STOP BLAMING TEACHERS

May 28, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Many believe that the education system in Guyana mirrors the pervasive culture which shifts blame by pointing fingers to others. On many occasions, parents have often blamed teachers for their children’s failure at school. But on the flip side, when a child succeeds at school, little is usually said about the contribution of the teacher.
The accolades and the spotlight are always on the child’s success and rarely on the teachers who have nurtured the child along the way.
While some teachers are overwhelmed by parents who have expressed disappointment in them for their child’s poor performance, others are frustrated to know that they are being criticized even for those students who performed reasonably well.
And there are those parents who are quite calm or perhaps nonchalant even more so than their children, and seem to be more angry about having to consult with teachers than with the actual performance of their children.
Some parents have essentially questioned the competence of teachers in the classroom. Most teachers are not pleased to know that parents assume that their children’s failure is as a result of their incapability to teach. Parents very seldom blame their children or cast any of the responsibility on them for their failure. Their actions have outraged teachers, many of whom are offended and disturbed by the message parents are sending to their children.
Not only do parents perpetuate the blame game culture on teachers, but they are saying to their children that the teachers and not they are responsible for their performance.
Parents should stop blaming teachers for the failure of their children or tell their children that their lack of interest and low output rate have nothing to do with their mediocre performance. The fact that parents are hell-bent on casting the blame solely on teachers for their children’s failure clearly shows that they have lost their way. Teachers are not the only ones who should be held responsible for the success or failure of children, but also parents and children.
There is some truth that the success and or failure of children depend on the capability of teachers, but parents should inculcate a culture of accountability on their children so that they can grow-up to become responsible adults.
More important, parents must stop being complicit with their children’s failure or success and demand more from them. It is not enough for parents to leave the responsibility of their children to teachers. To do so will not help in their proper development.
We are not saying that teachers should not be held accountable for the academic performance of children, they should. However, we strongly believe that they also have a responsibility to foster an environment conducive to learning and to engage students in the classroom as much as possible.
Nonetheless, the expectations placed on teachers are so enormous that they are being held to a much higher standard than parents. The standards teachers are called upon to maintain come from the government, but parents also do make some unreasonable demands of them.
Many believe that it is ill-advised of parents to think that teachers have all the answers and that they have the magical powers to make children succeed or to make the kind of changes in attitude that parents would like to see in their children.
Positive attitudes in children must come from the homes. While many parents have admitted that they cannot control the behaviour of their children, yet they expect teachers to do so, which suggests that they are absconding their responsibility.
Children spend more time at home, therefore, no matter how hard teachers try, if they are not properly socialized to operate in their environments, they will not change. Parents must stop blaming teachers for their children’s failure.

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