Along with the humanity in the educational programs and policies, currently some kindergartens and primary schools (public and non-public) in Ho Chi Minh City have coordinated with centers to support the development of inclusive education, to let "shadow teachers" into the schools, to increase support for special students, and to bring them the best environment to learn and develop.
“Shadow teacher” accompanies students during activities at an international school in Ho Chi Minh City
The placement of "shadow teachers" in schools is done with the consent of parents and teachers; families pay the expenses for the "shadow teachers".
The work of these teachers is usually full-time, from the time the children go to school until they leave school, but can also be part-time, depending on the family's agreement. The income of each teacher who follows a full-time student is not less than 15 million VND/month. However, this job is not easy.
One long day
At 7:45, Ms. Phan Thi Tra My (25 years old, graduated in psychology from Ho Chi Minh City University of Education) stood in front of the school gate, waiting for the car carrying Nam (character's name has been changed) to arrive and lead him into the classroom. The boy did not look at her, did not show any signs of wanting to cooperate. As a "shadow teacher", Ms. My found this very normal.
Ms. My used to be a 1-1 intervention teacher for integrated children. By chance, she learned that the integration support center was looking for a "shadow teacher" to accompany students at an elementary school in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, so she signed up. But the teachers did not suddenly walk into the classroom and follow the students. First, Ms. My had to meet the students and their families to get to know them, agree with the target family, and the teacher's support methods in the classroom.
"I met Nam in July 2023. In the early days, Nam did not cooperate with the teacher, pretended not to know her, did not talk to her, and did not trust the person accompanying him. But what made me feel secure was that the family understood and accepted Nam, his parents also took courses on caring for and raising special children, and he had early intervention since preschool. Therefore, gradually, when he got to know Ms. My and understood that she loved and cared for him, Nam cooperated and had many positive changes," said Ms. My.
Ms. My's work day lasts longer than Nam's school time. She usually arrives early to prepare to pick up Nam and leaves later after completing the daily student reports, which are sent to the center.
Not only supporting in studying, Ms. My said that "shadow teachers" are also like relatives, a bridge for students to participate more in group activities, have fun with other friends in class and at school.
The bridge
According to Ms. My, the task of a "shadow teacher" is to accompany students throughout school activities and provide individual support to students with disabilities. Depending on the needs and abilities of each student, "shadow" teachers also have 1-1 support hours in the individual intervention room of the integrated school to help students make more progress.
"Each integrated student has a personal lesson plan. The support of "shadow teachers" helps the integrated school optimize the learning process according to each student's individual characteristics. However, the "shadow teacher" is not the one who does everything for the students, but rather supports them so that they can do it themselves. At a certain stage, when the student's situation is stable, the "shadow teacher" will withdraw," said Ms. My.
Not only supporting in studying, Ms. My is also like a relative, a bridge for Nam to participate more in group activities, playing with other friends in class, in school. "There are days when Nam is very good, but there are also times when his personality suddenly changes. The most difficult times for me are when he is too distracted, it takes a lot of time to remind him. Or sometimes he doesn't want to write, doesn't want to do anything. When he loses control, he lies on the floor, screaming. With special children, teachers need to be more patient. Nam's parents understand him and don't expect the teacher or Nam himself to achieve this or that, that also helps reduce pressure for "shadow teachers" like me", Ms. My confided.
The biggest difficulty does not come from the students.
Ms. Hong Thao Tran, 25 years old, graduated in educational psychology from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City (Ho Chi Minh City National University), is a part-time "shadow teacher" for an elementary school student at an international school in Ho Chi Minh City.
A young boy named Tuan (character's name has been changed) has good thinking skills, but has difficulty expressing emotions. Every day, Ms. Tran supports Tuan in the morning at school. In particular, she sits next to Tuan in a class with the homeroom teacher, supporting Tuan in interacting and answering the teacher's questions; participating in playtime with Tuan. After that, Ms. Tran has 1-1 personal intervention hours for Tuan at school. Because it is an international school, the requirement for a "shadow teacher" like Ms. Tran is to use English well to be able to communicate with Tuan's homeroom teacher as well as teachers in the school board about the students' studies and activities at school.
"Tuan speaks English better than Vietnamese, his vocabulary is rich. He still has difficulty expressing and expressing his emotions. During class, I also train him in writing Vietnamese, writing English, reading and understanding short texts, analyzing questions to make it easier for him to understand, and guiding him in doing math problems," said Ms. Tran. At the same time, to Ms. Tran, Tuan is the most cooperative student, and likes to practice with her the most among her children.
Every day, Ms. Tran leaves the house at 8 o'clock and usually returns home at 8 o'clock.
Every day, Ms. Tran leaves home at 8:00 a.m. and usually returns home at 8:00 p.m., with the job of intervening for 6 students at different levels of support needs.
The 25-year-old "Shadow Teacher" confided that, for her, the biggest difficulty she is facing does not come from the students but from their parents. The familiar questions that parents often ask "shadow teachers" like Ms. Tran are "when will your child recover from his or her illness?", "when will he or she be able to go to school by himself or herself like other children?". (to be continued)
Student's nudge
If Ms. Tran works as a part-time "shadow teacher", she will be able to change many environments in a day and interact with many different integrated children (although it is not necessarily less difficult), but many full-time teachers like Ms. My have to stick with one student like a shadow for a long time, which is more time-consuming.
"There were times when I had a high fever, but it was difficult to leave my students alone in class. I took medicine and tried to go to class. When I first started working as a "shadow teacher", I was tired and stressed, especially when students were uncooperative. But when I thought about it, I chose to study this major, chose this path, so I couldn't give up like that," Ms. My confided.
A precious consolation for Ms. My is that integrated students are very emotional, although the way they express their feelings is more special.
That day it was raining, Ms. My held an umbrella for Nam, her student, who was standing in front of the school gate while waiting for his parents' car to pick him up. While waiting, Ms. My kept seeing Nam nudge her hand. My thought he was wet so she asked her to hold an umbrella. Unexpectedly, when she turned around, there was a motorbike coming from below. Nam was afraid that Ms. My would be hit by the motorbike so he signaled her to stand back. Having difficulty expressing himself, the boy signaled to his teacher in his own way.
Or another time, seeing Ms. My injured her hand, during the whole class, little Nam occasionally touched her hand and kissed her lightly near the wound. Ms. My understood that the student was trying to ask about her and encourage her to try harder...
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