Teachers should not switchoff
Category:
13 / 10 / 2009 | Author: dnorris
Teachers shouldn’t switch off
The link between good behaviour and classroom teaching is as old as teaching itself.
The advent of the mobile phone simply added another dimension to the issue.
A request along the lines of “Please switch off your mobile phones while the performance is in progress” is usually enough to get universal compliance in a theatre or a conference hall. Many a teacher would maintain that teaching is in itself a performance, but in schools the issue can never be as clear cut.
The nub of the problem has always been to ensure that children and parents are clear about the limits of acceptable behaviour. That might sound reasonable enough but anyone who has tried to draw up a set of school rules will know that few rules are unquestionably accepted by everybody.
Parents were initially keen for their children to have them. Young ones could use them to request help or to tell of their whereabouts, but they and schools had to contend with the problems of theft
For older children sending text messages to friends is almost a way of life, but no school can condone such activities in the classroom.
Mobile phones have taken this conflict of interests to new heights.
One school in Sheffield is keen to harness the potential of mobile phones now that they can be used to download homework, do research on the internet as well as collaborate with friends. They realise that mobile phones are hidden away in school bags for much of the day whilst they as a school struggle to service an ever growing bank of school computers. The phones in the schoolbags have the potential to augment voice recorders cameras and netbooks which are used to capacity by the school.
Contrast that attitude with the stance taken up by one teachers union which likens them to ‘potentially offensive weapons.’ It cites evidence of bullying taking place when girls are sent offensive text messages, or malicious remarks are posted on social networking websites. They have even expressed concern that photos taken on mobile phones have appeared on the internet which show teachers in unfavourable situations, alleging that they are often distorted or ‘doctored’ to convey a damaging image of those teachers.
The Ofsted stance on behaviour is quite clear. “Never tolerate classroom disruption and take swift action with children who misbehave to get them back on track, using a range of graduated approaches.”...but there is a catch. Behaviour has to be completely at the control of the teacher. So much of the abuse of mobile phone use is taking place in a domain beyond the scope of teachers.
Mobile phone bullying is a phenomenon which will not have been experienced by many qualified teachers. The adroit use of mobile phones is also driven mainly by the children. They are the experts using all the short cuts and even initiating their own characteristics which they use everyday. It would be easy to cite children as the driving force behind the use and abuse of mobile phones. In reality teachers are quite capable of harnessing the proper use of mobile phones. And let us not forget that it is up to the teachers to set the rules which prohibit the abuse of them.
