Throughout our time in Peru, one major concept that came to mind a lot was discipline. Almost all of the schools we visited had a different way of disciplining the students and it was different from what I have seen in the past in the United States. In the schools that we visited, whether they were private or public, the teachers tended to seem much more affectionate towards their students and it was obvious that the teachers had strong relationships with their students. While this of course varies from school to school, based off of what I saw during my time in Peru, the faculty and staff of Peruvian schools are much more personal with the students than the faculty and staff that I have worked with in schools in the United States.
When I think of education in the United States, I think of teachers “filling” students’ heads with information and sending them to the next grade. As an individualistic society, the personal and affectionate relationships often are lacking from schools and are sometimes even frowned upon.
I recently listened to a podcast by Matthew Dicks, a teacher who told the story of his first year of teaching. There was one student in particular who pushed his buttons and frequently tested his authority. Dicks discussed some of his strategies, such as bribery with candy, and how the continued to fail. He said, “he was a fire I was trying to keep from spreading.” He explained that he continuously tried to keep the student from distracting the class and he did what he could to stop the “bad” behavior. Now what he has learned from his years of teaching, is that with on-going personal discussions and constant effort in keeping the “trouble-maker” interested in learning, they will be more and more productive. They aren’t just the “bad kid,” you just need to give them what they need to be productive.
I also recently read an article published in The Atlantic titled “The Power of the Troublemaker.” The author of this article, Ashley Lamb-Sinclair, sheds light on how we discipline students in school in America. She explains that rather than preparing our children for the world we want, we prepare them for the world we have now. What we need to do is create a classroom that is full of opportunity to imagine and “practice a better way.” Currently, many schools use detention or suspension as punishment, in which the student misses more time in class and misses out on learning. We use the system that we have in our society, in our school systems as well- if a rule is broken, we send them away (suspension/jail). Ashley Lamb-Sinclair also discusses the fact that “trouble-making” is constantly seen as an issue in only under-resourced schools, however, in reality, that is not the case. Even the best schools with the most resources will have children who we could consider “trouble-makers.” She explains that refusal will always be present in humans who are being constrained and the students who enjoy holding power and thinking outside the box have the traits to someday become great leaders.
“We can’t continue to treat schools as a place to train children into compliance with authoritarians.”