1. Honesty and Respect
Usually, it is seen that children make excuses when they are afraid of being scolded or insulted in front of the class. Children usually tell a lie when they do not do their homework and the other day they make an excuse that they have not brought their notebook to the school, when asked the reason most common replies are “ ma’am I was doing my homework and I forgot to keep it in the bag”. In such cases, the child needs counselling and believes that he will not be insulted if he tells the truth and in return, he will approach the teacher with respect.
2. Please adults around
There was a boy in kindergarten who would love to tell stories. One day the class was asked to complete the worksheet. The boy left half of the worksheet and submitted it to the teacher, by saying “I have completed my work”. The teacher witnessed he leaves half of his worksheet just to get full time to play with his friends and get praised by the teacher. As students love to be appreciated and praised in front of everyone and they too love to please the teacher. It’s important not to overreact to these kinds of behaviour. Just accepting that this is one way of the child to express them, sometimes that’s what they really want from us. Here the child becomes dishonest. The teacher focuses to help the child by conveying the value of honesty, through stories and role-plays in the class. We should always solve our student’s problems by finding the solution through our thoughts of how can we make the situation better.
3. Gain attention of others
The child was famous for his misbehaviour and rough attitude towards his classmates, although the child was studious and responsible. He had no friends and would spoil the games of other children too. It was found out by the teacher that the child needs attention as his parents couldn’t spend time with him and he was the only child of the family, so he wanted to gain attention in the school. The teachers gave him different responsibilities and appreciated for his efforts. This changed the behaviour of the child.
Respect is earned not given. These are the words rightly said. Grownups have a misconception that the younger ones should always respect them as it is their duty to do so, but they forget that one must give respect to earn respect. The concept of respect is different for different people belonging to different age, culture and social backgrounds. For a six or seven-year-old child the concept of respect is not clear because we can teach them manners but not respect which grows with the course of time. To be a role model for students it has a lasting impact on the students. Teachers can inspire students with their actions and thoughts.
When the child wishes the teacher, he or she should respond generously with a smile and showing respect to the child. This will develop a respect for the teacher in the heart of a child.
Many times when we ask for any help from a child we should always request the child, showing respect towards him and when the work is done we should be thankful to him. Using the magic words like please and thank you by the teacher will automatically add to the child’s dictionary.
- Visionary JMMS @ John Martyn Memorial School, Salan Gaon, Dehradun - Ambika Gurung, Parineeta Negi, Manmohan Kaur and Bharti Dangwal