Respect – 1. A feeling of admiration for somebody because of their good qualities or achievements. 2. Polite behavior towards somebody. ( after Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
It seems obvious that people should respect each other, there is no question about it and everybody assumes that they ought to be respected, not only for who they are, but moreover for the simple fact of being. Unfortunately very often it is observed that at some organizations where a factor of dependence exists, this simple matter is forgotten. Schools belong to this group.
In the old days teachers held the only truth and all the power to decide about students fate and believe me, they used it quite often. Nowadays, the situation has changed, but totally the other way around, it looks like either students do what they please or teachers cannot find a mutual language with their learners.
The truth, as always, is somewhere in between, so in my opinion a middle way should be found by both educators and students.
Personally I believe that the ball is on the side of teachers rather than students, as it is widely presumed that teachers are more grown up than their younger counterparts and they should know how to solve hard issues. Sadly very often they react in a childish way to any kind of equally childish students behavior. They are unable to accept any, even a slight, criticism from their students and they use their authority to show naughty students their place.
It often happens that teachers show their respect only for so called good students, those who follow the rules, have no questions of any kind or those who do not doubt what was said by the teachers. By doing so they seem not to respect or give the chance to those students who appear to want to find their say and their own way in the world. On the other hand, this fact is also used by students, who by misbehaving want to show their teachers that they are equally important and worth respect. Learners often execute that in any possible way and sometimes they indeed go to extremes which, of course, is unacceptable, too.
What is the solution to this problem? Aggression does not seem to be the right one as it creates more hostility. For me patience and conversations between both groups may lead to better understanding and respecting each other. Kindness is a key word here, it is possible to say a lot, but in a way that does not offend anybody. Mutual understanding of the fact that we all are just people, we may have a bad hair day or do not comprehend something. For that, both teachers and students, should be open-minded and maybe also try to use a bit of the sense of humor. Also we all should remember to treat people the way we wish to be treated, maybe it is just enough?
