Assignment 2
Reflect on how one relates to students in light of the professional requirements of the position of teaching. How doe one manage student lifestyle issues, do some initial counseling of students and involve parents in discussion?
The renowned Australian social researcher Hugh Mackay speaks with both optimism and concern of ‘the rising generation of young Australians, who are showing us how to make sense of life in an uncertain world.’
http://www.fola.org.au/news/papers/hughmackay.htm
This rising generation is being educated by teachers who themselves often struggle to keep abreast of the rapid changes in 21st century society. Teachers can only achieve excellence in their professional endeavors if they strive for authentic and understanding relationships with their students.
Experienced teachers often lament the challenges they face and yearn for the ‘good old days’:
‘All the experienced teacher focus groups agreed that the environment in which teachers operate was considerably different from that of a decade ago and most reported that it was now more difficult and more stressful than it had been. Both primary and secondary groups cited as contributing factors a decline in respect for teacher authority, changing family structures, changing cultural mixes, and legal accountability. One group summarised the general view that 'school populations are getting worse'.
One secondary group referred to a rise in physical violence and use of weapons. Another secondary group spoke of the increased demands on teachers to take on counseling roles and an abrogation by parents of the disciplinary role.’
Yet committed and insightful educators, whilst acknowledging the challenges and issues facing them in day to day school life, look beyond what is ‘getting worse’ and find valuable qualities in their 21st century students:
‘Having never known anything but an accelerating rate of change and an unpredictable future, they have developed three strategies for coping:
Keep your options open as a way of incorporating a realistic uncertainty into your world-view;
The quest for a spiritual framework is leading them to explore post-material values;
They have become our most tribal generation, having realised that the most precious resource they have for coping with life in an uncertain world is each other.’
To summarise, the key qualities suggested by Mackay are: open-mindedness, a sense of spirituality and social connectedness. Surely these qualities can be understood and accessed by teachers for positive learning outcomes.
In order to do so, a good teacher must be prepared to accept the student for the person he or she is. An awareness of the student’s home life situation can be enormously helpful in assessing the level of stress with which he or she is coping:
‘While it's true that about 80 per cent of dependent children live with both their natural parents, that figure can blind us to the changing nature of family life. In most families, for instance, both parents work, and that has had a dramatic effect on family dynamics.
And what about the 1 million children who live with only one of their natural parents? They will inevitably have different, and perhaps even more pressing, emotional needs than children living with both their parents, especially if an unwelcome step-parent has entered the scene…
http://www.theage.com.au/news/hugh-mackay/just-what-is-this-thing-called-family/2005/08/11/1123353439407.html
Many students are literally ‘holding the fort’ of their home life- faced with the task of coping with part-time work, parenting and household chores. In addition, the emotional burden of supporting a parent who may be long-term unemployed, depressed, struggling with addiction, sick or disabled can be overwhelming for students and the cause of challenging or confronting behaviour. It is imperative that a teacher has some awareness of the factors which shape a student’s home situation:
(Scottish Council of Education, 1999)
Extra-curricular demands due to sport or artistic pursuits are placing students under extreme levels of pressure, often exacerbated by the ambitions of parents:
‘Some Sydney high schools recommend students do up to four hours of homework a night, with more on weekends, a work-load that clinical psychologist and education researcher Andrew Fuller said did not encourage effective study habits. Year 12 is a demanding time for students who must juggle HSC assessment and exam preparation, homework, extracurricular activities and high expectations from teachers and parents.
Counsellors and researchers say it is not unusual for year 12 students to seek professional advice on stress management and that the incidence of self-harm, the deliberate cutting or hurting in an attempt to find a release for psychological pain, seems to be increasing in Australia, particularly among young girls.’
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/school-exam-stress-extreme/2006/04/15/1144521541622.html
The need for social connectedness- whilst a potentially positive quality- also brings a set of demands which impinge on students’ lives: the need to be constantly available, the demands of effective networking and the stress of maintaining high profile. Solitude and time for reflection are marginalised. The drive to belong to a group or to fulfill an image can override the search for identity and a secure sense of self.
These complex, and often compounding sources of pressure can trigger extreme behaviors such as oppositional defiance, substance abuse, addictions, lethargy, eating disorders and depression. Many are simply lost in a materialistic society increasingly shaped by the forces of economic rationalism:
http://www.generations.postkiwi.com/2005/australias-lucky-generation
Clearly, any discussions between teachers and students/ teachers and parents should be underpinned by an awareness of the possible strains involved in those peoples lives. This precludes a pre-determined or judgemental approach, which can only be counter-productive.
"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."
Stephen R. Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People)
Initial counseling procedures which reveal significant underlying problems should ideally be referred to school psychologist. However, often problems can be solved very simply through flexibility and a willingness on the teacher’s part to cater for diversity.
In seeking to understand the needs of students and parents, teachers foster a climate of inclusion and participation. They are looking at the bigger picture, beyond their own agendas.
This climate of inclusion will ideally permeate not just the classroom practices in a socially interactive methodology, but embrace the entire school community. Parents and students will feel invited to seek an alignment in their habitus rather than pursue a pathway of divisiveness.
Ultimately, this healthy school ecology can be a source of hope and inner orientation for students, parents and staff alike.
