Students in a residential facility with behavioural or emotional handicaps were
asked two questions: 1. What are the most important things a regular class
room teacher should learn? and 2. What should a BD teacher learn that a
regular class room teacher might not need to know? The researchers write:
"Of primary interest to us were the quantity and quality of the
comments on the personal characteristics needed by teachers, and the students’
desire to be treated with respect and fairness. In teacher education, we have
little research on teaching patience, positive attitudes, or respect for
students."
Fairness and respect
The most poignant comments made by the students related to their requests
that teachers learn how to be fair and to respect students. These comments came
from all five classes. What these students were asking teachers to learn appears
to be common consideration and respect.
Suggestions for regular classroom teachers were:
-
Have a more open mind; regular teachers are prejudiced in
accepting BD students in the mainstream.
-
Single students out to talk with them, not in front of the
class.
-
Don’t pick out one student to be your favourite just because
they work better.
-
Don’t embarrass students in front of others.
-
Don’t discriminate against students because of the way they
dress or who they hang around with.
-
Use books and materials in a way that preserves the dignity of
students.
-
Don’t discriminate; treat everyone as equal.
Similar suggestions were made about what BD teachers need to
learn:
-
Don’t like one kid more than another.
-
Don’t talk down to students.
-
Get your facts straight.
-
Don’t go by past history.
-
Don’t blow things out of proportion.
-
Be polite and nice to kids.
-
Don’t compare kids with others.
-
Take time to work with all students.
Relationship and counseling skills
Comments in this category
focused on the teachers’ sensitivity to students’ feelings and their ability to
help them solve their problems and feel better about themselves. For regular
classroom teachers, the suggestions included:
-
Understand why we get angry, and help us with it instead of
punishing us.
-
Make students feel good about themselves.
-
Talk more to students.
Students made more comments about the skills needed by BD
teachers in this category than in any other, and the comments came from all five
classes. According to the students, teachers need to:
-
Be willing to take the time to discuss matters of importance
to students.
-
Listen to what students have to say.
-
Try to feel their feelings.
-
Know that small problems to teachers can be big problems to
students.
-
Understand students’ intense moods.
Personal qualities
Students made many comments on the personal characteristics needed by
regular classroom teachers, such as:
-
Be patient.
-
Be friendly, open, and listen to what students say.
-
Have a sense of humour.
-
Have a positive attitude; be helpful.
-
Be nice, no swearing.
For BD teachers the listed qualities were similar, with four of
the five classes listing patience as an important quality for teachers to
have. In addition, they said BD teachers need to do the following:
-
Control their own emotions so they don’t take it out on
students at school.
-
Deal with their own anger.
-
Don’t be paranoid.
-
Don’t overreact to students’ behaviour.
Instructional skills
The students made the following comments regarding regular classroom
teachers and classroom instruction:
-
Assign realistic and relevant homework.
-
Walk around and help students.
-
Make lesson plans.
-
Tell students what to do each day and explain what to do.
-
Learn different ways to teach, such as games, computer,
videos.
-
Let students help each other.
-
Try to see how students learn best.
-
Give work that students can do.
-
Apply the subjects to real-life situations.
The students also had ideas about instructional skills that BD
teachers should know that are different from what a regular classroom teacher
should know. These include:
-
Don’t get angry with students who don’t know how to do their
work.
-
Help out in troubled areas.
-
Give help to kids having a hard time.
-
Work with individuals (one-to-one instruction).
-
Make work easier to understand.
-
Use more techniques to teach.
Behaviour management
Students did not appear to view behaviour management as a critical need for
regular classroom teachers. There were only a few comments, which were fairly
general. Suggestions:
For BD teachers, there were more comments; with some specific
skills teachers should learn. These include:
-
Know what sets people off so it can be prevented.
-
Find ways to deal with students other than threatening.
-
Learn to keep hands to themselves, and don’t push kids around.
-
Know how to take someone down (physical restraint).
-
"Don’t ratl the kiDs."
Crisis management
A theme that occurred only about BD teachers was the ability to manage
students in a crisis situation, such as:
-
Handle special situations, such as students with bad tempers.
-
Know about dealing with suicidal students.
-
Know how to handle students themselves without calling in
others to help,
Background knowledge
Some students had specific suggestions about the content that teachers
should learn about development and developmental disorders. A few suggestions
were that regular teachers need to understand normal development and attention
deficit disorders. Teachers of BD students were expected to be knowledgeable
about substance abuse, medications, and multiple personality disorders.
