Much discussion has been had on this blog lately about the suspension rate of African-American children. After some medium level heated discussion, it appears we all agree, District 150 has an "acting out" problem.
The attitude appears to be, that while one could go to great lengths to empathize with the children who act out, probably because they have a crappy home life, ultimately we can't condone that behavior. No excuses.
At the same time, when it comes to teachers who act out by berating children, we appear to rather look for an excuse. Thus far, teachers and staffers who are posting the most, typically blame the parents and the administrators.
The attitude appears to be, that while one could go to great lengths to empathize with the children who act out, probably because they have a crappy home life, ultimately we can't condone that behavior. No excuses.
At the same time, when it comes to teachers who act out by berating children, we appear to rather look for an excuse. Thus far, teachers and staffers who are posting the most, typically blame the parents and the administrators.
Are we to condone the teachers behavior, provided it occurs only once in a while?
Many feel that a teacher who consistently berates children, probably shouldn't be a teacher. However, we should compare the two situations of "acting out" - those by students and those by teachers.
Perhaps the questions should be do we have most of these problems from a small group of students and teachers who consistently act out, or do we just have a higher percentage of people today than we did 20 years ago, that are likely to "act out" once in awhile?
If it's the former, that's pretty easy to know what to do - fire the teacher and remove the child from the class.
Many feel that a teacher who consistently berates children, probably shouldn't be a teacher. However, we should compare the two situations of "acting out" - those by students and those by teachers.
Perhaps the questions should be do we have most of these problems from a small group of students and teachers who consistently act out, or do we just have a higher percentage of people today than we did 20 years ago, that are likely to "act out" once in awhile?
If it's the former, that's pretty easy to know what to do - fire the teacher and remove the child from the class.
If it's the latter, which is that we just have so many more students from broken homes and the like - then we have to stop this blame game - simply acknowledge that we ALL have something to do with the problem, and then each work on what we can most affect.
There are no easy answers, but it requires a true group effort. Hopefully, when the City Council meets with the School District on June 1, they will be prepared to start the discussion about "acting out" on this level.
2 comments:
Emerge, I'm not certain that I understand what you mean by adults "acting out" and "berating" children. I know that I frequently overreact--and did so, also, when I was a teacher. Even with the children in my life, I have to take a few steps back when I become too irritated by their behaviors--and they are really well-behaved children. I know that I seldom wrote a referral for a high school student when the quarrel was between just the student and me. I certainly tried first to work it out between us--knowing that either of us could be having a bad day or a bad moment. Also, I made it a rule that when a student came back from a trip to the dean or a suspension that I wiped the slate clean and told the offending student I didn't hold grudges--and we could start over. I don't know how other teachers work out these relationship problems with particular students--and how it's done at the primary level is different than at the high school level. But if an outsider had captured any of my bad moments without sticking around to see how I worked them out--then the judgment wouldn't be particularly fair. Also, how a student viewed those encounters initially isn't how he/she would view them in retrospect. All those things need to be taken into account when judging teacher behavior--and student behavior. I believe I was one who always gave students the benefit of considerable doubt--and I certainly believe that most of my colleagues did the same. However, I do believe that most of the conflicts in the classroom aren't between the teacher and a particular student or students. The conflicts far more often begin between or among students. Those conflicts can be frightening because teachers never know for sure when verbal escalates to physical. And I guarantee that I overreacted in some of those situations because I was scared to death that someone was going to get hurt--and usually I wasn't the one in danger. What I am trying to say is that this whole argument about suspensions with regard to race sometimes makes it seem as though people might believe that white teachers overreact and take offense at how black students treat them. I believe that most of the time teachers are simply trying to as good a job as possible of protecting other students who are depriving them of educational time and worse, putting them in physical danger. Yes, there is much to sort out. I am appalled at reading the PJS comments under the story about Valda. Everything I read seems too fartetched to have any validity. I certainly have never known before now--but now people are telling me--about this "extra" person who isn't even on the payroll who had been given so much power. Surely, there are situations at Glen Oak that should have been dealt with long before two kids took a walk on I-74. It really does make me wonder what the central administration and board did with the information they received in the past. I'm glad Dr. Lathan is now handling the situation.
Emerge, I don't remember on which of your posts we were discussing the question about why the black principals were the only ones being criticized. I can't imagine why I forgot to list Branscumb at Roosevelt along with Andrews and Turner as black principals who aren't being badmouthed, etc. Sunday night I went to a Roosevelt "social gathering" iwth both administrators, teachers, some Manual grads, and a couple of current Manual students who are the children of some of the adults present. And I was the honorary old person--since I live next door--and since it's better to have me there rather than complaining about the loud music. Ha! I believe Roosevelt has one of the most "together" and happy faculties and administrators. It reminds me of the old Roosevelt faculty of which I was a part in the 1960s. The teachers love the kids, love their jobs, and have a great relationship with their administrators, etc. One teacher told me that she was grateful to Magnolia and Brett for supporting her so that she could practice her craft--better this year than ever before in her career.
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