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The root of social and emotional issues . (cont'd)

© Marilyn Robb

Treating every human being with complete respect and care is indeed at the heart of SEL programmes. But what does that mean? How do we make sure that we are actually doing that? And what makes it hard for us to do that all the time?

We can start with the relationship between teacher and student. Most teachers I talk to say that the relationship ought to be one of respect. These are some of the ways this was expressed: “Students must trust that you have their best interests at heart and that the things you ‘re trying to teach are important”.

“ I think that the teacher-student relationship needs to be one of a loving surrogate mother”.

“One of mutual respect and openness…”

“The best teachers are as respectful of students as the children are of them”.

“Teachers should be approachable and trustworthy”.

I still hold the belief that with very few exceptions everyone enters the teaching profession with a similar attitude and with good intentions. No teacher embarks on such a career with the express purpose of intimidating, invalidating or mis-treating students. Yet there are as many reports of ‘student abuse’ in schools in many parts of the world. This abuse is not always physical. In fact, there is more mental and emotional abuse than physical. What happens along the way?

Something in the classroom triggers the teacher to such a point that his or her reactions to situations become irrational. There must be something about the job that makes the teacher lose sight of his direction to treat every student with complete respect. Some of the factors contributing to the distress of the teachers include-:

a) Their own personal stresses - family issues to deal with, financial difficulties, inadequate social life.

b) The pressures of the profession – having to perform to a certain standard or being responsible for all these young people passing tests no matter what, having to cope with the emotional issues of this large number of young people, isolation in the job.

c) The students – having to manage the behaviour patterns of 20 + students at one time day after day, coping with cultural differences.

In order for teachers to be the models that is required of them, they need more support to first deal with the effects of these issues on them. SEL programmes cannot be effectively implemented by a teacher who lacks the mental and emotional space to be an example of these skills. A teacher who is tense or anxious due to any of the above factors will inevitable instill some fear in his students. SEL programmes therefore must not only attempt to teach skills to the students, but must have a component of support for the teachers to work on their own emotional and mental issues at the same time.