Do teachers judge their students from the perspective of a stranger?

[Kurosagi]

Malcolm Gladwell is an author that frequently writes about controversial topics. His style is to take an ordinary situation and look at the subtleties that everyone either chose or can't help but ignore. The book that prompted this thread is called "Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know." In this book, he takes a look into the human psyche. Not just one person, but the societal psyche. Talking to Strangers focuses on how humans interact with people they don't know and how preconceived notions lead us to make crucial misjudgments about people.

My question is not necessarily do teachers do this, but to what extent do teachers do this. In every class, there is bound to be a single "little shit" in the classroom; it just comes in the job description. A few hands-on teachers may look into the cause of the child's actions; other less patient teachers may take the actions at face value. Let's also not forget that teachers have other students to attend to and cannot look into every intolerable action to see if it's a misdemeanor based on student circumstances. Malcolm Gladwell addressed this sort of mindset and he's concluded that this is a necessary evil. One aspect of this outlook on strangers is a term he uses called "the default to truth." This default refers to giving the benefit of the doubt in all things, only changing your mind when you can't explain away your doubts. This default to truth is multi-faceted and applies to the classroom as well. In this instance, the default is not to believe the child means well, but to believe he means malice; that is your truth that you default to.

All that to say, in the classroom should a teacher look into the underlying implications of a child's behavior and give verdicts based on this information, or should they take actions at face value?

 

[Zeus20]

Before, I thought all of the teacher would understand that every student has a different situation. But after encountering different kinds of teachers, I figured out that some of them are teaching just because of money, some of them forget to open their hearts to understand students who is having a hard time or students who cant afford everything that they want us to do. And yes I believe that a teacher judge their students from the perspective of a stranger which is a sad part of reality.

 

[Vreeze]

If we're talking about what should be done, then of course teachers should look into that student's situation and background. "Don't judge a book by its cover" is a very famous and widely accepted quote that can be applied here. By understanding, we could effectively, even precisely, help that student to learn and grow. We need to understand the circumstances to think of the right solutions and/or punishments.

I guess what's more essential is how important it is compared to the amount of effort a teacher need to put in towards all cases. That's where Malcolm Gladwell's default of truth take place. It needs research to find the answers, but based on my experience when students misbehave they mostly both mean malice yet needs to be directed and taught. Other than that, even if the student doesn't mean malice, the student still misbehaves so assuming that the student means malice to give the right temporary solution/punishment is necessary. In conclusion, this default of truth is necessary but to truly help the student learn and grow, we have to put in that important additional effort as well.
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Before, I thought all of the teacher would understand that every student has a different situation. But after encountering different kinds of teachers, I figured out that some of them are teaching just because of money, some of them forget to open their hearts to understand students who is having a hard time or students who cant afford everything that they want us to do. And yes I believe that a teacher judge their students from the perspective of a stranger which is a sad part of reality.

Based on my personal experience, there are actually many more teachers who genuinely teach to make the best of every student according to their own standards, regardless of the amount of teaching experience that they have. On top of that, teaching doesn't really grant much money to the point that people teach just because of money.

The word that I want to emphasize is standards. Every teacher has their own standards regarding what a good student should be like. Even with the same default of truth (to believe that a student's misbehavior always means malice), one can either follow the rules and punish the student or underestimate that misbehavior and ignore it. That's why even if the teacher doesn't punish you, it doesn't necessarily mean that they understand that you are having a hard time so you can misbehave as long as it is not too noticeable. If the teacher punishes you, it also doesn't necessarily mean that they don't understand your situation and only teach for the money. They just have different standards and values in teaching which results in different verdicts.

In relation to the main topic, I don't think such cases can tell us the amount of effort that teachers do before making a judgement towards their students. I don't think from such cases we can assume if one do judge students from the perspective of a stranger or not.

 

[Moses Onyedikachukwu]

What if the standpoint of a stranger is objective enough, and is what is required for an efficient analysis of a student?

I know coming from the standpoint of a stranger can equal to unabashed criticism of a student without empathy or real concern. But if we can take that off the picture, we may find out that position is often necessary.

If not assessing from the standpoint of a stranger means getting to close and attached, I'm afraid it may be counterproductive, bringing about lenience and a more pettish analysis of a students academical habits.