What’s wrong with our teachers?

Trembling short of breath the 13yearold girl was wheezing by the time she finished her 100 situps with her backpack on This was a cruel and unusual punishment by teacher Mamta Yadav who claimed she did not notice the studentrsquos distressIn a tragic irony the girl died on November 14 Childrenrsquos Day Ramashray Yadav principal of the school Shri Hanumant Vidya Mandir is reported to have said the teacher did not see the girl wheezing because of her ldquoshort heightrdquoMedia reports say the student was trembling at the end of her punishment and that she was too scared to speak up and tell the teacher about her legs giving way She did not tell the teacher anything for the rest of the day as wellDespite corporal punishment being banned we have seen teachers mete out harsh punishments like sit ups for young students whose bodies cannot withstand physical pressure PICISTOCKIn no way can the teen be deemed responsible for the incident mdash but the biggest question raised is why the lack of awareness and vocabulary among students to advocate for themselves Students need to know that they can speak up for themselves beyond just basics like going to the toilet and feeling unwell to instead advocate for themselves against corporal punishmentSwati Popat Vats president of Early Childhood Association ECA and Association for Preparatory Education amp Research APER is often the goto person for teachers and educators who need help and donrsquot know where to turn ldquoI have long been asking the education board to include neuroscience in the training of the Bachelors in Educationrdquo she says What has neuroscience got to do with teaching children ldquoStudies in this field have shown that when you discipline a child in any shape or form when imparting knowledge or wanting to encourage behavioural changes in them corporal punishment doesnrsquot workrdquo she insistsVats seems exasperated with the lack of inclusion and why a heavyhanded approach has never worked for students understandably so given the data behind her statement One of the reports that provided the data was ldquoCorporal Punishment and Elevated Neural Response to Threat in Childrenrdquo published by researchers from Harvard University in 2021One of the workshops on child selfadvocacy being conducted in Nirmala Niketan collegeThe study looked at 147 children using MRI assessment and found that children who had been spanked had a higher activity response in the areas of their brain that regulate emotional responses and detect threats even to facial expressions that most would consider nonthreateningThe lead researcher on the study Jorge Cuartas a professor at Harvard University observes in the study that spanking elicits a similar response in childrenrsquos brains to more threatening experiences like sexual abuse ldquoYou see the same reactions in the brainrdquo Cuartas explains ldquoThose consequences potentially affect the brain in areas often engaged in emotional regulation and threat detection so that children can respond quickly to threats in the environmentrdquoRose name changed is a 24yearold school counsellor in Mumbai and even though she has been one for a year she quit her first school counsellor job within a few months The reason ldquoA girl in class 9 was having a mental breakdown I didnrsquot want her to go back to her classroom immediately I wanted her to come with me to my office and get a chance to regulate but my incharge at the time told me something like lsquoWe donrsquot have time for this you need to go back to class and get on with the dayrsquordquo she says and after seeing the girl to the classroom she felt miserable and had a crisis of faith in her vocation ldquoI couldnrsquot help but ask myself lsquoWhat am I doing herersquordquo adds RoseIn a few months Rose quit the school and joined her current school where she says she has to share an office with the special education teacher ldquoI donrsquot even have designated space as a counsellor where the student can come and vent without having anyone else in the roomrdquo she says ldquoOne or the other of us has to step outrdquo We canrsquot do this all the time we need to speak to other children and we have administrative workrdquo she adds Rose and her colleague have now reiterated their demand for separate offices but the administration has responded that due to ongoing construction work in the school this might not happen anytime soonThis lack of privacy seems to be a running theme in schools where teachers especially principals and supervisors do not understand the importance of giving a child space to sort out their feelings ldquoMost counsellorsrsquo offices have glass walls or doors and provide no privacy for a child who might be crying about an issue with usrdquo she adds This often discourages a student from taking up counsellors on their opendoor policy ldquoFor most schools counsellors or any mental health resource seems to be just a box to tick so that they donrsquot lose ranking with the education departmentrdquo she addsSwati Popat VatsAlthough the state government has not given out a single mandate asking schools to compulsorily keep one on staff the directives had begun as far back as 2006 In 2020 the National Education Policy 2020 NEP only stressed the importance of having oneThis along with the figures released by UDISE Unified District Information System for Education pointed out that only 375 counsellors are available across Maharashtrarsquos state board schools mdashthis roughly translates to just one counsellor per 60000 studentsLata J Punathil 62 was In charge of IIT Bombay Kindergarten School and has been a educator for 33 years Punathil like many early child educators talks about the empathetic approach that sets the tone for many students ldquoNot only the teacher and student but also parents deserve empathy as some problems may lead to parental issues at home which will need attention An increased workload for teachers and over crowded classrooms may lead to unwarranted situations Teachers too should be alert and lookout for warning signals displayed by the child and resolve it before it could escalaterdquo she saysTasneem Dohadwalla the Middle school coordinator at Fazlani Lrsquo Academie Globale in Mazgaon points out that a 10minute delay by the student should not be an issue that resulted in such a severe punishment ldquoAs teachers we must understand the lsquoWhat and Whyrsquo behind a childrsquos actions I would have asked the teacher to think about asking the question lsquoWhy was their child late by 10 minutes Was she not happy to come to school Was she scared of something Is something happening at home This must be our first thoughtrdquo she says Dohadwalla encourages her teachers to also engage with the child after they have had time to calm downPreeti Pasricha headmistress Lata Jagdeesh early child educator and ZebldquoThe child is already anxious that they are late not done their work whatever the situation might be mdash so I ask the teachers to give the time to take a breather and then maybe in the break strike a conversation to further comfort the child also helping them reflect and positively encouraging them a small incentive could go a long way at times example lsquoif you come on time tomorrowrsquo we could play together during break time Itrsquos smooth and easy itrsquos not confrontationalrdquo she addsDohadwalla has been using the mantra lsquoconnect not correctrsquo with her teachers to rein in the human tendency to often feels punitive to a young mind and heart Teachers have been increasingly seeing a drastic increase in administrative work than ever before The need to document every interaction be it with a student or a teacher has become one of the ways in which schools are ensuring that everything is on the record in case things take a turn for the worse This has especially come at the cost of many teachersrsquo mental health adding to what many teachers during the course of conversations referred to as a lsquothanklessrsquo jobPreeti Pasricha Primary Head Mistress at C P Goenka International School Thane ldquoThough as teachers we get tired of documentation putting everything down on email or the internal system it is always good it helps to document your meeting with child and parent Minuting is always better and it ensures clear communication between allrdquo she says ldquoAt the same time our golden rule is talk less listen more itrsquos the best way of communication We ask our teachers to be empathetic and that if they scream nothing they say will matter anywayrdquo she addsNikita Zeb 28 has an MA in clinical psychology and a postgraduate degree in family and couple therapy and has been practising for fiveandahalf years She admits that let alone children but even parents have no concept of selfadvocacy ldquoVery few schools have been able to provide the language of selfadvocacy although a lot of young counsellors who I work with tell me that they want to but the school system is very rigid and its very hard for them to create a space where any new concepts can be introduced because the schools are punitive driving or are afraid that a childrsquos parent might not receive the change in syllabus well leading to clashesrdquo she says This also tells Zeb that is the reason they have stayed away from school counselling ldquoI had a supervisee who is a school counsellor come and tell me that a student wanted to speak to them but when the teacher overheard that she something to the effect that lsquoWhy do you want to go to the counsellor Come and tell me what the issue is This is a school in Mumbai but the kid didnrsquot seem to be comfortable speaking to the teacher Finally the teacher said that if you go to counselling you will miss out on the period and then you will have to make it up on your ownrdquo she addsNikita Zeb often believes that the way forward is that the schools have to understand that counsellors donrsquot just work for the students but teachers too ldquoSchools have to understand that they cannot be as rigid as they are we want schools to let us talk to parents and of course teachers as well This will be for everyone and it cannot be looked at as something they lsquohave to dorsquo Holistic therapy that addresses the lack of empathy is crucial for all parties involved especially the childrdquo she addsAs we speak about the importance of arming the children with the language of selfadvocacy we canrsquot help but think of the American educator Mister Rogers whose show in the United States did just that for many Americans across race and genders for 33 years mdash lsquoNobody knows what yoursquore thinking or feeling unless you tell themrsquoHow do you report a teacherSantosh ShindeSantosh Shinde who has been a child rights activist for the last 20 years says that there is no vocabulary in the normal schooling system by which a student can address mistreatment via teachers ldquoThere is no language of selfadvocacy The child is labelled as trouble maker or someone who canrsquot respect their eldersteachers or has a ldquoproblem with authourity if they say that a teacher is disrrespectng them or challenging their physical or mental autonomy in anywayrdquo he saysShinde is currently doing workshops with students including colleges like Nirmal Niketan where the conditioning trickles into ldquoIn the workshops we are hoping that children understand if any kind of odd behaviour is happening toward them from the teacher they have the full right to stand up and bring it to the notice of the school and parents too need to be told that this can be donerdquo he adds