Teachers in need of lessons on empathy

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Teachers need their share of lessons too it seems. A study recently revealed that over 80 per cent of students in schools across the country are humiliated by teachers who tell them that they are poor learners.

The study conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has again brought to the fore the fact that harsh and scathing remarks by teachers in classrooms can leave psychological and emotional scars on a child’s mind, besides demotivating and lowering the self-esteem of the child.
Dr Geetanjali Kumar, counsellor and psychologist, says, “Teachers need to learn to empathise with students. Remarks like isse to hoga nahi (he can’t do it), yeh weak student hai (he’s a weak student) can be extremely discouraging for some kids. Children are naughty and it’s their basic nature to defy rules but they have to be handled very carefully. The idea is to be sensitive towards them.”
Consultant psychologist and counsellor Ritu Dhingra points out that the reason behind this attitude could be bottled up frustration and an inferiority complex. She explains, “Many of us tend to take out the frustration of something that is lacking in us on a soft target, in this case the target being the student. In today’s times, kids are smarter, more knowledgeable and far more inquisitive about learning than previous generations. So often teachers are not able to answer their questions and this causes frustration, which leads them to make harsh comments which can be really hurtful for a child. Many students come to me complaining about teachers’ attitudes in class. This needs to be checked seriously.”
Shikha Khanna, a boutique owner from West Delhi, says she often hears teachers making comments like: yeh class mein attentive nahi hai (he’s not attentive in class), he’s the naughtiest of all, in front of the child. She says, “Often, we have to remind teachers to refrain from derogatory remarks in front of the child at parent-teacher meets. My son Manan is really fond of one of his teachers, just because she’s the only teacher who doesn’t keep pointing out flaws in his spoken English. Kids today observe everything and are more sensitive to remarks made about them.”
A college student tells us how discouragement from a sports teacher led him to give up his favourite game. “I was a basketball player in school. Once my sports teacher made fun of me saying I’m too short for the sport. After that I gave it up. I got back my confidence only after I started playing in college again,” says Prashant, a B.Com (Hons) student.