During my first week in the unruly and unhinged neighbourhood school where I only spent one year in, I was not allowed to teach in my first week. I was asked to shadow a senior teacher and watch.
It was with dismay when I saw the class dynamics. The vast majority of the Sec 4N students were not listening during social studies. They simply could not be bothered. They slept, they chatted, they did whatever they wanted. I remember one student was reading True Singapore Ghost Stories. I was probably the senior teacher’s most attentive audience.
By then, I was a veteran teacher of ten years and thought I had seen it all. But no, 一山还有一山高.
The senior teacher was talking mostly to herself. One day, I heard her say to no one in particular, "One day I will die in this class." She was speaking her truth. It was so sad.
(I am not implying that most Singaporean schools are like this. But I am sure such situations exist out there and if a teacher is unlucky enough to be caught in such an arrangement...good luck to them)