Some Choices Make Me Sad

Choices by Markeeta Roe is licensed under a
  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This afternoon I helped one of my young people choose some learning tasks to keep him busy tomorrow while he's suspended.  I loathe suspension as a concept. Loathe it. I feel like a complete failure as a teacher. I question all of my choices: everything I did or didn't do that might have contributed to the situation. In some cases, it's really clear that none of my choices would have influenced the outcome at all. Other times, it's a little harder. Today it's harder.  Don't get me wrong: rationally, I understand that the choices this young person made were not my choices. As a relational teacher though, I can't help but wonder where I could have made different choices that would have helped him make different choices. I'm not arrogant or naive enough to think I could have prevented this, but I do need to reflect on the choices I've made.

And I will reflect, but for now: I'm sad. I'm sad for the choices that this young person made that lead to this point; for the choice that we, as a school, had to make; that this is the only choice left to our school to protect the rights of the many (at, what some might say, the expense of the rights of one); but most of all for the fractured relationships left in the wake of this choice.

Choices huh?

This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...

Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments