I recently had a conversation with a student about following instructions.
The student had been sent to me because they were in the canteen hanging around. The supervising teacher had asked the student to step back from the area but he had refused to follow the instruction.
Me: So you were in the canteen?
Student: Yes
Me: The teacher asked you to move back
Student: Yes
Me: And you didn't move back?
Student: No
Me: Why not?
Student: Why should I have to move from where I was standing if I wasn't doing anything wrong?
[The student is smart you see, like a clever politician in an interview, rejecting the premise of the question.]
Me: Because the teacher told you to
[Now I'm trapped in justifying myself, little trickster.]
Student: But I wasn't doing anything wrong
Me: It doesn't matter
Student: I should be able to stand where I want
Me: Really?
[Phew, get it back here, now the student has to justify themselves.]
Student: Yes
Me: So if you are standing on the street, not doing anything wrong and a Police Officer asks you to move, would you?
Student: No
Me: Wow! You are going to get arrested!
Student: No I'm not.
[The student's last resort - point blank denial.]
And on the conversation continued.
Now, just to be clear my point is not to criticise, as this student genuinely believed himself to be in the right.
But as I sit and think about it now, I wonder to myself was he right or was I?
Do instructions need a justification?
Should we encourage our young people to say "Yes, ma'am" and just do it, or is questioning the reasoning for an instruction a good practice?
Should we be teaching our young people how to ask for reasons for instructions in obedient ways?
The student may not have been doing anything wrong, but that doesn't mean the teacher did not have a good reason to ask them to move. Maybe the floor was wet, maybe there had been trouble there earlier and the teacher was trying to protect the student, maybe the teacher was just being obnoxious and had no good reason for asking the child to move. Regardless, the child was given clear instruction, which they failed to obey. He/she could have asked the "why do I have to move question" from a posture of obedience rather than a posture of defiance. My 2 cents! Keep writing!
ReplyDeleteYes; keep writing. And don't let my former teacher wife toss out more teacher commands without questioning them ;-)
ReplyDeleteActually, the student should have moved. A few reasons:
1. The teacher has authority the student should respect--good authority. Submitting to that good authority is for the student's blessing, so the submission is good, too.
2. Asking the student to move was not a moral request requiring moral justification. The student wasn't being asked to do anything wrong or right, and their compliance meets #1 above.
3. The student's "right" to stand in that spot and "freedom" to do so can't be exercised unilaterally. None of our rights and freedoms can. There are, as you said, consequences. And the proper use of our freedom ought always take into account the rights and freedoms of others--in this case the good right of the teacher to ask the student to move.
4. Knowledge is not necessary to obedience. Soldiers obey commands without knowing what the general is thinking and their questioning commands rather than immediately obeying costs lives. Children obey parents without knowledge of the parents' thinking. Students ought to obey their teachers without assuming some "right" to know the teacher's reasoning. This is especially true when the teacher is requesting an action that itself is not moral and does not require a moral basis for justification. Or, at best, like soldiers, they should jump first and ask, "How high?" on the way up :-).
You make me think. Keep writing!