and more news revealed some immoral deeds of the school administration. Especially in some private schools, students and parents invest a lot of tuition and campus construction fees. However, teachers who provide services directly to students can only get a small amount of money. Most of them were embezzled by the school officials and used for personal consumption. At this time, many teachers are outraged. Especially teachers who are treated unfairly like the author. In the United States, when teachers, teaching assistants, and students are annoyed about something, they protest, write jointly, and do other things to fight for their rights. Despite the failure cases, they are relatively effective. A person's power may not be enough, but it is powerful to gather a lot of people's voices. In this case, the author appeals to teachers who are treated in the same way to protest and constantly fight for rights. Moreover, such a group has become an organization, which attracts more and more people to participate in the event, and they help each other. I think the author's behavior is effective and rational. In the event of such oppression, the victim should respond calmly rather than impulsively. Because there is a cost for speaking out in the face of power, every action needs to be cautious.

Question: In other countries, is there anything good to protect our rights?

Reference

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press