In this article, Lara El Khatib, MEPLI 2018 Fellow, and Nahla Harb, MEPLI 2019 Fellow, share a case of a student struggling with the aftermath of the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, and examine the ways in which his teacher and principal can support him.
By Lara El Khatib and Nahla Harb
March 5th, 2022
Karim is a 10 years old boy who lives in a Beirut neighborhood that was heavily impacted by the port blast. Ever since then, he has been unable to eat or sleep well. In fact, the only thing that seems to somewhat calm him down is fiddling with his pencil. And because his mother was killed in the blast, he has taken on the responsibility (with his father) of taking care of his two younger siblings. On Monday, Karim had a big school project due. Because his father was still dealing with his wife’s death, Karim had to take on the sole responsibility of meeting the needs of his younger siblings (from feeding them to helping them with homework). As a result, he did not have time to work on his own school project. So he showed up for class on Monday with no project in hand. The teacher, not knowing of Karim’s circumstances, got upset with him for missing “yet another assignment deadline”. She chastised him in class, in front of all his classmates. Karim, already on edge, started fiddling with his pencil in an attempt to calm down. The teacher saw this as “yet another act of defiance” and sent him to the principal’s office. It is worth mentioning that this is a very dedicated and ethical teacher. She has been doing the best that she can, under very difficult circumstances. The Beirut blast left an enormous impact on virtually everyone. It is also worth noting that this is a school-wide problem. This teacher is not the only one facing such difficulties in the classroom.
If you were the principal at this school, what would you do? What would you say to the teacher? How might you support her and the rest of your teaching staff? Although Karim definitely needs help, this article will be about supporting teaching staff.
Maslow has taught us that if our basic needs are not met, other “less basic needs” will not be met either. For instance, if students are hungry or lack adequate sleep, they may not be able to learn well. By the same token, if teachers feel that their jobs are not safe, or that they are under-appreciated, they may not have it in them to fulfill their duties, as much as they would like to. This could also make them less patient with students, especially students like Karim from the vignette above.
So what do we do? Here are some tips that could help school principals be there for their teaching staff:
1) Acknowledge to the teacher that you hear her and understand her point of view.
2) Ask the teacher if things are ok with her–it is possible that she is going through a tough
time as well.
3) Ask the teacher if she has attempted to connect with the student in order to understand
where he is coming from. For example, maybe she can seek to understand what benefit
Karim receives from fiddling with his pencil.
4) Ask the teacher what she thinks the issue is with this particular student and take time to
listen to her perspective.
5) Ask the teacher if other students are exhibiting the same symptoms as Karim’s, or
something similar to them.
6) Ask other teachers if they are facing similar difficulties.
7) Try to encourage the teacher to focus on what is under her control. We may not be able
to control how much or how often Karim eats or sleeps at home, but perhaps we can
make sure he can get a decent meal while at school.
8) Ask her if contacting the student’s family might be a good idea. Perhaps this is
something you can do together, so the teacher knows that she has your support.
9) Try to provide all teachers with training on classroom management during times of
crisis. This could be within the larger framework of the trauma sensitive classroom.
10) Help teachers connect with each other. They may and probably will learn a lot from
each other. That is in addition to simply being there for each other.
11) Try to connect teachers with the school counselors and/or psychologists
These are just general guidelines. Every situation is different, every student is different, every teacher is different and every principal is different. What might work in some situations and with some people may not work with other people in other situations. So these are just guidelines that will hopefully help you get started with offering support to your teaching staff.
Helpful Resources
Books:
Craig, S. E. (2016). Trauma-sensitive schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Jennings, P. A. (2019). The trauma sensitive classroom. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &
Company.
Sorrels, B. (2015). Reaching and teaching children exposed to trauma. Lewisville, NC: Gryphon
house.
Websites:
Prothero, A. (2021, November 20). 5 Ways For Principals To Turn Crisis Into Professional Development. Ed Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/5-ways-for-principals-to-turncrisis-into-professional-development/2021/11
Stafford-Brizard, B. (2021, May 1). Supporting Teacher Well-Being In Times Of Crisis. Association Of Supervision And Curriculum Development. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/supportingteacher-well-being-in-a-time-of-crisis
UNESCO. (2020). Supporting teachers and education personnel during times of crisis. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373338