RICHARDSON: Knowing your 'who'
On of my favorite sayings is borrowed from the executive director of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, Allene Magill: "You've got to know your who," she often says.
Last week, I wrote about the situation in South Carolina where a school resource officer lost his job after taking a disrespectful female student and dumping her — and her desk — to the floor and dragging her out of the class. I asked the question: What do you do when a student flatly refuses to obey?
For the teacher and administrator and even the officer who were in the classroom, they didn't know "who" they were dealing with. All they seemed to know about her was that she was ignoring their commands to put away her phone and leave the class. Teachers have to know "who" they are teaching. What do you mean, Richardson?
They need to know where their students live and under what circumstances. They need to know if they have one parent or two. How many siblings and how they are cared for. Does the parent (parents) have a job, and if so, where? Maybe the child is the care giver instead of the other way around. What is the educational level in the home? Maybe the student lives with a grandparent or aunt or uncle. Maybe they don't know where they are going to sleep that night or whether they'll have a meal after they leave school. Knowing your 'who' is all that and more.
After last week's column, I've talked with several educators. One former principal suggested an early-in-the-school-year sit down with the teacher, parent (parents) and the student to discuss expectations and consequences and getting everyone to sign a contract saying they know and understand the rules of the classroom. That's also a good way to get to know who you're teaching and where they are coming from.
And knowing your "who" isn't just a teacher's job. From the bus driver to the custodian, everyone on staff needs to know more about their students than just their names.
Would you be shocked to know that we have homeless children in our school system? Would you be appalled to know that some of our children live in squalor? Would it upset you that some of our children are the prime caregiver for their siblings? And we wonder why some of these children come to school and have a bad day. Would knowing any of this change our attitudes toward them if we were trying to teach them?
Getting to know your "who" also opens the door to conversation and trust. Showing a child you care about him is never a bad thing — and while I don't know this for sure, I have to wonder if the student in South Carolina had any friends at all. Were there people at that school she trusted enough to listen to them? But if they didn't know her "who," they'd never know, would they?
I'm not revealing any secrets here. Educators know exactly what I'm talking about. Some of it is being practiced in schools every day. Teachers go to extraordinary lengths to know their "who." They dig into their own pockets and most times, all they get from the community is grief. Lawmakers blame them for every societal ill while heaping more work on their shoulders, and some parents only helicopter in when there's trouble.
Teaching is hard. According to PAGE, the number of education majors in the University System of Georgia is down 16 percent from 2010 to 2014. At UGA, education majors over that period are down 19 percent; Georgia Southern University, 20 percent; Fort Valley State University, 27 percent; Georgia College, 26 percent; Middle Georgia State University 8 percent. That's not a good trend, but I can certainly understand why teaching is falling off the list of desirable occupations.
Being a teacher is not just a profession. While it certainly is that, it's also a calling. Good teachers take the time to know their "who," and they consider difficult students a challenge. Like a 5,000-piece puzzle, they keep working at it until they figure it out. And when they do, they aren't the only ones with smiles on their faces.
I saw a neat phrase on Facebook just the other night. It said: "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always." That's another way of saying, "Know your who."
Charles E. Richardson is The Telegraph's editorial page editor. He can be reached at 478-744-4342 or via email at crichardson@macon.com. Tweet @crichard1020.
This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 2:42 PM with the headline "RICHARDSON: Knowing your 'who' ."