Assignment 6

Trespass - to help the child become the best version of oneself

The teacher profession is very varied. To have knowledge in the subject-field you are teaching in, is just one part of your profession. Having the ability to see the pupil as a whole and give him or her individual help and support is another part of the profession, which is extremely important. I believe a teacher´s mission is to help the pupil become the best version of oneself. But how far can a teacher take this mission without trespass the pupil´s family-territory?

It´s incredibly important to remind us of, that we as teachers interfere with the pupil´s future. What we are doing today and how we treat the pupil can affect the pupil many years ahead. I think we all can look back at our days in school to see how certain teachers have affected us in any way. Perhaps a teacher forced you to eat some kind of food, which you still can´t eat today. Or a teacher encouraged you in a special way, which made you dare do something you wouldn´t have done otherwise. This is why we have to be aware of that our manner can affect a pupil´s future, either negative or positive.

Let´s simulate there is a pupil who has big difficulties with his/her social-behavior. The pupil is often violent and gets in conflict with his/her friends. You as a teacher know he/she very often watch hideous, horrific films and play nasty video-games at home. The pupil don´t seem to be able to handle the films and the video-games. The violence from the films and video-games reflects the child´s play. Of course the school must work with the child to help him/her become a social individual with positive relations. But I wonder; is the pupil´s social-behavior something we only need to focus on during school hours, or is it alright to say to the parents that the child can´t handle the movies seen at home? In a situation like this I feel much divided. Of course I want to do everything I can to help this pupil succeed with his/her social relations and become more positive. But on the other hand, I wonder if I´m trespassing into the family-territory by telling the parents I believe their son/daughter ought to see films allowed for children only.

Trespassing or not, I must say I cannot be quiet in a situation like this. I would try to cooperate with the parents and probably tell them to not allow horror-movies and war-video-games. I would do this to help the child succeed and become the best version of oneself. As I wrote before, we as teachers interfere with a pupil´s future. I can´t stand on the side watching a child become more violent and social disturbed, when I may have the power to help him or her to a more positive social life. I believe interaction with the parents is mostly the best. If the parents can trust we are making it to help the child, they will agree, I think.

To summarize; I can´t answer how far we as teachers can go before trespassing the family-territory. I only know I would trust my judgment and try to cooperate with the parents. Our goal ought to be the same; help the child become the best version of oneself.