In our readings and discussion posts, my classmates
and I have discussed the idea that it’s not really nature versus
nurture, it’s nature and nurture. Both are components of a child’s
development, and to completely ignore one of the two is ignorant and probably
hurtful to the child. Further, we as teachers are part of the “nurture” part of
the process – children are not nurtured solely by family. It takes a village,
and teachers are a big part of that village for many children. I feel that it
is our duty to nurture in as productive and helpful a way as possible – we’re
not just responsible for teaching our curriculum, we’re also responsible for
students’ well-being and growth into functional, healthy, productive adults. If
a student walks into class and tells me they’re self-harming (and believe me, I’ve
had this happen), I can’t just say “Oh, okay. Well, did you do your homework
last night?” That would be callous, useless to the student and probably deeply
hurtful, and certainly not nurturing. It may be in that kid’s nature to tend
towards self-harm – but it’s in the nurturing, how we deal with it and which
coping mechanisms we use to help a student get help, that we teach more than
just our subject matter. In Module 2’s discussion, I mentioned a student with
ADHD required a multitude of different coping tools and coaching/assistance and
nurturing. I’d like to expand that here, and go beyond the prompt a bit. I
think it’s also a teacher’s responsibility to keep an eye on students’ mental
health and stress levels, because we put a lot on our kids – stress,
expectations, pressure… and it can take its toll. We need to develop more
coping mechanisms and structure ways to help address student psychological
issues in a compassionate, nurturing manner. We don’t do enough, and counseling
departments in schools can’t handle everything (though many try admirably). We
all need to be well-versed in what’s called Trauma Based Learning – the idea
that our students all have experienced some kind of rough patch or difficulty,
and that we need to be sensitive to it as educators, nurturers, role models,
and responsible adults.
