Loco parentis in Post-Pandemic Teaching

In today’s post-pandemic world, many educators are desperately searching for ways to bring back the comforting state of the normal. Some of these people are anxiously worried because kids have radically changed and have been unconsciously entrenched with thoughts that the uncertainties of the present are not their business – The «I don’t care defiance.»

Orthodox desirability, is an essential part of the fundamental base in which to hurl schooling to a superior level – youth need to feel inclusive and be responsive to the pains that are part of the learning process. However, some business-educational authorities think that being harsh to failure is a teaching experience in which individuals are liable in everyday life.

On the other hand, teachers are constantly kept aware that they are responsible for the success of their educational institutions, meaning keeping students and parents/legal representatives’ content (pleasing those who pay). So, the threats of letters of reprimand, and economic penalties, are used as deterrents that, even though generate emotional misery, are traditional thought-out positive healing remedies.

Ken Robinson, renowned British author and international advisor on education, points to the fact that hampers teachers and the yield they must harvest.  (Robinson, 2021, p. 54) The «… fatigue affecting teachers is due, in large part, to working conditions. The findings suggest that teacher problems are rooted in school organization, the teaching profession’s treatment, and those lasting improvements in the quality and quantity of the teaching force require improvements in the quality of the teaching job».

(Published May 26, 2022, 2:00am EDT ) After the Uvalde incident in Texas, Fox News published an article titled «After Texas school shooting, teacher’s weigh in on how to stop the violence. I share three main remarks made by teachers from around the United States:

  • Payge Guenzler, a teacher in Montana, called on parents to become more involved in their children’s lives.
  • Rebecca Friedrichs, a public-school teacher for 28 years and the founder of For Kids and Country, told Fox News Digital that she believes schools need to teach values and morals.
  • High school teacher Daniel Buck «A re-emphasis on the family, church, social connections, and distance from social media …».

If teachers are to tackle the fundamental problems of cultivating inquisitiveness, encouraging trial/error, and getting students comfortable taking intelligent risks and accepting the possibility of failure,». Then we must upgrade the old normal to fit into the new-fangled contrasting normal. Parents need to learn how to parent. In today’s money-oriented environment, they need to start parenting if they want their kids to strive for better results. Robert Planta (2018) echoes, «On the difference it makes when parents provide their young children with educational resources and stimulation.»

If business-educational authorities in the private school system embrace their mission and vision statements, they must get real. Delphine Ryan wrote (Ryan D, June 2022, The Decline of Western Education in the 21st Century)

Overfilled classrooms, underachieving students, and «learning disorders» are today all too common. Teachers struggle with classroom management problems while principals ponder the correct levels of discipline to control unruly students. At the same time, adults worry about holding their jobs as technology outpaces the skills they worked so hard to learn.

Most teachers who work in the private school system feel the pressure of creating awe-inspiring classes that often comes at their own expense. Salaries are detrimental and outdated! Some school institutions are unwilling to sacrifice their capitalization wealth for long-term winnings. Average-tier educators are very committed to their careers and care deeply about their students. However, many have become unresponsive and numb to being belittled and placed at economic levels as unskilled laborers. They sought peace of mind by turning the other cheek. This situation is the underbelly of the beast – we are stuck!

Fresh impetus is needed in the dynamics of teaching to enhance shrewd thinking concerning globalization, technology, individual isolation, construing the false self and self-deception, transposable virtue, and morality. Social constraints and the faith you can accomplish everything by yourself – immediate rewards, embrace ambiguity, and the apparent finger-pointing at the drawbacks.

Students learn by watching and listening to their parents. They expand their knowledge through the actions and decisions made by teachers. They are unforgiving if we’re all unforgiving. If to live means to calculate the possibilities of tomorrow, then we have a problem with stagnant scenarios, which are uncivil to letdowns. When will we profit from loss and failure as a learning opportunity? Do anxiety and unhealthy overachievement lead to avoiding more challenging situations? Do we have the necessary resources and willpower to transform anxiety-driven experiences into favorable learning circumstances? I’m afraid the norms and closed-minded leaders scare all involved in education. An excellent teacher will always make adjustments for future actions.

Teachers are human beings with hearts and minds tailored for students. Teachers are social but not like other animals. Other animals act by natural selection and the brutality of trying to subsist. On the other hand, we are indeed the markers of higher standards. We choose courage and giving – and we push learning to new peaks- we are the loco parentis.

By Jerónimo Boza Chiriboga