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Case: Poor and Innocent
I made one of the biggest mistakes in my professional life as a teacher about a week ago. I teach middle school English. We collected money for a breast cancer awareness event, and I put the cash and the checks in separate envelopes. After lunch time, I could not locate the envelope with the cash. I looked everywhere, but I could not find it. I asked my students if anyone took the envelope by mistake but nobody came forward. So, the cash was lost. Apparently, someone stole it, I thought. I have a good mix of students in my classroom; different religions, races, cultures, and rich and poor. Steve is the poorest student. Sometimes students make fun of Steve for wearing the same pair of shoes or the same pants all the time. The day after the money had been lost Steve came to school wearing a new jacket. Automatically, everyone, including me, started thinking he stole the cash. I took Steve to the principal's office to have a conference with him about the lost cash and his new jacket. We told him why we were having the meeting and asked him to be truthful. He said he had nothing to do with the lost cash. When we asked him about the new jacket, he said he had worked in his uncle's mechanic shop past weekend and made some money. Then, his father gave him some money to make up the difference for him to buy the jacket. We called his father and he confirmed everything Steve had told us. At that moment I thought I had never been so embarrassed in my life. But the more embarrassing moment came when Steve asked me if I had questioned Greg, a student from a middle class background, because he happened to come to school wearing a new jacket that day also. How can I fix the broken trust between me and Steve? How would you react to this situation—lost money and a poor student wearing a new jacket the next day? What would be the most appropriate way to respond to this situation?
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
To answer your question about fixing the broken trust, trust is something that must be earned with time. When students see that you are fair and caring on a daily basis, they will trust you and a positive relationship can be built or in this case rebuilt. This may just take time.
I would need more information to determine how I would react in this situation. It is definitely wrong to suspect Steve just because he is poor. Hopefully we will get to know our students on a more personal level where we can make judgments about their character from past experiences and see that the student's economic standing is not what determines one's character. I have also seen people go to the opposite extreme and not be willing to question people because they were part of a disadvantaged group. We need to examine and treat people fairly regardless of their economic status. But we shouldn't overlook things that look suspicious because we are afraid of offending a student of a certain status. We need to see our students as individuals and not as part of a particular group. How we handle these situations is of paramount importance. Questioning many students from this class is definitely called for.
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree in that all students should have been questioned but this would be time consuming and not effective. The trust that has been broken will take time to mend, and perhaps a way towards that would be to tie in a life lesson on trust, dishonesty, being judgmental, and character. |
| Rated On: October 14, 2014 3:30 pm |
| Rated By: Denise Lukacik |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: Agreed. It'll take time for Steve to trust you again, although it might not be as it used to be. The lesson here is to not judge the book by its cover. Every student needs to be treated fairly, not due to what they look like or what social rank they're in. |
| Rated On: October 19, 2014 6:17 pm |
| Rated By: Adam Sanchez |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree, rebuilding this trust will definitely take time. |
| Rated On: February 25, 2015 7:44 pm |
| Rated By: aNaQev |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I really appreciated the thought of treating the students as individuals, and not as part of a group. The comment of student/teacher trust is also very relevant and helpful. |
| Rated On: March 6, 2017 4:35 pm |
| Rated By: jyHyHy |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: this is a good solution |
| Rated On: February 25, 2018 11:14 pm |
| Rated By: uXysej |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: |
| Rated On: February 20, 2019 12:12 am |
| Rated By: baJeTe |
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