25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake
4
Public Ridicule
SCENARIO 4.1
Confession ≠ Contrition
When I was in junior high, I received a progress report with negative comments and a failing
grade. I was asked to have my mother sign the form and return it. I did not want to get in
trouble so I signed my mother’s name. I thought I was in the clear until about a week later,
the report came in the mail. I was grounded for two months and had to get up in class and
tell them why what I had done was so wrong. The two months would have been nothing
but I had to live with the torment of my classmates teasing me. They all constantly asked me
if I had forged my report cards, absentee notes, tardy notes, whatever needed to be signed.
Forced public confession sows
the seeds of hypocrisy in very
fertile ground. By forcing the student
to stand up and tell the class what
she did and why it was wrong, the
teacher was encouraging hypocrisy.
It was a false act. Obviously, the student
did not think it was very wrong;
she did it. The public confession also
damaged the student’s credibility
with her classmates. The torment she
reaped far exceeded her crime.
There was no obvious benefit
to having the student confess to the
class; certainly there was no genuine
contrition or any rectification of the
problem. The astute teacher would
instinctively know that the forgery is
a private matter that should be settled
with the child and her parents.
McFee (1918) was a historical voice
of reason, as evidenced by the following
quote from her book, “Many
a bad boy or girl has been reformed
by a kind talk from the teacher in
private, for such talks are rarely forgotten”
(p. 26). A private talk would
have been more effective in this
case and may have sparked sincere
repentance.
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