A few months ago, I had a chat with a friend who was studying Special Education. One day, my friend was assigned to observe a child with learning difficulties at an elementary school. Long story short, while looking for a partner to observe, the teacher at the elementary school told my friend, "Just observe that child. He can't do anything." From my friend's story, there are a few points I can take away.
The first point, I concluded that the teacher "CANNOT TEACH". Why? Logically, every child - more precisely, every person - is created with different abilities. Some grasp lessons quickly, while others are a bit slower. Well, this is where a teacher's ability is tested. Can they transform a child who "can't do anything" into someone who can *at least* do something?
Here, teachers are also required to be more creative; what is the right method to teach a child with learning difficulties? Instead of "insulting" the child by saying "this child can't do anything." The second point, I concluded that the teacher was "lacking in ethics" (I'm not saying "unethical"). Let's imagine. My friend was a stranger who wanted to gather information and get to know the child with learning difficulties better.
This means the child didn't know my friend at all. Then, the elementary school teacher introduced the child to my friend with the phrase "the child who can't do anything." Just imagine, how would that child feel when introduced to a stranger with such a negative label? Perhaps the child would feel ashamed, insecure, pressured, and so on. This is what I mean by the teacher being "lacking in ethics." They couldn't protect the feelings of their own student.
No matter how low someone's ability, that person surely wants their feelings to be respected. The teacher didn't imagine what if they were the child's mother? Or what if they were in the child's position? How would they feel? Through this writing, I only want to remind, especially teachers, and generally anyone who reads this - including myself - that no one has the exact same abilities as another person.
Someone might be weak in one area but strong in another. So, respect their feelings, respect their abilities, because God has created humans as perfectly as possible, and no creation of God is flawed. NB: This article was previously published on my Facebook notes (http://facebook.com/fakhryary) on February 3, 2014.
It was also featured on the Kampung Halaman website (www.kampunghalaman.org).