25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them (58 page)

Figure
7.1 A Social Interaction Model of Teachers’ Worst Treatment of Students That May Result in Academic Trauma

The Triggers or Emotional Catalysts
for Aberrant Teacher Behavior

The purpose of this section is to try to understand the why of teacher mistreatment of a student. It is imperative to recognize the underlying causes of the 5 D’s of discipline problems, as depicted in
Figure 7.1
.

• Disrespect

• Defiance

• Disruption

• Disdain

• Disorder

All of these categories represent some violation of accepted classroom mores such as students should respect teachers by doing what the teacher tells them to do without resistance or backtalk. If the student is satisfying her personal needs by talking, or not working, she is being disruptive. If a student shows blatant disregard for teacher wisdom and authority, the student is being disdainful. A student that is playing, yelling, or not following the rules is being disorderly. The intensity and nature of the teacher’s response to the 5 D’s of discipline may reflect the teacher’s perceived needs, deficiencies, and feelings. When any of the 5 D’s are apparent in student misbehavior, the teacher often feels opposed; when that misbehavior is persistent, it becomes a perceived wall of opposition that the teacher feels she cannot break through and as a result, she becomes very frustrated and frustration leads to an anger that can range from moderate to pathological. This range of emotional reaction is again dependent on the teacher’s needs, deficiencies, and feelings, such as those that manifest in the survey responses. Additional analysis of the teacher’s responses revealed needs to establish the legitimacy of their power, to enforce rules and policies that they have established, to control the outcomes of classroom events and situations, to make an example of students that misbehave to discourage the misbehavior of others, and to teach a student a lesson and show them who’s boss.

The environment of the typical classroom crackles with opportunity for sparks to fly between teachers and students. Teacher mistreatment of students can be unprovoked, but quite often it is precipitated by some action or infraction committed by a child. This is not to say that the child is at fault, because the action or infraction may only be the teacher’s perception, masquerading as something real. The infraction may be a single incident or it may be some persistent behavior that crosses the teachers’ tolerance threshold. There are
many dimensions of students’ perceived or real misbehavior; it may be intentional or unintentional, a major incident or minor incident; legal or illegal activity. Regardless, it is how the students’ behavior affects the teacher and that teacher’s response that is important. Teachers’ response to students’ real or imagined misbehavior is equally varied. When a teacher responds by mistreating a child, the trigger for this behavior is usually that the teacher feels the child’s misbehavior is a threat to her power and authority. Inevitably, the bubbling cauldron of emotion that teachers refer to as “snapping,” erupts into various forms of offensive, undesirable behaviors such as physical aggression, verbal abuse, humiliation, impulsive acts, and passive aggression that may cause academic trauma in some students.

The punitive legacy of antiquated, abusive discipline strategies and ineffective practices that were characteristic of the early-twentieth-century “Hickory Stick Era” in education (McFee, 1918) has endowed many teachers with a flawed sense of omnipotence in classroom settings. This flawed perception may cause teachers to view students as subordinate to all teachers. Consequently, teachers view misbehavior as a form of insubordination that should not be tolerated. It is also an accepted societal convention that children should respect authority and their elders. The teacher’s interpretation of the misbehavior sets the tone of the teacher’s reaction to the behavior.

Most teachers really want to be good teachers, but their deficiencies in various professional capacities inhibit their development and may cause problems. In the worst treatment survey responses, teachers candidly admitted their shortcomings. When explaining the cause of their mistreatment of students, many readily attributed their behavior to a lack of experience, a lack of coping skills, poor judgment, impulsivity, lack of consideration and empathy for others. The teacher survey responses provided much evidence of a lack of anger-management skills, and a lack of knowledge of child development and typical behaviors that can be expected at each stage of development.

All of the participating teachers seemed to carry some form of emotional baggage, some more than others. Feelings of being anxious, fearful, overwhelmed, helpless, worthless, vengeful, and threatened, were fuel for their frustration and anger.

Some of this baggage includes the beliefs and perceptions that many teachers have formed on their own or assimilated from other people. For example, some teachers feel they have to follow through on threats to save face and protect their credibility. Some teachers classify themselves as being from the “old school” or from a different culture of so-called genteel ways and often feel offended by the perceived brashness of the younger generation. There are teachers that have firm beliefs about the inherent “badness” of children, some believing that children spend a lot of their time thinking of creative ways to challenge authority and incite controversy. This thinking is rooted in a legacy of past beliefs that children are inherently evil and must have the “devil” beat out of them. A mismatch of position and qualifications and subsequent feelings of inadequacy, challenges teachers’ self-efficacy
beliefs (Bandura, 1969) or their confidence about their capabilities. As a consequence, they may feel inadequate or incompetent, feelings that foster feelings of defensiveness or resentment. Teachers’ biased beliefs and perceptions about students that are ethnically and economically different and teachers’ limited exposure to such children may manifest as culture clash and incite discriminatory behavior. Unfortunately, some preservice teachers view teaching as a “soft” profession. They come into the profession unaware and unprepared for the “hard” side of teaching such as student misconduct, drug use, assault, insubordination, and so on. Such beliefs are often the basis of negative classroom interactions and possible academic trauma for students.

There are a number of psychosocial factors underlying the causes of aberrant teacher behavior. Some of them are listed below, accompanied by recommendations for avoiding the negative outcomes of these factors.

Sometimes teachers experience a discrepancy between their actual self and their ideal self. Such a perception fosters feelings of inadequacy, discontent, dissatisfaction, and displaced anger. To avoid this perception, they could develop a more realistic perspective of their strengths and weaknesses and make a concerted effort to close the gap. Substance abuse is a reality for millions of people; teachers are no exception. Teachers under the influence of alcohol or drugs are very likely to be irritable, reactive, and short on patience. Fortunately, there are rehabilitation facilities, professional counseling and support groups to help them manage their addiction. A family history of substance abuse has its own set of problems. People from such families are referred to as adult children of alcoholics. They have what their support groups refer to as a laundry list of problems that can be directly attributed to the dysfunction of the addicts in their family, parents in particular. To minimize the negative outcome of this family situation, teachers can avail themselves of the positive support groups that help them to recognize and minimize the effects of their childhood, by stressing that childhood is over and they must find positive ways of coping with life and move on.

Sadly, teachers who have had an oppressive or abusive teacher in the past may identify with the oppressor because they know what hurts or what has a negative effect because it was done to them. They may see the oppressor as having the power and that is what they want, the power and control that they did not have as a child. Those teachers who have experienced being a powerless child dealing with aversive academic experiences can put their past situation into perspective through guided imagery. Using this technique, they mentally place themselves in a protective bubble to mentally revisit the past scenario of their mistreatment, to be reminded that it was not a desirable situation, but they lived through it, and to assure that they would never want to emulate the offending teachers’ behavior.

Unfortunately, allergies, physiological imbalances such as menopause, PMS, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses can fuel out-of-control teacher behavior. Fortunately, negative outcomes can be avoided with appropriate medical help, counseling, and behavioral management of various disorders. Some teachers have an excessive need for control; they feel they can’t trust
others to do things right. They are not comfortable if they are not sure that they can control the outcome. These need issues may be the result of childhood trust issues; professional intervention may be needed to help the teacher learn to trust their world and minimize irrational acts of need for control.

Teachers who experienced a rigid upbringing may develop a very dominant, authoritarian teaching style that demands absolute obedience to authority. An analysis of their teaching style may create awarenesses that will encourage them to alter their style and to embrace a more positive authoritative style of teaching and relating to students.

Many people, not just teachers, fear being taken advantage of, insubordination, or any other perceived threat to their authority. To avoid the negative outcomes of this fear, teachers should not expect unquestioned obedience; they will learn acceptance and be more willing to let someone get away with something, particularly if it is insignificant.

Long ago, teaching was viewed as a noble, elite profession and consequently, some teachers developed a sense of privilege—a feeling that they were like royalty and students were peons, there to do the teachers’ bidding. Such an omnipotent perception of themselves fosters feelings of entitlement that allows teachers to say or do anything to students because they are believed to be in a lower position. To avoid the outcomes of this perception, such teachers need a wake-up call, the illusion is over, teacher-centered education is out and student-centered education is in. It’s a new day; the ivory tower is crumbling to make way for duplexes where teachers and students work together.

In a small number of cases, there may be some pathology where a teacher enjoys inflicting hurt or pain. To avoid the outcome of possible pathology, teachers should always question their motives when they feel inclined to hurt or punish students, particularly if it is cruel, unusual, or excessive punishment.

Some teachers lack knowledge of acceptable ways of interacting with students and the ability to recognize their deficit as unacceptable. To avoid the negative outcomes of their lack of knowledge, they should observe master teachers to become more aware of how to relate to students and how to cease and desist their own unacceptable behavior. They also should participate in professional development workshops on improving teacher–student interactions. Some teachers lack the empathy or compassion necessary to relate to and understand their students. They can avoid the outcomes of their deficit by making an effort to put themselves in their student’s place; understanding how their students feel may help them to be more effective teachers.

Hidden Hazards: Negative
Outcomes of Student Mistreatment

Unfortunately, some children are less resilient than others. Children who are less resilient and experience gross mistreatment are more likely to experience
academic trauma, a strong reaction to aversive academic experiences. Children who are very resilient and experience minimal mistreatment are less likely to experience academic trauma. Children with various levels of resiliency fall somewhere along the above continuum. Factors such as personality, age, economic status, psychological makeup, and family background, influence a child’s predisposition for experiencing academic trauma. Some students experience psychological scarring, or psychological wounds so deep they leave emotional scars to evidence their presence. Outcomes or effects on the student who experiences academic trauma may be classified into six categories; academic, behavioral, cognitive, psychosocial, personality, and self-concept. The following are nonexclusive listings of various negative outcomes and emotional scars, by category, that children affected by academic trauma may experience:

Academic Outcomes

• They may become hypervigilant in academic settings that pose a perceived threat.
  
• Some become nervous and uncomfortable or insecure in academic settings.
  
• They may have difficulty concentrating on academic tasks.
  
• Some may be unwilling to ask questions or to seek help from instructors.
  
• They may experience academic and developmental lags in school where poor teachers were in charge and students missed important required knowledge.