Getting a grip on teaching

Britain’s secretary for education has promised to make physical contact guidelines for teachers more transparent and less restricting. Michael Gove insisted that current school-specific rules that forbid instructors from touching students impair a teacher’s ability to do his or her job.

Teachers must be able to intervene physically to break up classroom altercations without fear of consequences, Gove said. His plan also involves granting anonymity to teachers accused of misconduct while inquiries are undertaken.

He said that existing guidelines on classroom management are too dense to be of practical value, and should be simplified.

Gove’s comments have drawn fire from the Children’s Rights Alliance, which claims the move threatens human rights and child protection laws.

While it’s important that teachers understand that this does not give them the right to physically reprimand students—something Gove addressed directly—it’s pretty clear that this is a realistic take on the responsibilities that teachers are entrusted with.

Teachers must have the ability to separate students physically to prevent injury. Children don’t always listen to verbal instructions. In the event of physical altercations, a teacher trying to defuse a situation without intervening physically could quickly result in a child being injured.

Comforting small children with a hug is equally important.

A transparent and highly visible set of rules—generalized across school boards and districts—would be the ideal way to implement such a plan. Students and parents must be aware of the abilities teachers have to manage problematic situations. This new approach has nothing to do with reinstating corporal punishment, but is directly related to effective classroom management.

We entrust teachers with the responsibility of teaching children vital skills they will need to be contributing members of society. We must also provide teachers with the proper tools to do so.

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