There is a huge disconnect between how and what university teaches us in order to become teachers, what administration wants/expects, what the government wants, what parents want, and what students want… the teacher comes last…. But even they don’t seem to be fully clear on what their job is and what it should entail.
Teachers will say that they are not psychologists, therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists or parents of every student in their class (they often have their own children and don’t need/want more of their own), because the line seems to be not just blurred – but completely missing. The teacher THINKS that parents want them to be all of this. I can assure that I DON’T!!! (and I bet most parents don’t want it either) Not at all! I have actual SLP’s and other therapists for that, they are trained professionally and know how to do that – teachers don’t, so I don’t want you doing any of it!
I want you, the teacher – to teach! But I want you to understand what that actually means. Teachers seem to be misunderstanding the needs of the parents and the students and projecting what isn’t there, and then trying to defend themselves using this logic/idea.. but it makes no sense when we don’t want you doing any of that in the first place. Stop defending and start listening and learning about what parents/students really want.
For example. My children both have ARFID (just like I do) – I don’t want the teacher to help with that, and I don’t want them to be substitute paediatricians, nutritionists or dietitians either. But the teachers at my child’s school took it upon themselves to take on that role… and it nearly killed one of my children. It forced him to drop all safe foods and to also gain Anorexia as another diagnosis on his file. We were almost forced to have him on tube feeding permanently because of their assumption.
I never asked them to do anything. I did tell them about it, but only so they knew about the issue, and so they’d stay the f out of it. But no, they assumed I wanted them to ‘help’ my child – they put it on themselves to become amateur dietitians… and when they did, they nearly killed him – we ended up in emergency with him being nasal tube fed. If they’d just done what I asked of them, they would’ve had less work for themselves, and they wouldn’t have nearly killed him.
So what did I want. I wanted them to not say anything, not do anything, not do a bloody single thing. I wanted them to leave him alone and let him eat what I sent in his lunchbox and that was it. Simple right? Or so I thought.
This is what I usually want with multiple things, but instead they think I want them to do more… I actually want them to do less.
Things I want them to stop doing all together:
· Teaching topics they have no expertise in (eg: dietitian/ nutrition/ possibly maths and science for some teachers)
· Stop using rewards, as this is what is causing the ‘bad behaviour’ you hate so much.
· Learn about school can’t from the “School Can’t Australia” group, or from my blogs and book 5, and stop giving ridiculous advice to parents (like: take away their things, punish them for not going, bring them in their PJ’s, get someone else to drop them off, give them anxiety meds)… BTW: would you take anxiety meds just so you could go to a job that is emotionally/physically abusing you, and harming you – or would your boss tell your husband/wife to take away your things, drug you and drag you in by your hair in your PJ’s and lock the door behind you so you couldn’t run away????– be logical people!!!!
· Stop pushing one methodology for learning (eg: phonics on every student, and using a pencil or pen – when a tablet or typing is more appropriate for that child)
· Stop interfering in the child’s food and eating disorders
· Stop giving homework for all primary school aged students, and only to higher years if absolutely necessary – and never nightly homework – just assignments that are due in a few weeks – that give the kids weeknights off and time to do it when they feel capable.
· Stop thinking that a class of 30 or more would be getting quality education if the ‘problem’ children were removed from the class. In no way can one teacher give ‘quality’ education to 30 or more students… even if they are all perfectly behaved… it’s a complete fallacy.
· Stop thinking that sitting still and ‘behaving’ is learning. Millions of adults around the world can’t handle an office job of sitting quietly 9-5 5 days a week – and yet that’s how you teach ALL children…. It’s bloody obvious that it doesn’t work if you actually think about it.
· Stop thinking that all children learn at the same time and the same way as their peers.
· Stop thinking that a child who talks back/asks questions is trying to start a power struggle or being rude… we are simply asking a question, or trying to be treated like an equal – treat them like an equal
The above list takes jobs away from you – to free up time…. And so does the following list, as most of it is done before you even begin working as a teacher.
What I do want:
· Administration to allow time for all teachers to get to know their students
· All teachers to undertake neuroaffirming training in University before starting teaching, and all teachers who are currently teaching to undergo training – not in their own time, and paid for by the government
· Administration to cut class sizes to about 15 to 17 students
· Administration to introduce child led learning (which creates heaps less work for the teachers)
· Administration to introduce development appropriate learning. Eg: if a child is at a grade 6 maths level – they do grade 6 maths, and if they are at a grade 2 level for reading – they do grade 2 level reading – AND the student is assessed for a learning disability – AND given early intervention for it
· Administration to stop pushing one methodology (eg: only phonics, when we know phonics hinders GLP’s from learning to read)
· Administration to introduce specialist teachers in primary schools for subjects like maths and science. Primary educators are not taught how to teach maths properly – and it’s becoming more obvious that not all teachers should teach those subjects.
· Administrators to introduce CPS by Dr Ross Greene in all schools instead of PBIS, PBS, ABA or other behaviourism harmful tactics
· Administration to actually DO something about bullying
· Administration to make classrooms safe – with training, security cameras and actually dealing with bullies
· Administration to have a nurse on staff for kids with medical conditions and needs (eg: incontinence issues, taking ADHD meds, oxygen tanks, wheelchair users, epileptics etc) – for schools with more than approx. 50 students. A Nurse with a teaching post grad or training cert would be even better – as they could double as an important educational tool for teachers as well.
A teachers role is to teach, but they have not been able to do that for a long time – it’s not their fault – it’s the systems fault… and it’s not the parents fault either.
Parents don’t want you to do more, we don’t want you to take on therapist roles, we don’t want you to be abused or harmed. We want you to be safe and properly trained and supported in the first place….. but you aren’t!
No teaching degree (that I know of) teaches about neuroaffirming teaching, or about neurodivergence, or about disability, minorities, segregation, at risk populations or the harms of behaviourism… it’s time they did teach these things. Instead – they teach for the average capitalist... for the average supremacist thinking – they teach for what they want… a white heterosexual male from a middle-class background from specific locations, religions and upbringing, with no disabilities or differences. But there’s barely anyone that actually fits that demographic anymore (or ever did for that matter), but that doesn’t stop them – they still teach teachers to teach that demographic and no one else.
The world has become more multicultural, the wealth gap has expanded dramatically, and neurodivergent people keep breeding more ND children…. The world is filling with diversity, but schools have not developed or grown with it. In fact, they’ve regressed, they keep trying to go back to the 1940’s when industrialism, behaviourism and control/conformity worked best. It will never be like that again (thank goodness) – get with the times and start learning about how to teach this new demographic of students and society.
That’s why you have so many problems with ‘behaviour’ in the classroom, and why so many children are problems for teachers. Because the system has failed you – they have left you without an adequate or even basic understanding of diversity in society /in the classroom – and how to understand those people to be able to teach them successfully.
The children and parents aren’t (usually) failing you – it’s the system that has failed, but you are still grasping/clinging to it- because that’s what you were taught. Deschooling you will take time. I strongly recommend you read “Deschooling Society” by Ivan Illich if you want to learn how this process began to change back in the 60’s- but we still haven’t listened or learnt now in the 2020’s.
Your administration staff aren’t taught either. In fact, courses in Australia are utter rubbish and still use those harmful methods that we want you to ban. We want Universities and governments to be held accountable for the shit show that they’ve produced. We want good teachers to return to the profession. We want what’s best for the children – all children!
Segregation doesn’t help – it teaches able/NT “white” children that disabled/minority children aren’t welcome in our society. And it teaches disabled/minority children that they’ll never be accepted because they are the ones who are broken.
The ‘current method of inclusion’ doesn’t work because it’s not real inclusion. All it is, is disabled people and minorities being put in with everyone else – and expected to perform, behave, act and learn like all the others – that’s not inclusion, that’s conformity, control, assimilation, racism, ableism and abuse.
Real inclusion would be if you changed the whole system… where children learn at their own pace (not as per age group limitations – see below) and children were actually treated with kindness and respect (equity) from adults, no matter their race, age, income, or ability.
NOTE: read my book “Autism the Big Book Set of Help book 5: Schools and Onward” to learn more about creating a truly inclusive school.
BTW: ND kids usually have “Spikey Profiles” (meaning their IQ scores cannot be averaged, because they are great at some things and need help in others), whereas “typical” kids have IQ scores and cognitive abilities that can be averaged and predicted and grouped by age group (that’s why they’re referred to as ‘typical’). Read my blogs and books about this topic, it’s really important for teaching ND children – read the Teaching Teachers blog 15 about Spikey Profiles for more info… coming soon.