Respect in the Classroom

Respect is an issue of great concern for many teachers in schools and rightly so.  We all get angry about the disrespect and rudeness shown by some pupils.  In my experience, inappropriate behaviour and the response from kids when we attempt to deal with it is a major source of frustration and stress and can be associated with teacher illness and possible absence.  Interestingly, though many pupils also complain of being rudely and unfairly treated by teachers and often point to this as a cause of their rudeness.    

 

Young learners these days do not automatically give teachers respect.  I don’t think that they ever did.  Neither does the job itself automatically command respect.  I believe that respect is something that has to be earned.  If we want to be respected, we must be prepared to walk the talk and model the kinds of behaviours that define respect in schools.  In this way we can help young, inexperienced learners understand what it means to be polite and how to deal more appropriately with the difficult situations they may find themselves in.  

 

Whenever I find myself in difficult situations with pupils, I try to remind myself of two things:

1. There are no bad kids.  There are simply difficult situations and circumstances that kids find themselves in.  Given the nature of some of the difficulties that some pupils have to deal with, it is not surprising that they use any opportunity to lash out and express their anger and frustration.  The important thing to remember, I think, is that the behaviour is not necessarily directed at us, it is often their response to whatever has happened to them – we just happen to be there!
2. Rules and expectations are difficult to adhere to and we can all be guilty of breaking them, especially when they are set by others - nobody’s perfect!  I remember my own experiences as a young learner at school and the times that I broke the rules.  I’m better now at keeping to them and meeting the expectations of others but – and I’ll be honest here - I still break some rules and perhaps more often than I’d really care to admit (sometimes I even find myself breaking my own rules)!  In circumstances like these, I would hope that others would deal with me honestly, politely and with some sensitivity and encourage me to accept responsibility for my actions in non-threatening ways.  As teachers, we surely can’t apply different standards to the ones we would want to be applied for ourselves!

These things help me to make decisions about what to say, how to say it and how to behave.  In the heat of the moment though, I often get things wrong.  When I do, I make sure I forgive myself, apologise and find ways of learning from what’s happened so I can do better next time.  Learning is, after all, about being human!

Long live learners!  Long live learning!