Article: Students ridiculed by their educators. Is it a good way of teaching?

Do you think when teachers ridicule their students, they actually try to encourage them to change a bad behavior these pupils may have in the classroom? Do you believe this kind of treatment can help them have a better performance in class? Have you ever experienced this at school or even university? Do you believe ridiculing is psychologically harmless for the affected pupils?

The reason why I decided to talk about this topic is because I really hate when this happens at school or other kinds of establishments. I remember one day when I was doing my internship, the 6th grade teacher ridiculed one kid due to the fact that he was just not paying attention to the class. The kid was making some drawings that were not related to the class work, he was not disrupting the lesson development though. He was calm and quiet. What the educador did was take his drawings away and said “It is a very childish thing from you what you are doing!” Then, she showed the drawings to the other students and said “What do you think guys?” As a result, all his classmates laughed at this boy.

As you can realize in the example given in the paragraph above, the teacher ridiculed one of her pupils. Ridiculing is a teacher’ manner of punishing students when they either do not pay attention to the class or behave in a way which is not accepted by these educators during the lesson. There is more than one way to ridicule students. For example by taking certain belongings such as drawings, figures, toys away from them and showing them to their other classmates. Also, by pulling one of these pupils’ ears, making them sit isolated in a chair by staring at the wall, scolding or even hitting them in front of all their peers. This kind of treatment is intended to humiliate the affected pupils by generally encouraging their classmates to laugh at them. The educators involved sometimes may join the laughter too. After this type of punishment is carried out, the victims may feel sad, embarrased, weak or angry. According to the book of Chilean Educational Program for Stopping Violence “Maltrato a las Niñas y Niños” (Ana María Aran, Studies Center and Good Treatment Promotion director and psychologist) and the article “El Papel de los Profesores en el Apoyo de los Niños y Niñas Víctimas de Malos Tratos” (Jorge Barudy, psychologist), ridiculing is a kind of psychological or physical-psychological maltreatment (depending on the situation) and can even be categorized as bullying. The consequences of this action may be interpreted as bad behavior at home, academic failure, fear, low self-esteem, depression, somatization, that is getting sick just due to this maltreatment or even school phobia.

To conclude, I may say that ridiculing is an awful teachers’ way of punishing their students. I think this kind of maltreatment should be forbidden at school and the educators involved should be penalized or even dismissed from their jobs. When teachers ridicule their pupils, they are doing a great psychological harm to them. Furthermore, it is very likely this triggers students to have bad behavior at home and also adopt a negative attitude toward school by getting school phobia and therefore not wanting to study or work at school ever again. Teachers are supposed to be respectful and encourage their students to participate in class in a good way if they are not interested. One good manner to do so is try to arouse their interest with entertaining school material but never ridiculing them under any circumstances.

Interview

Miss Johnson's innovative teaching strategy tips

LouAnne Johnson apart from being a dedicated teacher, is really creative and versatile during her teaching lessons. During an interview we had with her, we could find out some of her efficient and innovative ways of teaching she applies for different kind of students and the results they have caused on their learning.

-Interviewer: Miss Johnson. How long have you been teaching at school?
-Miss Johnson: Well, I've been teaching at school for a little time. Actually, before being a teacher I used to be in the marine and did a lot of really different things than a regular teacher would ever do in his or her entire life. Ha, ha, ha, ha!
-Interviewer: I see. Why did you decide to become a teacher then?
-Miss Johnson: I decided to become a teacher because I wanted to improve students' education. They usually don't get a good education, you know, so I thought if I prepared myself enough as academically as psychologically, I'd be able to become the dedicated teacher I always wanted to be. I never wanted to be like a regular teacher. My idea was to be an educator who could break the rules but in a good way. I think it's worked with my students.
-Interviewer: I believe you've done a great job. Can you tell us some of your secrets?
-Miss Johnson: Well... I don't think I have a specific kind of secret or magic formula. I'm just a person trying to do her job in the best way she can.
-Interviewer: But, according to what we've heard, you do use certain teaching strategies. Can you tell us a little how they work?
-Miss Johnson: Ah! Well, sometime ago, I realized one of my students had dyslexia. He wasn't a bad student but he couldn't pass his reading proficiency tests. First, I let him know about the problem in person and then I talked to his mother. The staff who I work with and I provided him help and we are still working on the case. Our objective is to help every student that has some kind of learning disabilities to pass his or her subjects and therefore earn enough credits to graduate from high school. Besides, from now on, I'm teaching my class making my students identify what kind of learning style is more convenient for them to use.
-Interviewer: And how do you do that?
-Miss Johnson: I said to my students there are three learning styles: auditory, visual and kinesthetic. When they must do an activity, I explain it based on these three different styles to make them totally understand how to do this activity. For example, first I write the activity on the board for the people who are visual learners. Then, I say it aloud for the ones who are auditory learners and finally I give examples of it for the kinesthetic learners due to the fact that they learn by doing. I's been pretty useful for their learning and it's also helped them have a better performance in class. Now, nobody asks me to explain them again and over again about what they need to do.
-Interviewer: Amazing! You really are an excellent teacher. We really appreciate what you've shared with us and we hope other educators can follow your example. Thank you so much!
-Miss Johnson: My pleasure!

With this, we have concluded our interview and could know more about LouAnne Johnson and some of her innovative and efficient teaching techniques.

If you are thinking about being a teacher, you'd better bear in mind these tips in your head.

Horoscope

-Aries: Stop blaming yourself for what happened to one of your relations in the past because it was not your fault. Try to improve your current relationship you have with an important relative and you will see life is not all about darkness and suffering.

-Taurus: Control your emotions. Do not let them take you over or you will get in trouble. Try to practice certain excercises which may help you channel your anger in a good way.

-Gemini: If you leave some bad habits you have, you will become a much better person and your life will totally change. Furthermore, you will have a future full of fortune ahead of you.

-Cancer: Your negative attitude will lead you to a lot of problems. A personal change of this kind of attitude is highly required. Unfortunately, your luck will be hard for some time so try to see beyond your problems in order to get a better perspective of life.

-Leo: Your strength of spirit will make you succeed in life. The only thing you need is patience. Your hard work and initiative will reward you in a better way than you expect.

-Virgo: Hate is not a good feeling. Try to forget a little about what happened with you and your relatives in the past. If you forgive them and realize you actually love them, you will find the inner peace you always wanted.

-Libra: Stop hanging around with people who are not a good influence on you. Otherwise, you will feel so threatened that you can get in serious problems in your school or job.

-Scorpio: Your bad attitude and lack of willingness will lead you to an unstable life full of failure. Realize there are people who are really worried about your future and accept their help.

-Sagittarius: Know your real strenghts and weaknesses by yourself and do not listen to people who do not know your abilities as well as you do. This way, you will have a better performance in you school or job.

-Capricorn: Do not overestimate somebody's abilities by underestimating yours. You have a lot of potential to succeed in whatever you want to. Try to be more self-confident.

-Aquarius: You have a great personality and a lot of leadership qualities. However, because of you are gifted, you tend to make others feel inferior. Realize the world does not go around yourself and start respecting other people's points of view as well.

-Pisces: Your lack of initiative will not make you fly. Little by little begin working on your weaknesses in order to develop a better performance in your school or job. Remember, if you do not want to work on these, you will not be capable of great things.

Can you guess what zodiac sign is Troy Jones, Jason, Hugo, Hakim, Danny Morton, Attiba Mack, Junior Advani, Jenny Reynolds, Nikki Anderson, Santiago Gonzales, Lance or Eddie Villaflores?

My favorite work of art

My favorite work of art is the painting "An American Classic" by Theodore Xaras who is a contemporary American artist. Although it is not a very well-known painting and does not belong to any painter as famous as Pablo Picasso or Leonardo da Vinci, I really loved it since the first time I saw it. Its beautiful landscape and variety of eye-catching colors just captivated me. Every time I gaze at it, I tend to remember my childhood dreams. This is because this wonderful work of art has all the characteristics I used to love when I was a child such as old trains, fresh vegetation, clean water and summer days. Furthermore, I recall when little I was obsessed about traveling to Puerto Montt by train. However, it had to be an old train like the one in the painting, it could not be a modern one because it did not have the same magic.

In spite of not being to Puerto Montt yet, when I gaze at this painting I feel like if I was there already.

Letter to the editor

Mr editor.
I wrote this letter to congratulate Ms Johnson on her magnificent work as a teacher. She has shown to be a dedicated educator and excellent professional by helping so many students as academically as psychologically through her unusual humanistic methods. She has been willing to turn mediocre students, who could not even read or write, into smart ones who, because of her hard effort made, can read, write and even think critically. I just consider that Ms Johnson is a great example of how a real teacher should be. She is not only pretty intelligent and has an extensive curriculum but has admirable moral values as well. Unfortunately, there are not many educators who are like Ms Johnson nowadays. Most of these bad professionals are just worried about earning money not taking into consideration their students' learning process and psychological welfare. That's why new teachers must be different and improve education by teaching, helping and assisting their pupils and not just caring about superficial things like money.

To conclude, I may say that if new educators followed Ms Johnson s' example and old ones rectified their mistakes in the past and followed her example too, there would be much less problems in education nowadays.

Juan Antonio Morena Lira
10-09-2009

Autobiography

My full name is Juan Antonio Morena Lira. I was born in Santiago, Chile on April 11th, 1986 in the hospital "Madre e hijo". When I was four, my younger brother Joaquín Ignacio Morena Lira was born. As a child, I remember I was pretty surprised when my parents brought him home for the first time. He used to be so small and would cry a lot.

At the age of five, I went to two playgrounds. At first I attended one called Labrador but then I changed to another one called Sumbayu. This happened because I had problems with my tutor and classmates. One year later, I started to attend "Liceo Miguel Rafael Prado". I studied in this establishment from Kinder to 4th grade of secondary. In 2002, my paternal grandma passed away. She was so sick and was suffering so much before dying that I thought it was better she rested in peace instead of living in pain.

In 2003, I failed 3th grade of secondary because I had depression due to bullying. My classmates were pretty mean and cruel to me. During this period, I had no friends and anybody who I could count on. I really felt lonely and empty. However, next year I could recover thanks to psychological treatment. As time went on, I started to notice my psychological health was getting better. I could make friends and develop a stronger personality. In short, everything turned out well. In 2005, I successfully graduated from that school and got a diploma. I recall it was a very nice celebration. Almost all my peers weeped with emotion but I did not. Maybe the bad memories unconsciously came to my mind that time.

During 2006, I began to study English Pedagogy at Alberto Hurtado University. What I wanted was to learn how to speak English. I remember I was very excited and nervous the first day. As a freshman, I did not know at all what I was going to do and who I was going to meet there. In October of last year, I had to stop studying because of great stress. That year, I could finish the first semester but could not complete the second one. I felt absolutely drained and desmotivated. I recall I just wanted to rest and recover all the energy I had lost. In August of this year, I returned from my one year break to study again. To date, I feel better and really hope that in about two or three years time I may have graduated from university and have gotten the degree and diploma I want so much.