My journey as an educator and mentor has swayed into a lot of learning and putting these learnings into mentoring is the order of the day.
Unapologetic Teachers raise Unapologetic students
Today’s GenX kids are not the same anymore. This is been quite visible after the pandemic hit. They are fearless and aggressive with poor concentration, destructive behavior, arrogance and distraction. These are the major behavioral changes seen in children today. We as mentors and teachers screw up the children for their mistakes and abruptly close the conversation. This makes them feel marginalized and hanging. Thus, the task is half-done. The incident and impact make hole in their personality. Never allow a child to keep the incident in the memory and carry a remorse. As the child grows, she/he carries bad memories which turns into small fights and distractions in the days to come.
To make a child realize their mistakes, lecturing and being harsh is not the only solution. Students need to be willing to own them and honestly justify them. Extend a warm apology at the end. Apologise for having to be strict and rude. This act would be simple and momentous. This gesture of a mentor/teacher erodes the arrogance in a child’s behavior and creates a comfort zone and wins a sense of ownership and belonging. This act also entrusts a lot of belief and faith in the child. It shall make them feel better and also help them in expressing their mistakes in the future course of time. This helps the child to understand and take responsibility of their wrong actions.
This way the mentor/teacher doesn’t lose their credit or authority, rather indirectly helps in grooming the child’s personality.
Happy Teachers Day to all ……
