Workshop at a school(primary section teachers)

The workshop at the school went off pretty well I guess. It was a mixed group of teachers from the primary section. There was a bit of resistance from the group too but by the end of it all, they did seem to come round.The interaction was good, group discussions were energetic and what I really learned from it al was that teachers can be very closed and unresponsive when they are in a classroom situation as learners, even more so than their students. It took a lot of cajoling to get them to participate in the icebreakers. by the time the group discussions happened, the group was a little more relaxed and interactive. But one thing was clear, Feelings and emotions and talking about them, is not something they do on their own. They are so used to talking and advising that they forget that people need to think for themselves. Finally they did understand that talking about your highly personal and emotional pain is important for everyone if they plan to lead a life of manageable stress.


About the child being suspended from school for unruly and indisciplined behaviour, I agree that that cannot be a solution. Imagine what trauma the child might be going through.The child would have benefited if there was a counselor in the school who could do the professional bit by dealing with both the parents and the child. Children manifest such behaviours because they are hurting inside and this must be understood. We need to find out why the child is hurting rather than discipline him for behaving in an aggressive fashion. The action may seem uncalled for, but the child knows no other way of expresing himself.His is a reaction to unresolved pain and is basically a learned behaviour. For any kind of positive change to happen, the counselor would need to examine the childs immediate environment, speak to all family members and the child himself to find out why this is happening. Once that is established the child can be taught to react to such situations in a more constructive and helpful manner.