Acceptance in the Classroom

I can remember the first day I worked at a Primary School as if it had been yesterday. I was introducing myself to the twenty- five students of sixth year, when I first noticed student X. He was sitting at the front and alone, staring at me and making some questions in a very loud voice. At that moment, student Y  stood up and approached me in order to ask me something. I could not listen to his enquiry because as he was passing X’s chair, he accidentally touched his bag. I did not even imagine that this was going to be the first of several incidents connected with this student.

Everything took place in a couple of minutes; X jumped from the chair and started to hit his partner in his face, Y reacted angrily and I had to stand between the students trying to separate them. What impressed me the most was X’s blind anger, which prevented him from noticing my presence. Fortunately, the head teacher entered the room and tried to hold X in her arms to stop the fight. Even though he did not pay attention to her at first, she managed to persuade him to leave the room with her.

Later, I was informed that X had slight maturational problems. Besides, his partners did not accept him as a peer and constantly laugh at him because he was Paraguayan and his parents were “cartoneros”. To top it all, there was a significant absence from the part of his parents, who were still living at the same house but were not a couple any more. Although Marcelo was not the only child who experienced family problems in the classroom, his discomfort, lack of joy and hostility towards the school was unique among his partners. As Mayer (2008) has suggested, for some children who are struggling to cope with problems at home, school becomes another source of stress and anxiety (p. 125).

I took the situation as a challenge and a chance to show X that there was a different possible reality for him, at least at school. In Wiseman’s (2008) words, respect and cooperation are encouraged by the inclusion of the students’ backgrounds in the classroom.

Therefore, I decided to change the order of the units from the textbook and start by the one about “Recycling Trash” and I also proposed dividing the class into groups to prepare the celebration of the Cultural Diversity Day . Discussing many topics which were really familiar to X made him feel confident enough to express himself freely. Besides, I tried to promote tolerance and a sense of respect towards different cultures. I could observe how X and his mates’ attitude started to change.

Mayer (2008) stated that “for some children, school is the only stable environment in their lives. It becomes a daily place to go and forget about their troubles, where they are accepted by friends, and are positively reinforced for their efforts and behavior by adults” (p.125). X could not ask to be accepted if he did not accept himself first; and I felt very pleased of having, in some way, contributed to this.

Reference

Mayer, D. (2008). Overcoming School Anxiety. New York: Amacom.

Wiseman, D., Hunt, A. (2nd ed., 2008). Best Practice in Motivation and Management in the Classroom, United States of America: Charles C. Thomas Publisher.