In defence of teachers…
Ok, so Michael O’Leary is at it again! And this time, he DID get me. I was annoyed to be frank, and generally the type of ‘old man yells at cloud’ rhetoric is water off this ducks back.
In the interest of fairness, I am aware his comments pertained to representation of teachers in the political domain and potentially ineffective culture this breeds. I can’t comment on politics or business efficacy. I do however think the ‘tone’ of his remarks speaks to the general collective animosity towards teachers in the public consciousness. I think it’s often misinformed and lacking practical empathy so, I was compelled to write this in defence of teachers.
Disclosure
Full disclosure, I do have skin in the game with teachers. I’ve worked teaching music in primary and post-primary settings for a decade, teachers are colleagues of mine, and (shock!) humans. I am still actively providing psychological counselling and assistance to learners in secondary school and youthreach settings. My core thesis is that tteachers deserve the highest amount of respect, here’s why…
Relationship & alliance
The venn diagram of psychotherapist and teacher overlaps in a great deal of ways, and the most prominent in my view is the transformative power of relationships. In the modern empirical study of change in counselling, researchers have found that a positive supportive relationship is the MOST single factor in positive change. Why is this?
Coregulation
Firstly, this provides what’s called co-regulation, or in layman terms, carrying big feelings and affects for young people such that they can become strong in company and eventually learn to carry these emotional stressors as an independent autonomous people.
Modelling
“Do as I say, not as I do!” We’ve all heard this, right? It’s antiquated BS, and good teachers are often a refreshing antidote to these fallacious adages. This is through what developmental psychology calls modelling. In modelling positive behaviours of reciprocity, fairness, justice, patience and tolerance, young people actually experience and get to integrate these highly social traits into their lived manner. This is much more effective than some accusatory didactic.
Emotional Intelligence
Where this modelling is most interesting to me in linking my profession with teachers is in ‘emotional intelligence’, a more modern concept in psychology championed by Daniel Goleman in the book (and TED Talks) of the same name. Ostensibly, school is a place of academia. But if you think the main goal of school is to impart knowledge to a young person so they can emerge as a good little fact robot, I believe you are wrong! (At least in terms of a holistic view of a successful life).
We define Emotional Intelligence as the ability to: identify, understand and manage our own emotions and to be able respond to the emotions of others in the same competence. In a practical sense, this comes down to holding an awareness that emotions often motivate our behaviours and have impact on others (positive and negative) and learning how to manage these emotions for a better quality of life.
Emotional intelligence is particularly important when we are being tested or under pressure e.g. Giving and receiving feedback (in relationships, work or academia), meeting demands or deadlines, relationships that can be demanding or triggering, changes of life and meeting failure or obstacles in life.
In a nutshell, without emotional intelligence, you may have 600 points in the leaving cert, a PHD in your chosen field, a paycheck and house (insert trappings here) and still be suffering in many ways due to your emotional response to lives given suffering. Teachers are present, day to day, from a young age to adolescence as a positive emotional intelligence role model.
My diagnosis....'At it again'
Frontline
During covid, we lionised and celebrated frontline workers, and rightly so! Knowing teachers personally, as clients and as colleagues, they are so often the first person on the ship to flag issues which may impede healthy growth if not met appropriately. Think presentations such as trauma, learning difficulties, neurodiversity, eating disorders, suicidality, grief and self-esteem issues.
There is nothing morally wrong with the aforementioned, mind, my point is like a plane of course or a physical body part growing, the earlier we correct course diversion, the bigger the downstream positive gains, and so teachers are often ahead of the pack in sniffing this out!
Finally, I must add, this is not a fluff piece and I’m not a shill to big teaching! Let’s be straight, there is simply a cohort of inherently s**t teachers, my belief, hope and educated guess is that this is a small number. Think of the people who got into it for the steady income, the smell of power, a grasp at ‘respectibility’ or someone who just got sold something different and doesn’t want to retrain or improve.
My motto #CuriousNotCritical leads me to investigate the more nuanced underside of a (so called) bad teacher, in fact let’s say unequipped or underresourced teachers. In good faith my professional assessment indicates that the two prime contributors of ‘bad’ teacher is systemic issues and burnout.
Top points in leaving cert, top of the range fridge....but something might be missing...
In praise of good teachers in toxic cultures, I’m drawing to this weeks release of Blindboy Boatclubs short story ‘Did you read about Erskine Fogerty?’. Interestingly this tale of a protagonist who had an abundance of material possessions, intellect and status but a paucity of emotional inner world. Blindboy rightfully seeing the fruits of his craft, often points to one encouraging teacher in a sea of jaded adults, celebrating his innate artistry in a patient and open manner.
Burnout
One thing people don’t know about burnout is that despite all the millions poured into wellbeing, its primary genesis is from systemic issues and whilst counselling and workshops are brilliant ameliorating burnout, the problem is much bigger than individuals. Another lesser known fact about burnout is that it comes on slowly, often subtly, like the frog in boiling water and indeed, it takes as long to undo it.
So take a moment to consider the teacher that’s appraised as ‘bad’ i.e. fed up, complacent, cookie cutter or just not there. While they absolutely have responsibility for their pedagogical output, they are swamped by a myriad of systemic burnout antecedents. You only have to look at the news to see rent crises, cost of living, the anxiety epidemic, emigration and
And look, don’t mind Michael O’Leary, people with that prerogative don’t want their mind changed. He’s a money man, weaver of optics and a wily crafter of ‘outrage marketing’. Whether he means his comments or not, they don’t harm to keep his profile in the public eye.
As the PIL song goes, ‘Anger is an energy’, so let’s also save some of our anger for effective change. I’m not confident Freud would have been a fan of John Lydon, but he would have agreed anger is indeed an energy, and he likely would have encouraged us to ‘sublimate’ it (in plain terms channel a natural emotion to a prosocial output).
In fairness to Michael, it’s nice to be able to pop to the continent for less than a round of drinks, but it’s also nice to be nice. So I encourage you to be Curious Not Critical when thinking of Teacher!
Kevin O’Byrne
Psychotherapist (MIACP)
BA, H.Dip, MA.
Kevin O’Byrne is a counsellor/psychotherapist in private practice in Dublin City, as well as working for the City of Dublin Education Training Board providing counselling and psychological support to learners in post-primary settings. Additionally, he is an active musician and therapist to professionals in the creative industries in Ireland.
#teacherbashing #thepowerofteaching #emotionalintelligence #transforminglivesthrougheducation #blindboyboatclub #didyoureadabouterskinefogarty #outragemarketing #michaeloleary #lyrictherapydublin #curiousnotcritical #angerisanenergy
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