The student who refused to work!

Hi to all new teachers out there!

I have realised over the years that the best teaching and learning happens when teachers connect with  students. Students learn best from teachers who connect with them. 

As a teacher, you need to respect students, feel for them, learn from them, accept mistakes, be fair, be their strongest advocate. We must know that this is not about us, this is about them. There can be no place for any ego. Once they know that you are on their side, the rest will fall into place and you will have some of the most beautiful moments of your life.  Teacher-student relationships are very important and every student needs a champion as the inspirational Rita Pierson said.

Once, in a school outside India,  I got children in my class to do some work. I don't remember the exact sequence of events, as it was so many years ago, but one student said that he does not want to do the work. I angrily retorted that the choice was his. My traditional teacher's mind was thinking "How dare the student disobey me and refuse to do work??? And to me then, that was no choice at all. If the student knew what was right for him, he would do the work.  The student did not do it and I called the parents in. I told the parents what happened. The student repeated that he was given a choice and he exercised it. I retorted "Yes, I said it, but I expected that he should do the work. The parents told me that I should not have given the student a choice. I kept insisting that he should have done it. 

Now, when I think about the incident, I think of ways I could have responded to the situation, I could have called the student aside and asked him why he does not want to do the work. I could have negotiated with him to maybe do some pending work and do my work later. I could have given him a different task that he found interesting. I did not have to be the angry teacher. I could have been the understanding teacher, taking him into confidence and finding out more about him and his refusal. 

Teaching is so much about relationship building. If I had a good relationship with the student, maybe I would have handled the situation differently. The kind of relationship I have with my students now, I wish I had then!


Cheers 😀

#myp,#newteachers,#teaching,#relationships,#students,#behaviour,#school,#ib,#learning,#leaders,#teacher-student relationships


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