We continue our conversation with Irina Lukyanova about school bullying
How to help a teacher avoid becoming a victim of school bullying
D.N.: Irina, let's talk about how teachers become victims of bullying at students? I'm watching these horrible videos of teachers being humiliated and I don't understand how this is possible. And I'm not talking about the actions of teenagers right now, but about the complete helplessness of teachers. Ira, how is this possible?
I.L.: I look at the teachers' reactions and I'm ashamed of them. I'm not talking about cases when a teacher was walking down the street, students jumped out of a bush and hit them on the head; this is also sometimes written about. I'm more about when teachers fall for their students' provocation and act like city madmen rather than professionals. It turns out that they can't set boundaries in class; they have no authority, they find themselves on the same level as teenagers and begin to sort things out with them “as equals”. We are returning to talking about the need for additional education for teachers related to conflict situations at school and ways to resolve them. This knowledge is simply necessary for teachers, who are now responsible for “everything” - for children from disadvantaged families, for children with behavioral problems, for migrant children. The modern school deals with preparing for the Unified State Exam, introducing a final essay, and the Federal State Educational Standard, but does not solve children's problems, relying on families. The family nods to school: he doesn't fight at home, maybe something needs to be fixed for you? And we need to decide together.
D.N.: Summing up, I would like to hear your opinion on what should be changed in the education system so that teachers know, can and want, and students know and can?
I.L.: In general, schools need clear and understandable rules and responsibility for non-compliance with them — for students, teachers, and parents. Indeed, in many cases, a conflict between family and school begins where an understandable norm has not been established. Can a dyslexic child be given deuces for dictations? Should a child who is exempt from physical education be at the gym during a lesson? Can I give him a “D” for not having skis and exercising for skiing? No one really knows where to look for documents that answer these questions. What should a teacher do if a student gets into a fight in class? What measures can be taken against a student if he violates the rules of conduct at school?
I also think that the school really needs student support services - a team of specially trained social pedagogues and psychologists who, together with teachers and parents, would solve the problems of students with difficult behavior, take care of children with special needs and children whose native language is not Russian. So far, we see that schools are laying off psychologists and social pedagogues, and the entire workload is falling back on teachers. Imagine a situation in which the airport eliminates all ground services at the airport, including air traffic controllers, and one pilot is responsible for flight safety, luggage, and customs inspection. Are you ready to fly on such a plane even if the pilot gets a raise?
Future teachers need to be trained so that they know how to deal with children's problem behavior. We need advanced training courses. The school needs the help of specialists: we need developments on how to teach children how to resolve conflicts and how to deal with the situation of bullying in school groups of different ages. Children should be taught the basics of ethics and conflictology; this works better than any “drawing competitions dedicated to tolerance”.
It is also very important for all school staff to share the understanding that violence is unacceptable and bullying cannot be tolerated, so that the protection of human dignity at school is not just a matter of words.
Irina, thank you for the conversation!
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