The Teacher Perspective

It seems as though today's children are out of control in a whole new way. Police officers monitor school hallways, juvenile detention centers are double booked, and some districts have deemed children's attitudes such that sex education is necessary at a Kindergarten level. Those things for which society once held parents responsible, such as pack lunches and basic hygiene, are now increasingly becoming the responsibility of the schools.

The history of education is filled with controversy and disagreements on what is the best method for teaching. Traditional teachers focus on academics and expect their students to arrive in class ready to be obedient and learn. However, teaching methods began to change during the 1950s. In an article on 1950s curriculum, Cengage states, "The humanities and life skills became the new focus of educators. Home-economics classes and government classes attained record enrollments as citizenship and managing the home and family became high priorities" (Cengage, 1994). During the 1950s and 1960s, educational theorists produced new data and new strategies, and President Kennedy's changes led to the creation of Head Start and more federal control over curriculum. These new curriculum programs began filling the gaps where parents failed.

Unfortunately, things have continued to worsen in the children's attitudes over time. In a Gallop poll of parents in the 1970s, on public attitudes toward education,

...only 22 percent [of parents] said they would want their child to take up teaching, citing "scarce jobs" and "dangerous situations with kids running wild," as reasons. Problems in the system were numerous, and they named them (listed here in order of importance): discipline, integration, finance, teachers, facilities, and curriculum. Parents were, how-ever [sic], willing to shoulder some of the blame for students' poor performances; 61 percent of them claimed that children's home life was the primary reason for educational problems, whereas only 14 percent of the parents said it was the child's own fault.

Although these problems still plague education today, curriculum has now left behind the home economics and government classes in exchange for character development skills and personal care health. Barta and Winn state, "Research (Alejandro - Wright, 1885, Baratz A Baratz, 1970, Katz, 1982) shows that children as young as two years of age begin to develop discriminatory perceptions of bias and prejudice which, if unchallenged, may later develop into overtly racist or other discriminatory behaviors." Although they do appeal to parents to help solve the problem, they focus on those parents doing so by helping teachers in the classroom. "Anti-bias curriculum in classrooms educates children to diffuse the bias which precedes prejudice and discrimination... In order to create an anti-bias classroom environment support of the parents is needed" (Barta, Winn, 1996). We know that prior to beginning school children learn their attitudes by observing and imitating their parents. Why then do the teachers shoulder the responsibility for correcting the parents' attitudes in their children? In a US Department of Education study, 25% of public school teachers moving to a new job cited student behavior as their main motivation for moving. Teachers are increasingly being placed in a position of training young children in extremely basic qualities that parents have not followed through on at home.

Teachers are also finding themselves responsible for basic hygiene needs previously accomplished at home.

Massachusetts is the first state to add toothbrush time to the color-nap-snack-and-play routine of preschools, requiring that all children who eat a meal at day care, or attend for more than four hours, brush their teeth during class and be educated about oral health. (NY Times, 2010).

In the accompanying song sung by the children, it is clearly assumed that children do not typically brush their teeth more than once at home. This new policy has created controversy from parents regarding teachers handling toothbrushes, in special needs areas where it is dangerous to be near a student's mouth, and in other safety concerns (for example, students are required to swallow toothpaste). These kinds of situations may be growing, as the NY State Oral Health Plan from 2005 recommends "School-based Dental Health Centers", in which children will receive dental care in the school setting.

Medical services in the school setting have also changed over the decades; in the 1980s children received a vision and hearing screening, a scoliosis screening, and the occasional lice check whenever there was an outbreak. Today, emphasized dramatically by the H1N1 outbreak, schools administer immunizations as well as providing a number of other medical services to students. In previous decades it has been understood that medical and dental care was a primary responsibility of parenting. Now the government, through the schools, has accepted this responsibility as their own.

The lack of social responsibility in the home setting has changed what it means to be a teacher in today's early childhood classrooms. Although the best education comes by focusing on each child's developmental needs in every area, including social, emotional, and physical health, it should be assumed that there is a limit on the teacher's responsibilities in these areas. Teachers are not meant to be their students' parents; however, parents are definitely meant to be their child's first teachers. The sooner we can reverse the current trends, placing home responsibilities back in the home, and allowing teachers to return to teaching, the sooner our children will receive all of the skills that they need to become socially responsible adults.

Written by Jess Tryon

One teacher's perspective - the effect on Special Needs classrooms

I had the priviledge to interview Ms. Coyo, a Special Education Preschool teacher in New York. Although the interview focused on the general situation of Special Needs teaching at the preschool level, our discussion naturally led to a conversation regarding the parent's social responsibilities and the effects they have on her work.

Ms. Coyo handles a very vital area of teaching, as all preschool teachers do, because she serves as the very first teacher for each of her children in most cases. Part of her job involves identifying and assessing the child's special needs within an academic setting, as well as working with families and a team of professionals to provide an appropriate education for the child. Following is a selection from the interview, discussing Ms. Coyo's role as a teacher and social reponsibility in the home.


Jess: What do you see as your role in the lives of the children with whom you work?

Ms. Coyo: My role is very parental; I am whatever that child needs. If that child needs my love, that's what I am for them, so they can learn and grow. If that child needs me to be firm, then that's who I am for them. I am whoever they need me to be in order for them to succeed.

Jess: What have been some of your most rewarding and/or challenging experiences in working with families of young children who have special needs?

Ms. Coyo: If I talk about a rewarding situation it always comes from a challenging experience. One child came to the classroom very angry, mother said he always was that way. His younger brother had medical issues so the boy didn't have much attention at home, and was very insecure and jealous. Being able to be what that child needs in the classroom, giving love but not giving in to tantrums and screaming created a better situation in the classroom and at home. There was a definite change in the child. His mother noticed it at home, he was more loving and less sensitive, accepted authority, life was better for everyone. In the classroom we focused on social and coping skills and techniques and because of love, he saw that he had friends and people didn't hate him, kids actually liked him, adults loved him even when he was bad. He found security and confidence. The work is not officially done, but we came a long way.

Jess: How could services for children with special needs be improved in your school/program?

Ms. Coyo: Teach parents how to discipline so that behavior is not the biggest concern. When a new child enters class, I have to fix behavior problems first that have been created that are not part of the disability. Parenting a special needs child is complicated, because it gets to the emotions and fears of the parent much more than a child without disabilities. A child with disabilities takes much more effort to discipline; many parents don't have enough education on how to do it properly, and so they give up. Their goal then isn't discipline, it's to give the child what they want so the child will "act normal" in public, so they aren't seen as a horrible parent.

One of my current students is a violent child not getting an education in my classroom because his behavior is untreatable here. For these kids consistency is vital, and between me, the aides and the parents, consistency doesn't happen for him. This situation could have been avoided if his parent disciplined at a younger age, and then I could get on with my job of teaching. Getting ahead of behavior problems makes it better for the kids because they can focus on the actual problems instead of behaviors.

Jess: How do you feel the situation would change if parents received and acted upon additional education about their child?

Ms. Coyo: Frankly, some of these kids wouldn't be in my classroom, or at least not for very long. Yes, they all have documented and verified disabilities. But these disabilities - or their ability to academically perform and succeed - are made worse by poor parenting, and we have to backtrack in the classroom. Many of these kids need to be here, but would be able to graduate from my class into a full inclusion classroom if we were able to focus on classroom skills from the start of the year. But the kids that we have to manage discipline first lose that opportunity and are at much higher risk of getting stuck in the Special Education system because they've missed too much early on. Not only is this obviously bad for the child, but the state (that's so wrapped up in the cost of things) would save a lot of money per child if they were able to appropriately move these children back into a general education classroom. Reducing costs to the government may also reduce taxes or increase funding to necessary family supports or better classroom technology for hard-to-reach disabilities. The benefits of parental education touches everyone in some way.

Jess: What misconceptions or assumptions about children with special needs would you like to dispel?

Ms. Coyo: The myth that they're stupid. There's nothing stupid about these kids. If you assume they're stupid you're going to see stupid, but you shouldn't because you're missing so much. They might have delays, they might not understand certain things, but then they understand something so well that it blows your mind. They get life, because they have to get life. If parents can understand that about their children, they can begin to see the importance of what they're doing as a parent. But that message is not just for parents, it's for all of us.

Written by Jess Tryon