Former Vice President: 'Please call me Teacher Doan'

Professor Nguyen Thi Doan happily chatted and wanted to be called by the intimate name "Teacher Doan" so that she could fully enjoy the atmosphere of Teachers' Day.

Those were the first impressions when our reporter met Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Doan, former Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, President of the Vietnam Association for Promoting Education on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Vietnam Teachers' Day.

Stay up all night before the first lesson

Former Vice President, President of Vietnam Association for Promoting Education Nguyen Thi Doan.

Although she used to be a famous politician, teacher Doan has always maintained the character of a people's teacher over the years. Ms. Doan happily said: "The first thing I am proud of is that throughout my working life I have always carried the spirit of a true "teacher", for the sake of students, for the future, I have constantly improved my knowledge by having to study and read a lot every day like eating, bathing, and sleeping. The day I do not read or study is the day I go hungry, do not bathe, and do not sleep, contrary to the essential needs of a teacher."

When asked about the most memorable memory in her teaching career, Ms. Doan did not hesitate to share: “I really remember the first time I prepared to step onto the podium with students. The night before, I almost stayed up all night with a very nervous mood and countless things I imagined about the next morning's lesson. I tried to practice many teaching methods, so that my lectures were concise but not less interesting because I did not want the knowledge imparted to students to be the same as in the textbook.

With such a mindset, my first lectures were evaluated by my own students. After the third class, the head of the department announced that the class I was teaching received positive feedback, including a quote that I still remember clearly from the class monitor, who was then a soldier sent to study: "Your lecture on the first day was different from the second day and the third day was different again." That encouragement, that comment, instead of my efforts being affirmed, was the motivation to help me be more confident in the next classes.

Teachers are like missionaries, but the difference is that, in addition to imparting knowledge, inspiration is also indispensable. Our beloved Uncle Ho once taught us to let “every day at school be a happy day”, we are happy because we can live with passion, can inspire generations of students and students are happy because they can truly learn every moment at school. It does not need to be too noble, that is what students always expect from us - the ones who steer the boat of real knowledge.

The spirit of the people's teacher is forever boiling

Through her heartfelt confessions, we felt the spirit of Teacher Doan rushing back, her words were so strong and captivating.

Recalling the hardships when she first started her career, Ms. Doan shared: “The lives of teachers were as difficult as those of us teachers during the old subsidy period. Teachers and students loved each other, sharing everything from cassava and sweet potatoes to milk cartons when sick or saving up stamps to give to students; however, thanks to our heart, love for the profession and responsibility for the profession, teachers and students together created generations of golden students that went down in history, so there is no reason why teachers today cannot continue that quintessence.

Now it is time for retirement, but the dignity, enthusiasm and spirit of "Teacher" still flow in the body of teacher Doan. Throughout my life as a teacher standing on the podium, until participating in politics, I feel that: "no matter what profession, love for the profession is always the core, especially for people's teachers, it is even more important". If you are not passionate, do not love the profession, do not care for the development of yourself, of your students, of the school, then you will never have a good spirit of service, but not everyone has the awareness of that.

If anyone pursues the teaching profession, they need to know how to train and maintain themselves, because the teaching profession is a very noble profession, and if it is noble, then do things that are true to its nobility. Although life is still difficult today, if a teacher does something that is not in line with the nobility of the teaching profession, or goes against the ethics of the teaching profession, then society will look at the teacher in a very bad light.

Being a teacher means living for the past, present and future; living for the whole society, for the destiny of the whole country, not simply living for yourself. Why does the world and Vietnam have a charter day for teachers, because people honor the teaching profession, honor teachers. So teachers holding flowers from students on November 20th in their hands, think about yourself to see if you are truly as noble as the profession that society has created for you and train yourself more.

Teachers who do not study will be more ignorant than students.

Witnessing the changes of society, of generations of teachers and students developing, teacher Doan also worries about many things: "In the current information explosion era, there are many things written on the Internet, even very profound about the knowledge we will, have and are teaching. Besides, students are increasingly intelligent, students are willing to go online to read and study hard, but if we do not study, do not read, do not enrich our knowledge, do not enrich our experiences and learning methods, teaching methods, then students will be better than us.

This situation has occurred in many classrooms today, when teachers are questioned about what we teach. In particular, the teaching method in universities has changed a lot. In the past, the teaching method was mainly monologue, but now the teaching method is mainly suggestion and problem-posing, the teacher plays the role of a guide and accompanies students to find the truth.

To raise a problem, first of all, the teacher himself must know where to raise the problem. To know where the problem is, the teacher himself must read and consider which book and author the problem he is about to raise is in. Therefore, according to the experience of those who have gone before, I advise all teachers, when they are young, to strive to study so that one day their knowledge will gradually increase, they can confidently convey knowledge to students, worthy of the two words "teacher".

Teacher Doan has high expectations for the younger generation: “Each teacher must understand their own context and the country, understand where Vietnam needs to go in this integrated society and strive to improve. Study, self-study and do not be satisfied with all the knowledge you have. Many people think that studying to the title of Professor or Doctor is enough, there is no need to study more. That is a mistake, lifelong learning because knowledge does not distinguish age or level, in society only ignorant people think they have learned enough./.

According to Dan Tri