Humiliation does not belong in schools

Simon Marcus Gower, Jakarta

Nobody likes to be made fun of. Nobody likes to be humiliated. In fact, in many ways, it is one of the things that people most actively try to avoid. What could be worse than knowing that you have done something wrong or failed to achieve something and have a group of people looking-on at your weakest and most vulnerable moment?

This is not something that would appeal to any reasonably rational person; and yet there are certain places where precisely this kind of experience is prone to happen. It must surely be one of the greatest of ironies to see that students in schools can suffer, quite literally, intolerable humiliation, apparently in the name of educating them.

Surely it is reasonable to associate schools and schooling with notions of positive and formative early life experiences that will help prepare students for their lives ahead; but the humiliating tactics that can still often be seen being applied in schools are far from positive and usually distinctly negative.

Just consider some of the humiliating tactics that may be witnessed in Indonesian schools. Any positive learning connotations would be extremely difficult to discover and yet they are quite commonplace in institutes that ought to be connected with ideas of learning and positive advancement of students.

A student comes to school with his hair a little too long; that is a little longer than the length his school principal deems to be acceptable. Action was considered necessary but what was the form of that action? Not appropriate discussion and explanation of why the school has rules about the length of students' hair. No such discussion or reasonable and reasoned explanatory behavior takes place, instead humiliation is deemed appropriate.

During a recess time the student is paraded before his peers to have his hair cut, by his principal, in their presence. The principal sets about the task haphazardly, obviously not having had any barbershop training. Consequently the student emerges with a short but distinctly rough and ready haircut. He also emerges from the sniggers and humiliating finger pointing of his peers. Has a lesson been well learnt or has a dose of humiliation been damagingly administered?

Another example: In a classroom two students are caught talking by their teacher at a time the teacher considers to be inappropriate. The teacher, rather than politely requesting and requiring their attention, chooses humiliation tactics that really do not get the talkative students involved in the lesson. In fact, on the contrary, the teacher manages to unnecessarily and disturbingly cast them aside from the lesson. Both of the talkative students are summoned to the front of the class for a one way chat. Again humiliation is on the agenda.

The teacher demands that both of the students stand in a corner of the room facing the wall. Just to add a little further insult to the already considerable injury, the students are also required to stand with one leg in the air. The finishing touch to this litany of miserable and humiliating behavior is the order to the other students to keep an eye on them to make sure that one leg is kept in midair.

Of course, this whole saga, not to say fiasco, is negative behavior added to by further negative behavior. Certainly, the talkative students needed to be reminded that it was not appropriate for them to be disturbing their class and not reasonably, politely paying attention to their teacher, but what followed did nothing to positively redress the situation.

Ultimately, the two students were mindlessly excluded from the lesson and the ridiculous notion that their classmates should keep an eye on them only managed to further disturb and distract the whole class.

Perhaps what is most disturbing about such an incident as this is that it clearly represents the teacher entering into humiliating behavior. One would much more naturally think that it is a teacher that ought to be leading the way by not humiliating students and, more to the point, actively being on the lookout and ready to counter any humiliating behavior between students.

This is, surely, one of the primary obligations and concerns for any conscientious teacher. School students can enter into antics and name calling that may be hurtful and humiliating. This is often an understandable consequence of youthful banter and joke making and playing that can form a typical part of growing up; but teachers really ought to be aware of it and able to respond to it.

The psychological effects of hurtful and/ or humiliating behavior can be deep and lasting. Without due care and attention, the psychological injury can go unnoticed and so not appropriately responded to. For example, the simplest and slightest of incidents can have a painful and lengthy impact. A student asked a question by his teacher proffers an answer. The answer proves to be incorrect and his classmates pour ridicule and scorn on him for his incorrect response.

An incident such as this can happen in a mere matter of seconds but its effects can go on for much longer. This could be construed as the typical banter that comes from youth, but nonetheless it is important that a teacher is able to positively deal with the situation.

Youthful banter is one aspect of classroom life but when the "banter" comes from the teacher it can be so much more affecting and even devastating. Many students would be looking toward their teacher for approval and even some sense of acknowledgement that they are there; that they are important and part of the class. A student that feels neglected by his teacher and under attack from his peers, or even humiliating attack from the teacher, is a student much more likely to face problems.

A good teacher, rather than humiliating a student or allowing a student to fall victim of humiliation from classmates, should seek to positively intervene and so support the student. In a case where the student got the answer wrong, the teacher needs to be there to support and guide towards the desired answer.

In this sense, the teacher needs to show appreciation of the student's answer, even though it may have been wrong. The mere fact that a student is willing to speak up, to "have a go", is something that should be valued not ridiculed and allowed to become a negative.

At the heart of all human beings is a need to feel appreciated, valued, respected and even needed within the group. In the context of a classroom this position is, perhaps, accentuated not least because a classroom is a place where distinctly formative and lasting experiences can and most likely will be had.

Some teachers may see humiliation as a tactic to "put students in their place", which theoretically for them is under the teacher's domain of control. But the potential dangers that accompany the notion of humiliation assuredly outweigh any justification of it as a classroom strategy for teachers.

Classrooms and schools need to be places in which students have a sense of belonging and self-worth. Ultimately, they need to be places the students feel safe and comfortable in, to explore the world around them and their own capabilities. Humiliation, then, cannot belong in classrooms. If students are to have positive learning experiences and a sense of true belonging, teachers must have positive strategies to support them.

The writer is Executive Principal of the High/Scope Indonesia School. The opinions expressed above are personal.