Assertive teachers

“I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.” (Dr. Haim Ginott)

A classroom is a place where a number of students, all of a different nature get together. As humans we all possess different nature, different temperament. That is one reason why it is said that all humans are unique. This is something that we, as teachers, tend to forget. Teacher is the person who makes the school life of the student a success or a pain to them. As the saying of Dr. Haim Ginott says, in all situations which may arise in a classroom, it is the teacher’s response which will settle it or make it into something worse off than anything else.

A classroom is not a place where the students feel that their teacher is another Hitler, nor is it a place where the students jump over the teacher’s head. It is a place where well-disciplined students all work together with the teacher to get an education. A teacher is someone on whom the students can rely to settle all their troubles which may arise while in the school. Students should be able to have faith in their teachers. However irresponsible a student might be, he or she would know that they come to school for a certain reason.

In the olden days students who enter a class were scared to breathe properly inside the classroom lest they make a noise and get canned for it. Exercising this harsh type of disciplining tactics has a negative effect on the students. They sure get scared and stay quiet but its only being scared which keeps them quiet. Along with that their interest and motivation in studying will be blown away like a thin piece of cloth on a windy day. Their dislike towards the teacher will rise and their trust and faith in elders and people of authority will wane.

Times have changed. Nowadays, the educational institutions make sure that the students get the discipline they require in better ways. Various educators and psychologists have researched numerous methods and come up with a number of theories and models which can create a positive effect on the students without disrupting their whole lives.

Educational sector is the area which deals with providing knowledge to the children of any nation, and those who serve in this area should always keep in mind that the foundation of the children lies within their hands. It is up to the teacher to build up the future successfully so that the student faces the world of leading a mature life with courage and determination.

Assertive teachers are what students most need in their classes. This will teach them self-management and will also make them well-disciplined students who have a high self-esteem. These students will know what positive effects arise when someone has faith in your abilities, thus they will be much better people when they grow up.

It is always better to follow the old saying, “prevention is better than cure”. In the case of a classroom, it is better to be well-planned in an assertive manner to face all the problems the teacher might face rather than wait till it occurs and then try to find a solution. However, whatever precaution one takes, there might arise a situation where you have to respond to it immediately. This is where the assertive teacher’s qualities become successful.

Once a disruptive behavior is gone out of control, it is next to impossible to correct it. Even then there will be a lot of unpleasantness created while the process is going on.

“The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers, rather than fill it with the accumulation of others”. (Tyron Edwards)

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