Down the years a narrative has been taking root, a narrative that is at the most a one-sided and prejudiced one. This narrative describes "safe spaces", codes of conduct and dos and do not which specifically describe how a teacher will behave in class. It sounds like a Calvinistic list of "Thou shalt not speak loudly," or "Thou shalt not use sarcasm, Thou shalt not use a harsh tone, Thou shalt not punish a student"....the list goes on and on. One wonders looking at all these instruction if teachers were not human being themselves! If one were to look at the statistics of infractions taking place in class involving students and teachers, one will realise in fact that the number of cases where the teacher or educator was harmed is greater than the number of students really hurt by the teacher's well-meaning sarcasm. Most of the cases where teachers have been harmed by indisciplined and aggressive students are not however reported as schools prefer not to take action against the students since the fee paid by students forms the bread and butter for those schools.
Besides, teaching in class teachers do a lot of things. They connect with their students out of class while organising various events such as class assemblies, excursions or expeditions, annual day functions and it is in these moments that their human side is often revealed. The true relationship between students and teachers emerges during these out of class moments. And yet, things happen that sour relations between students and their teachers. Often, students don't realise that what they are doing is wrong. Often it is a matter of not getting enough attention from their teacher. Unfortunately, it is not possible to ignore the rest of the class!
Besides, teaching in class teachers do a lot of things. They connect with their students out of class while organising various events such as class assemblies, excursions or expeditions, annual day functions and it is in these moments that their human side is often revealed. The true relationship between students and teachers emerges during these out of class moments. And yet, things happen that sour relations between students and their teachers. Often, students don't realise that what they are doing is wrong. Often it is a matter of not getting enough attention from their teacher. Unfortunately, it is not possible to ignore the rest of the class!
Teachers are human beings first and foremost, and it is this human character that makes them as vulnerable to bullying and toxicity by students as their students are! Cynicism and sarcasm in teachers is often a result of being subjected to harassment by their own students! Students often like to test new teachers before accepting them. Often this testing period becomes a long drawn out process often resulting in mental trauma resulting in the teacher resigning from his job in disgust. I was once advised by a mentor not to show "weakness" before students (itself ironical since on the other hand mentors advocate vulnerability in teachers as a means of displaying authenticity). My mentor went on to advise a group of teachers in a professional development session not to show fear when heckled by students because according to her, they, the students could smell the fear in the sweat! Kaye Ma'am, you know what this is all about if you are reading this! It is unfortunate that we can't equip most teachers with skills that will help them tide over the acid test they are subjected to by a bunch of high energy kids who do not alas, know when enough is enough and when to draw lines! The only solution probably is to reinforce the ATLs. and BTLs that we stick on the display boards in class.
Ironically enough it is the narrative and the culture that we spread around of teachers ill-treating student rather than students heckling teachers that is doing the greatest harm to the rather sensitive and almost tender relationship that exists between a teacher and his students. Have we forgotten E.R. Braithwaite, or even Booker T. Washington and their experiences? An atmosphere of sensitivity, genuine love and respect can exist only when both students and teachers feel "safe" in each other's presence! One can never benefit by promoting a culture of mistrust for teachers by describing painful experiences one might have faced at the hands of 'some teachers' one might have come across during one's own childhood. For every cynical and sarcastic teacher, one would have come across three or four who were concerned and showed empathy! If one could only adopt a more positive attitude, one should also accept that life if not a cakewalk and that struggles in life are a reality, even if it meant being targetted by a sarcastic teacher in one's formative years.
On the flip side, there is another narrative that is rarely heard because of the hush-hush treatment it is given. A Maths teacher was so badly bullied by a bunch of spoiled brats that she threw down her eyeglasses on the teacher's table and sat down to weep. The students simply would not listen to her. Another teacher and English teacher became that target of bullying, a dare to see if the students could not make him leave the school. At first, they heckled him, made fun of him and then one day a student who was ticked off by the said teacher threatened to jump out of the window. The student had made fun of the teacher's pronunciation and the teacher had ticked him off! The said teacher was so traumatised that he left the school probably hating the teaching profession itself. In another case, a teacher in a well-known school in Gurgaon was cyber-bullied by one of her own students. Her own daughter became a victim of the fallout. What happened to the case? Well, the teacher resigned and the case fizzled out. This in itself would have sent a wrong message to the student community itself. These incidents are proof that teachers are vulnerable and that it is high time that we realised that teachers too need safe spaces!
If classrooms are allowed to become battlefields, teachers come and go, if toxicity is allowed to grow, if we promote a culture of mistrust, if we turn a blind eye to the trauma faced by young teachers, then it is clear that the malaise lies within the society itself. One of the major reasons for teacher attrition rates is the fact that teachers often feel unsafe while doing their job. A sense of detachment, a lack of warmth, a lack of love and affection, a sense of hostility in the classroom might turn the whole teacher-student relationship into a vicious tussle from which there is no escape. While teachers are expected to wear a smile on their faces at all times, they are expected to greet their students whenever they see them, this, however, is not expected from those very students who race past the corridors without even a 'Hi' or perhaps even a nod. Students don't seem, rather sadly, to be interested in modelling themselves after their teachers who greet them with smiles. Something seems to be very wrong in this rather ill-balanced expectation from teachers.
Teachers are human beings too, and they have their lows. They feel drained out by the end of the day. They have their moments of vulnerability. And it is during these moments that they are most likely to go off kilter and perhaps even shout at one another if not at their students. But then how do you convey to students that their teacher is feeling low and does not feel like arguing? Or is a moment eagerly awaited, to throw a pen or a piece of chalk at that 'teacher'? Schools need to protect their teachers as well as their students. Schools need to create safe spaces not only for their students but also for their teachers too. Schools need to develop a culture, an environment of respect, inclusion, honesty, sincerity and trust.
If classrooms are allowed to become battlefields, teachers come and go, if toxicity is allowed to grow, if we promote a culture of mistrust, if we turn a blind eye to the trauma faced by young teachers, then it is clear that the malaise lies within the society itself. One of the major reasons for teacher attrition rates is the fact that teachers often feel unsafe while doing their job. A sense of detachment, a lack of warmth, a lack of love and affection, a sense of hostility in the classroom might turn the whole teacher-student relationship into a vicious tussle from which there is no escape. While teachers are expected to wear a smile on their faces at all times, they are expected to greet their students whenever they see them, this, however, is not expected from those very students who race past the corridors without even a 'Hi' or perhaps even a nod. Students don't seem, rather sadly, to be interested in modelling themselves after their teachers who greet them with smiles. Something seems to be very wrong in this rather ill-balanced expectation from teachers.
Teachers are human beings too, and they have their lows. They feel drained out by the end of the day. They have their moments of vulnerability. And it is during these moments that they are most likely to go off kilter and perhaps even shout at one another if not at their students. But then how do you convey to students that their teacher is feeling low and does not feel like arguing? Or is a moment eagerly awaited, to throw a pen or a piece of chalk at that 'teacher'? Schools need to protect their teachers as well as their students. Schools need to create safe spaces not only for their students but also for their teachers too. Schools need to develop a culture, an environment of respect, inclusion, honesty, sincerity and trust.
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