By: Greta Klaus (structural guidance from Abigail Dejene)
Students deserve more grace in their space.
There are a lot of spaces that intersect when a student enters a classroom. First, there is the classroom itself: the encouraging posters, the date on the whiteboard, and the students sitting in groups. Then, there is the personal space the student has: their pencils, their fidgets, and their classwork. And finally, there is the space inside the students’ brains: their ideas, their feelings, and their experiences. These spaces often dictate the way that students and teachers interact.
The teacher has the majority of the control over the classroom, especially in secondary schools. Good teachers make every effort to ensure that their students feel like the classroom is a community of belonging and to make their classroom representative of all their students. However, the fact that the teacher remains in the same room all day while the students move around from class to class makes it hard to truly share ownership of the space.
The school system often focuses on controlling students’ personal space above all else. It’s important to note that students of color, LGBTQIA+ and female students often even more so have their personal spaces wrongfully judged, policed, and controlled. Students are told what they can (or more often cannot) wear, what devices they are allowed to (or more often not allowed to) use—think dress codes and phone bans—and most importantly, they are instructed both what and when to learn, as well as where and when to be places—think structured hourly schedules and campus rules. It would be impossible to have school without some of these exercises of control. However, it is also impossible for students to not have an emotional reaction to this control.
The space inside the student that holds their ideas, feelings, and experiences is constantly changing and growing. As they grow older, they have a new sense of independence and start to further develop their personal identities. This movement towards independence is in direct conflict with the often more constricting—and less personal—middle and high school environments. Students want to make their own decisions, and the school (including the teachers and staff) is controlling both their classroom and personal space. Students, like most people in the world, do not like having their spaces controlled by others and sometimes express that to teachers and staff by saying “bruhhhh” or “that’s not even fair.”
When students complain about boredom, or try to sneak their phones into class, or say they “don’t care about math,” it is easy for teachers to interpret it as a personal attack. After all, these teachers probably believe they are doing everything they can to care for their students and give them a good school experience. This is where comments like “they are so disrespectful,” “students these days are so rude to teachers,” or “kids talk back so much these days” arise. Many adults see the students’ comments directed towards their elders as inherently wrong, often with no thought for the feelings behind those comments.
I do not think this is a new phenomenon in schools, and I don’t even think it’s something that only happens with students and teachers. After all, I have been in situations where adults are told not to use their phones or computers and they have definitely had some angry words for the person telling them that. I do think it seems more common, due to the fact that nowadays there are more avenues for teachers to share their experiences, and also because COVID gave students an even greater sense of independence, causing a shock when they returned to in-person schooling. Adults perceive their ideas and comments as things students should inherently and blindly obey because of their position and their age; students rightfully see their rules as infringing on their independence and controlling their spaces. Like most people, students are not happy blindly following rules set by someone with seemingly arbitrary authority and not constructed by the students themselves.
My argument is not that schools should never do anything to control students' spaces. I simply believe that as teachers we need to be more mindful of the fact that we are the adults in the situation—and thus, need to use our patience, understanding, and perspective to care for our students and listen to their concerns and ideas. Some teachers use this fact to demand respect and further encroach on the students’ personal space, as well as critically judge their opinions or reactions. However, as we have all heard many times, respect is not given—it is earned. This applies to the teacher/student relationship as well.
Teachers have to consider our students as people first. The best way to do this is to give them the reasoning behind the control we impose on their spaces and allow them to advocate for changes that they truly think will improve their learning experiences. Our first instinct should not be to complain online about their actions, but rather acknowledge that we have to control some element of their classroom and personal spaces, and think about ways to make that process as equitable as possible.
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