Teachers as Police Agents

This piece is dedicated to teachers of teenagers and the deep respect we should have for the bravery and commitment on display by high school teachers whose important work largely goes unrewarded.     

When you decided you wanted to become a teacher, did you consider the fact that you would be policing the classroom most of the time?

Try not to tear your hair out over a tantrum

Teaching teenagers is a totally different kettle of fish from educating adults. If you were only trained to teach the latter, then should you face the former in a classroom situation, you will be in for a big surprise. Classroom management takes centre stage and multi-tasking becomes the norm. The teacher must retain control of the class to gain the respect of the pupils and to maintain a sense of order. Keeping cool as a cucumber is paramount as your every move will be scrutinised; not only by the students, but also by the school and, in some cases, indirectly by the parents as well. If you blow your top, some kids may use it against you; having learned where your weaknesses lie, they will capitalise and proceed to rub you up the wrong way. Counting to ten may just be a myth when attempting to avoid this pitfall, or you could try to use humour to help keep your head above water. It is easy to say or write, but harder to walk the walk.

Spare the rod, spoil the child

Punishment is not something you need to bother yourself with when dealing with grown-ups, i.e. with language centres. With teens you will need hard and fast rules for even the slightest indiscretion. The thinking behind this is that they need to know what the boundaries are, and what the consequences of their actions will be. Naturally, this is only part of the solution. Showing you are strict usually works if you are consistent, after all, it is said that children are more likely to be better behaved if they have enough discipline; though their home situation is also crucial. If children are allowed to run riot by their parents at home, then it may also be more difficult for the teacher to keep control of them at school. There is a fine balance of course between giving them freedom to think and express themselves, versus reading them the riot act, where they won’t be able to get away with anything. Perhaps as a sign of the times and depending on the culture, sometimes, you will be asked to justify yourself to inquisitive pupils who wish to reason with you, even if you do have the final say. Depending on the general attitude of the students, whether you have back-up from management, and your own ability to stay calm under pressure, this will influence the behavioural patterns of the class. Rules can be clearly sign-posted with no room for misinterpretation, and if the principal follows up appropriately after you have referred a student to him/ her, then you can count on your superiors, and this should act as a deterrent and even instil fear in some.

Good Cop Bad Cop

With youngsters of this age-group there must be some give or take. As something of a balancing act, experience will come in handy, but you should never become complacent. Once you have gained their trust, then you can negotiate, hopefully without too much of a tug-of-war and manage to stay in control in the process. Being over-friendly may be risky unless you trust them implicitly. Being a friend to them is probably ill-advised, as there should always be a healthy distance between the students and their teacher. There is always a danger that there will be too big a gap meaning that they won’t feel inclined to do well to please their teacher.

The Carrot and the Stick

Should you give rewards for good behaviour or just for outstanding achievements perhaps? You may even be asked for a treat in return for participation. Carrying on with the police metaphor, this sounds a bit like a criminal collaborating in return for clemency. Though, in this case, you mustn’t encourage such behaviour. In can also happen that another teacher is amazingly generous and then the kids will expect the same from you. Still, if you are feeling incredibly kind, you could always offer a bar of chocolate to the winner of a quiz or competition, which can work equally well for adults as an incentive and, usually, participants will become ultra-competitive.

Parents Evening

As upstanding members of society, teachers can be asked for advice on how to deal with the children by their parents. Alarmingly perhaps, desperation can drive parents to reach out and search for ways to get through to their own flesh and blood. It may sound flattering to be asked for advice in this way, but, in any case, some teachers are not parents themselves and this can be awkward. Surely, dishing out parenting advice is not part of the job, is it? Luckily, it is not an offence to feel helpless.

Experimentation

Handing out punishment can involve experimentation. You could always fine them every time they swear and give it to charity and see what happens; it can be a valuable lesson. Although only if it is appropriate and they can afford to do so. One tried and tested method is to give one energetic soul some responsibility like opening a debate or helping you in other ways; this could curb any disruptive behaviour, thus, killing two birds with one stone. You can always give them an inch in the hope that they won’t take a mile in return. At the end of the day, you are the Sheriff in town and your job is to maintain law and order at all costs. Warnings work wonders with a few, but the key, once again, is to stick to your guns, and, also, to be fair to everyone. A ‘three strikes and you’re out’ system may work well with moderate offenders in class, but the most hardened criminals; I mean troublemakers or deviants as they may be labelled, may instead of jail-time, at least be punished a few times so they realise the errors in their ways, before they can be rehabilitated. There is no doubt that labelling people has its critics; it may be that doing so only alienates misguided souls and exacerbates the likelihood of encountering problem children or at least repeat offenders. Or, it could in fact be that by naming rather than shaming individuals who need help, a positive course of action can be facilitated.

If no 10 is extremely strict and no 1 is the complete opposite, which number are you when you teach and can you give an example in action?