This case touches on something which has crossed my mind every once in a while, and really makes me a little nervous. I don't blame the teacher for beating herself up over how she'd been nagging Paul, and I could see myself feeling the same way. It does say, though, that the teacher is in a high-needs school, and I would imagine that by being in a high-needs school you'd have some sort of idea that these kinds of things might happen. Of course, this stuff can happen anywhere, but if I were working in that type of school, I'd definitely try to do what I could to become more educated in how to help high-needs students.
The final comment in the case "I had become a teacher of subject instead of a teacher of students!" really stands out for me, because I think it represents the spectrum that we'll always be shifting along. Finding that balance between caring for your students, but staying detached enough for your own health and sanity (well, and theirs too!) is definitely something that will take a lot of practice. It will also be different for each student, so we'll need to learn to adapt and adjust quickly.
I think that if we keep an open door policy with our students, then we can have a better idea of what they're going through. While a lot of what they'll need to talk about needs to be done with a counsellor, if they feel safe enough to even just say something like "hey, I'm having a really rough time right now, and i'm working on it with a counsellor" then we'll at least know SOMETHING is going on, without them having to tell us what it is.
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I agree with you that this type of situation makes me nervous. When I read something like this my first response is that the teacher didn't do anything wrong. She wasn't aware of the abuse and she just treated Carl like she would any student. Then I sit back and think more deeply and wonder how I would feel in that situation. I would probably feel guilty, too, like the teacher. I would wonder if there was something I could've picked up on sooner that may have prevented the abuse, and I may feel guilty about nagging Carl.
ReplyDeleteAlia, I think you're absolutely right about the open door policy. Maybe we should set out the open door policy right at the beginning of the school year and remind students throughout the year that we are open to talk about any issues that may come up. With this open door policy, though, we do have to be careful to maintain a professional relationship with our students.
Regarding the final comment, I think many of us have heard the saying, "Teachers don't teach a subject, teachers teach children." (or something to that effect). This teacher may have been so focused on subject matter that she didn't pick up on the subtle hints from Carl that something was wrong. As Alia said, we're going to have to work hard as teachers to find the balance between caring for our students, and maintaining a professional distance.
I think the thing that makes this kind of situation more difficult is balancing between feeling for the student and giving them the break that they need, versus giving them the assigned work as usual. On the one hand the work does provide them a bit of a distraction from the situation, and in some cases that's a very valuable thing to have. Yet, on the other hand, obviously there's no way they can be expected to deal with both things at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI think the best things we can do are maintaining an open door policy so that there is always the opportunity for us to be aware of what's happening. Referring the students to the proper resources and support when required. And of course remaining flexible so that we can adjust our teaching to suit our students' needs, as their needs change.