A middle school student recently told me that her teacher had complained to her father about her handwriting during a parent-teacher meeting. The student said the teacher instructed her to write 5 pages daily during the summer break. The student's father, a blue-collared employee, authoritatively insisted that the student follow the teacher's instructions without fail. The student came to me distraught as she did not wish to spend her summer break writing 5 pages daily. I asked her to send me a picture of her handwriting from one of the notebooks. When I saw the handwriting, I couldn't understand why the teacher thought the girl's handwriting was bad. The handwriting was legible, the words were appropriately spaced, and the letters were written in print format. Having worked with students with learning difficulties for years, I could not see anything that made the student's handwriting less readable.
I was beginning to think whether the teacher had taken the time to interact with and understand this student because if the teacher had she would have given the student feedback based on the insights she gained through the interaction. I asked the student whether she had ever interacted with the teacher or if the teacher had initiated interaction with her beyond Q&A in the class. She replied in the negative.
Apparently, the teacher gave the same recommendation to a few other students. It wasn't personalized feedback that these students received.
What may have stopped this teacher from developing an understanding of the few students she taught that she wasn't able to give them personalized feedback?
1. Was the teacher not trained for her role?
2. Was she caught up with repetitive administrative tasks that teachers are expected to complete on a day-to-day basis?
3. Did the teacher not have clarity on the type of feedback she needs to focus on?
4. Was the teacher caught up in the traditional mindset of teaching and learning outcome?
5. Did she not have the required social and emotional skills to connect with and get to know her students?
Let me know what you think.
