Our conversation on Monday and our readings are raising a disturbing question: What if I unintentionally cause harm as a teacher?
We, of course, are pursuing teaching because we want to help children, but as we have seen in recent days, there are so many ways to damage children. In our conversation about ADHD and ADD, I can see how I could show frustration at a student who seems to not listen to instructions. How would it feel to be that student who experiences my irritation? In watching our skits based on the theories of Erikson, I could see myself lashing out at the overeager student who wants to help, switching the shoes of the student who put them on wrong, and correcting the errant pumpkin artist. What scars would I be inflicting on students? And now, reading "Other People's Children," these words are a caution: "We educators set out to teach, but how can we reach the worlds of others when we don't even know they exist? Indeed, many of us don't even realize that our own worlds exist only in our heads and in the cultural institutions we have built to support them."
Each time that Zalika says a version of these words, I find them to be searing: "You have incredible power as a teacher. "
And I ask, will I wield it with wisdom, grace and compassion?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What a powerful insight Michael! My group in Zaher's class was discussing similar thoughts and ideas - but regarding how to handle religious beliefs that come up. We recognized that we could affect a child in how we handle either their beliefs and/or their actions.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm trying to digest all this information we're receiving this summer by reflecting on my past parental experiences. Yesterday I realized I may have been causing my daughter to feel shame because I always call her silly when she does something not quite right. It had never occurred to me that using that word could be a subtle put-down.
But my take away from this is that I will make mistakes as a teacher. I will say the wrong thing sometimes (witness my Aaron comment in Art class). I am human. Through learning all the developmental theory and examining political and cultural issues that shape our education system, it is my hope that I will reduce the number of mistakes, hurt feelings, shame, etc that I may cause a child. And of course I want to always strive to eliminate these occurrences, but I am aware of the ideal and the reality of it all. It is scary. It's should be scary. I would be very concerned for any future teacher who is not scared about how they may affect teachers. Great thoughts! Thanks for sharing!.
I agree with a lot of the comments people have posted so far, and I do feel that some day, I will most likely end up saying something wrong that could hurt a child, or possibly even show frustration at a student who is struggling for one reason or another. When I first had thoughts of wanting to teach, I mentioned to a teacher of mine that "I'm probably going to run into children I can't handle, I don't think I'll be able to treat each kid fair". My teacher gave me great advice that I have found very helpful. Her idea was basically that "you will love every child you teach. Some kids might drive you up the wall at the beginning, but its only the first part where you have to make sure you treat each child fair, because by the time you spend about a month with them, you'll find something you love about each and every one of them, and sometimes, it's their bad habits that make them great". While I didn't really understand her at the beginning, having been in a couple classrooms and summer camps and such, I have noticed that I always end up appreciating each child and their contributions they bring to the group. Even the children I can't stand at the beginning end up being the sweetest angels after a short time.
ReplyDeleteAs for saying the wrong thing, I believe that it is something that teachers should be careful about, but not obsess over either. Even as a young child I remember having a teacher call me out on reading what she would consider a “crappy book” (it was a book based off the TV series Full House). I remember being really hurt when she first said what she said. In my case though, it made me work harder on my book report because I wanted to prove her wrong. I also loved this teacher and I knew she hadn't said it to be mean. I feel that most kids will understand that if we have the best intentions at heart and are careful about the way we treat the kids on a daily basis.
Thanks, Anne and Tina for your comments. They were quite helpful by putting those situations into a broader context.
ReplyDelete(As an aside, one of reasons My daughter watched ER with me was because she loved John Stamo from Full House!)