Towards Compassionate Teaching free essay sample

Teaching, an article by Anna B. Pennell, describes her opinions on what should be the prevalent psyche among frontline teachers. Specifics are outlined, not all of which I agree. I will attempt to rebut some of Pennell’s assertions regarding the playground incident she describes and other examples stated. Compassion is a natural part of life for most of us average humans (excluding certain sociopathic individuals). But Pennell’s playground narrative points to inadequacies in her fellow teachers that in other ways of seeing could shine a light of inadequacy upon herself. Let me specify my issue with Pennell’s assertion. She tells of how the â€Å"others† were neglecting their duties and being irresponsible by not watching their charges. In my opinion, Pennell’s own behavior was somewhat disturbing. She rushed into a fight between two fifth grade students we can assume she did not know (she taught second grade). I looked for the quote that says something about fools rushing in where wise men fear to tread but couldn’t find it. We will write a custom essay sample on Towards Compassionate Teaching or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page One of the fight participants was at least as big as she and in her description â€Å"strong†. Many scenarios could have unfolded that could have placed the author in serious trouble. A left hook could have knocked her out, leaving her students unattended. The struggle to restrain the larger boy could have resulted in the smaller boy pulling a knife and injuring him. At this I end the shoulda and coulda. But I make the point thus, Pennell points to the errors of others without any awareness of her own mistakes. The sheer superiority in her own account, in my opinion, points to the fact that she is not strong in the act of self reflection. Pennell launches into a discourse about compassion, suffering and meaning. But does all of this caring constitute what a teacher is hired to do? Caring is innate to most of us but the entire compassion argument goes too far. As a male in middle grades, too much caring can be looked upon with upturned eyebrows. Heck, with all of the female teachers running away with their students, I may have assumed wrongly that only males are eyed for suspicion. The web site www. worldnetdaily lists well over 100 female teachers who had affairs with their minor students. While the subject of this paper is not passion in the schools but compassion, I use these cringe-worthy examples to lead to a point. There needs to be a healthy disconnect within the student-teacher relationship. For the relationship to become too familiar is as unhealthy as it would be to be too disconnected. I was glad to hear others in class discussing their feelings about how we were to be teachers and not pastors, not counselors and not parents. The teacher on the frontline is not qualified to council. Religion is a subject fraught with troubles. The parents should be that as no one else is. I must confess that this has not often been my favorite class because the open discussion forum allows for the outspoken conservatives to voice views that cause smoke to come from my ears. But that particular discussion at that time really enlightened me that others share a lot of the same thoughts, doubts and fears as I.