My daughter’s confession of her ill feelings against her teacher startled me. She was in sixth grade, too young to be hurled of such words as “I could send you parading around the school vicinity with nothing on your body but a blanket!” straight from her teacher’s mouth.
The impulse to feel hurt for my daughter and the anger that wanted to surge out of me were to be set aside for a while. I had to view the matter in a deeper and wider perspective – being a teacher myself.
As I probed the matter with her, I had concluded that somehow – maybe, the teacher was pushed to her limits seeing my child and her classmates inattentive in her class most often. Supposedly, she just wanted to say, “I’d like you to be particularly interested in this subject!” However, she was not able to relay the exact message she wanted my child or the whole class to understand. My child didn’t get that she needed to focus her energy to the activities in that class, but she received a message not only detrimental to her dignity as an individual but to her motivation to consider Math subject as significant part of an academe. In this case, my daughter was not the only loser but the teacher as well because she reaped a result perfectly contrast to her objectives – she was hated as much as her subject.
“NO TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT”, it is the law that seek to protect learners of all ages- regardless of sex, religion and financial status,-from punishment, inclusive of physical injury, humiliation, threat, scare, criticism and the likes as a way of discipline to children.
Most Filipino teachers, being used and brought up in a learning environment where careless scolding and threats were proved to be effective in eliciting “outward” desirable habits and behavior, would need more time and support in incorporating total positive strategies with the rampant problem situations school are facing today.
Exclusive of a number of cases on pre-marital sex, public display of affection (PDA) using and pushing with drugs, the major day-to-day problem and the hardest one that challenges teachers is the students’ low drive to succeed in scholastic performance.
For the more evidently promiscuous acts of students mentioned, there are clear directives and legal processes which could be explicitly followed, with the guidance office at work and the specific departments to handle the case. Whereas, the students’ consistent display of irresponsibility in class could bring teachers’ blood pressure up to an undesired level. For one, they feel constricted by the law that deviate them from the “perceived” effective punishment plus the pressure of receiving the blame with the equation that students’ poor achievement is a direct effect of teachers’ lack of necessary skill, period!” And to add salt to this wounds, they shall be sent to more trainings, be asked to hold more remedial classes, and submit more reports which could leave them exhausted for the REAL WORK that requires their FULL ENERGY: and that is planning for teaching , preparing for audio visual aids, and facilitating learning.
The Positive Approach to Child Discipline (PATCD) under the Child Protection Policy (CPP) has been promoted for some time now to all public and private school teachers to help them become aware of the nature and effects of corporal punishment and on how they should use the appropriate measure and kind of discipline in a humane way.
Teachers are advised to STOP when they’re angry, LOOK at the matters professionally before saying out unlikely words or taking an undesirable action, and LISTEN so that they don’t miss significant information helpful in finding causes to the problem.
Another thing which calls for careful consideration is the parents’ flexibility to the process of discipline. The term FLEXIBILIY as I view it, should apply to learners and teachers as well.
Teachers should refrain from expecting an ULTIMATE change of behavior in one, two and three instances of conferring with the child and parent. They may consider easy small tasks achievable within a shorter time (Short term goal) that are geared toward the “ultimate product” set. (Long term goal)
I had this student at grade 7 English class who had manifested immaturity and irresponsibility. He used to roam around the classroom just like a 5 –year- old kid who doesn’t care about the activities going on or if everyone is seated for classroom discussion. He would come to class 20 or 30 minutes late and at times, skip the whole period. I was successful in soliciting his mother’s coordination by first telling her that the child is actually not misbehaving, only his level of maturity should be developed so that his sense of responsibility should match that characteristic of an average 12 or 13 years old. The cons of his behavior if left unchecked was discussed and after I gave the words that highlighted the positive trait in her child, our meeting worked like magic. The mother spontaneously told about her son, and through that I found out that the child was treated that way-“bunso” being used to “easy” life. For the whole grading period, we agreed that her son had to regularly wash dishes as a start up of the “treatment” and at the same time attend classes, ask permission when necessary just like his classmate do. In class, I openly thanked him for his consistency on the task. Each grading period, more equally small tasks were added – like completing his work before submitting them. (Though he consistently get low scores.] Sometimes, I would reward him by choosing him from among a number of volunteers to do an errand within the school vicinity. At the end of the year I knew that the child still was behind what a grade 7- promoted to grade 8- learner would be but I was glad that he learned the basic lesson of life: Consistently performing the basic steps to become a responsible person because at that point, it was all the best he’s ready to do.
Anyways, a positive approach to child discipline should make everybody a winner.
By: Loreta B. Visda | Teacher III | Bonifacio Camacho National High school | Abucay, Bataan
