There are many reasons for fairness in the classroom, one very important one being that of expecting fairness in everything we do.

How on Earth can we expect to recieve fair treatment in all areas of life, whether it be within our family ecosystem, in the workplace, in a court room, or in a business transaction, if we are not teaching it to students at the very crucial time in their lives when teachers are the main presence?

Teachers have greater control over their students and how they behave socially than sometimes, even their parents do. The reason for this is because most parents are busy working, sorting out family business, or just plain tired by the time the student has contact with them, to be able to even communicate with their children. Others have the misfortune of being from sole parent families, and have to help at home more than others.

Children mimic the actions of the adult in charge, and if the teacher, who has the greatest waking with the student, does not have the skills to be fair and attentive, treating each child with the intrinsic rights they have as human beings to be treated equally, there will undoubtedly be backlash and discord within the classroom.

Not only willl their be these problems, but the teacher will effectively have taught their students to have little or no respect for them, or each other. These problems move into the adult life of these students, which is what creates the huge social problems and bad attitudes we have today. Every child has the need to be accepted for who he/she is, and to be given a fair and just hearing, just as we expect as adults.

Every child has endemic problems within their ecosystem that require skill and understanding and these problems to be calculated into the reason for their behaviour and misgivings, or inability to learn as quickly as others. It is for all of these reasons that fairness in the classroom is paramount in every learning centre/institution.

Learn more about this author, Gayle Brewer.
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