A teacher's dilemma

But a version of this sort of 'playing games' creeps, like a weed, through society and pops up in education also! I am challenged, again and again, as to whether, as teachers, those of us who need to talk 'straight' to parents about their children, dare to do so!

I know that hearing negative things about one's beloved 'baby' is not pleasant in any society. Moreover, the levels of negative reaction are raised to new heights by smaller families. (Well, would you volunteer to teach all those only-children in China?) There is also the curious phenomenon of the fact that better-off parents tend to assume that their lucky children, being more protected, should find being good easier than poor children do. Nonsense! The Devil is a clever being and just adapts his techniques!

No, the big problem is helping parents to actually want a school to be honest with them. We know that ALL children are wonderful (of course!) but they do get up to some rare old tricks and can have some blockages to their progress that need a lot of work to analyse correctly and act upon. My school's policy is to be highly communicative at an early stage of any problem. (The slogan is -- "More work now, less work later!") but, I fear, this has resulted in some pupils leaving, along with accusations of 'being harsh'. I am forever telling my teachers to say to the parents, "No, we are not complaining to you, we are just communicating with you!" But, as in journalism, people do shoot the messenger!

Thank God, there is a rising generation of parents who actually want a school to be honest with them but they are still a rare breed and I feel, at times, that I am swimming against a cultural tide in this matter. I recognised in what Mr Sobhan said about the political scene, that this attitude is something deep in the psychology of some in these parts. I do believe that people have to be challenged to love truth rather than playing games. It is a moral issue.

But the tide is turning -- and I am sure mine is not the only school that knows this. In the Personal, Social and Health Education lessons which I take in my Junior School, I am finding that many youngsters jump at the chance to discuss both the good and bad things in themselves and society and do so, at times, with startling honesty. They also respond well to the chance to think about them and decide what sort of people they want to be in the future for their own good and the good of their country. It's jolly hard work and being honest can be painful. (Remember the poster -- 'The truth will set you free but first it will make you miserable'!) But isn't it worth it? After all, corruption is a kind of crookedness and we all need help to grow straight - and the younger the better!