Every child has a right to education, and schools worldwide provide this need. However, disabled and gifted children are not adequately catered for in the regular school setup because they are the minority. Society fails to accept remarkable mental abilities as a gift and maintains ambivalence towards intellectuals. Children who exhibit extraordinary cognitive abilities are branded as “nerds” or being “odd.” Disabled children are undermined in society because they have special needs (Tempus Fugit Glass, 2004). Talented and challenged children face challenges in today’s educational system, leaving teachers to identify these unique individuals and help them succeed.
To ensure gifted pupils’ success, teachers should take specialized training. Tutors should also consider individualized learning rather than homogeneous group teaching based on each student’s academic and personal potential. According to Glass (2013), the regular school curriculum emphasizes self-esteem development while overlooking cognitive and critical thinking. The curriculum to be used for gifted children should be enhanced to offer more work. Pupils gain self-confidence and develop their talents to the fullest through intellectual challenges.
Children with developmental limitations need specialized support to achieve their full potential. According to Hebbeler and Spiker (2016), integrating children with disabilities in a regular class needs high-quality instructions and language and social skills interventions to enable them to cope and perform well. The home environment, early medical interventions, and introduction to specialized education ensure that disabled children get educated at their own pace.
Society should stop stigmatizing gifted children who passionately care about their education as being odd. The introduction of special education to disabled children early in life will enable them to develop their talents to their fullest. Accepting the educational philosophy of excellence does not equate to identical knowledge to all. Therefore, the educational system should recognize the gifted children’s abilities and the unique needs of the disabled children and provide a curriculum that caters to them.
Classroom Management
Class management for teachers is not as obvious as it seems and is the leading cause of teachers’ burnout. According to Cassetta and Sawyer (2013), the classroom management foundation includes a good relationship with the students and giving clear and concise instructions. Classroom management is more than crafting rules, procedures, and consequences to “manage” student behavior. It is about building relationships with students and teaching social and academic skills.
Taking away recess is a form of punishment in schools. According to Cassetta and Sawyer (2013), taking part in physical activities helps in brain development and improves the child’s engagement in learning. Therefore, withdrawing breaks is not productive because it does not show the students how they should behave. Other teachers recompense the students who are well-mannered and punish those that are naughty. This reward and consequence system undermines the intrinsic motivation of the child’s behavior.
Teachers should endeavor to foster independent students who can navigate through challenges on their own. Tutors can achieve it by instilling positive and self-directed behavior, which entails self and social awareness, self-management, positive relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Educators should not give pupils numerous rules to follow but should ensure that the rules are few and concise (Cassetta & Sawyer, 2013). By maintaining a positive relationship between the teacher and the student, academic performance improves.
Over the years, taking away recess as a punishment, and the reward and consequence systems, have been used to manipulate students’ behavior. However, such control systems have failed to produce independent thinking students because the intrinsic motivation in the child’s behavior is wrong. To achieve proper class management, teachers should build good relationships with their pupils and give concise and clear rules that students can follow. The advantage of class management is that educators do not experience burnout.
Understanding Why Students Misbehave
Students’ mischievous behavior is attributed to a lack of a caring social environment in the classroom. Pupils’ emotional and social abilities are essential if they are to succeed academically. According to Cassetta and Sawyer (2013), teachers in schools administer punishments without investigating why the children misbehaved. One form of punishment is withdrawing breaks, which is counteractive because it prohibits physical activities, which encourages brain development in children. Being a disciplinarian tutor has adverse effects on the child’s academic success. Therefore, the withdrawal of breaks does not create a suitable environment for learning and encourages students’ mischief.
Teachers experience frustrations in the classroom due to pupils’ wrongdoing. Educators should have the discipline and behavior concerns for their future classrooms based on the most appropriate action to take on naughty pupils. Tutors are encouraged to establish healthy relationships between them and the students because misbehavior is rampant in an excessively rigid classroom (Cassetta & Sawyer, 2013). Interactions between peers and the teacher in a classroom should be encouraged since it offers opportunities to advance social skills and discourages unruliness among students.
Teachers should craft a few and concise rules that students can easily follow. Besides, they should value all their pupils and communicate this value to them. Tutors should also remind learners of the expectations they have for them. According to Cassetta and Sawyer (2013), suspending students to correct misbehavior is counteractive. This is because most of these children are already struggling academically. School rules enhance the learning environment, which leads to well-mannered children.
Students’ misconduct is discouraged in schools because it frustrates teachers. Learners should follow clear and concise rules, while teachers should be encouraged to cultivate their students’ relationships. Before punishing a child, educators should investigate why the student misbehaved. Forms of punishments in schools, including taking recess and suspensions, should be discouraged because they fail to correct misbehavior. Rather, a caring and social environment should be cultivated if students’ delinquency is to cease.
References
Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2013). No more taking away recess and other problematic discipline practices. Heinemann Educational Books.
Hebbeler, K., & Spiker, D. (2016). Supporting young children with disabilities. The Future of Children, 26(2), 185-205. Web.
Tempus Fugit Glass (2004). What gift? Gifted Child Today, 27(4), 25-29.