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January 01, 1970
January 01, 1970
Thank you for this piece, Dr. Westfield! I teach over 100 students a semester at a large public university and I am frequently overwhelmed by the various needs of students. Once a student told me I probably saved his life. Another time a student walked into my office and asked me if I am a counselor. A couple minutes of conversation with him and it was evident he was struggling with PTSD. Throughout my career, I have felt responsible for the mental health and personal well-being of my students, to the detriment of being an effective professor. Working to develop boundaries has been difficult as I’ve been socialized to be attuned to other people’s emotional needs and to value connection with other people above all else. Thank you so much for articulating your own work to establish boundaries. I learned so much from this very short piece!
Thank you so much for sharing this; it’s incredibly helpful.
With all due respect, it feels like this is a personal frustration that perhaps should be managed in private. The culture we live in has left students with few allies and challenges in navigating aspects of emotional intelligence. The problem is bigger than the teacher/student dynamic. It seems teachers must address this by demanding support, resources, pay, and benefits from the institutions and from the country they serve. Teachers have a responsibility to address these issues at an action level. When students see teachers demand their worth be recognized, the message is empowering. Why do students see teachers as someone they can “dump on”? Could it be because society is abusive to teachers through underpaying them? Nor does society provide resources or benefits or even a basic safe environment. Teachers can march, strike, and take actions to demonstrate they are secure in their value. For me, this is a teacher issue. Not a student issue.
With respect, I wish this article would come down. Teachers continue to allow unsafe classrooms where they may be shot, unfair pay, a sad lack of resources, and lack of empowerment. Showing students your personal value by marching, teaching strikes, and social media movements to demand recognition of your value as a teacher is a way for students to see you taking your power in action. It seems your frustrations ultimately lie with the system, not the student.