Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5503/-1/133/
|
CELEBRATION OF YOUTH: An Observation
|
In college, it is normal to do a major and a minor although some minors are more “major” than others. I majored in Spanish Literature and minored in Professional Education. Professional Education is a big term to describe a student who decides to get a teaching degree and become a licensed teacher in the State in which they are studying.
|
|
Jason Allen
|
In order to complete one’s degree, one must do an internship that is called “student teaching.” As a student teacher, one is actually teaching in a real school under supervision and being graded on his or her performance. Upon completing my student teaching and graduating, I was offered a job as an interim Special Education Teacher for six months and the following school year was offered a full time Spanish Teacher job. I accepted the Special Education job although not sure what I was getting into.
I was relegated to a classroom away from the normal building and was handed a group of twelve Behaviour Disorder students. My job was to teach these teenagers English but it quickly became obvious that most of them could hardly spell their own names. Two were convicted felons and the rest were on the verge of being expelled for violence. Teachers, administrators and students alike feared all of them and it goes without saying that I had my reservations as well. In the end, I learned more from those students than I think they ever learned from me and I will never forget the strong bond we had at the end of term.
This week I attended an awards ceremony for children involved in the Pupil Referral Unit (colloquially known as Campus C, which is indeed a derogatory name). The ten students had a great deal of support around them and they were being rewarded for making positive strides. Although they are involved in a programme that aims to help modify undesired behaviour, they were very well behaved and respectful. There was one thing that caught my eye though:everyone in the audience was smiling at them, but none of the children were smiling back. It was obvious that they enjoyed the recognition but, at the same time, were uncomfortable as they demanded that their picture not be taken and that their names not be mentioned in the media. This proves that children do not want to be recognized as having behaviour problems and I urge everyone to consider the dangers of labelling. I commend the educators directly involved in the PRU as their work is paramount and it is obvious they are doing a great job with these lovely children. Yet, I also caution all those involved in their education to be empathetic with the students when showcasing them in front of everyone as it was obvious that they were embarrassed.