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Teacher Insights on Child Oppression

The interview with Ms. D, a fifth-grade teacher, reveals various forms of child oppression occurring in her classroom, primarily through name-calling and exclusion based on differences. Ms. D highlights that children often target peers who appear different or exhibit unusual behaviors, and some students come from challenging home environments that contribute to their need for attention. The discussion emphasizes the importance of addressing these issues through teacher intervention and support to reduce bullying and promote a more inclusive classroom environment.

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9 views4 pages

Teacher Insights on Child Oppression

The interview with Ms. D, a fifth-grade teacher, reveals various forms of child oppression occurring in her classroom, primarily through name-calling and exclusion based on differences. Ms. D highlights that children often target peers who appear different or exhibit unusual behaviors, and some students come from challenging home environments that contribute to their need for attention. The discussion emphasizes the importance of addressing these issues through teacher intervention and support to reduce bullying and promote a more inclusive classroom environment.

Uploaded by

misterfanguy
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Interview Transcript – A Teacher’s Observations of Child

Oppression

An interview was conducted with “Ms. D,” a female, fifth-grade, veteran elementary school

classroom teacher in preparation for an action research project on school bullying. The research

team interviewed fourth- and fifth-grade teachers at a lower middle-class suburban school site to

learn about forms of oppression they saw and heard most often among their children.

As a coding and analysis exercise, review the transcript excerpt several times to become

acquainted with the contents. Make jottings about passages that strike you and pre-code your

initial work. Then separate the interview transcript into stanzas. Determine the most appropriate

coding method(s) for the transcript to help examine the pre-action research question:

 What are the forms of child oppression?

Also compose an analytic memo that brainstorms the types of strategies that might be taken by

an action research team to lessen the amount of child oppression in a school setting.

***

I: How do children in your classroom oppress each other?

MS. D: Well, they call each other names.


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I: Like, what kinds of names?

MS. D: Oh, we’ve got a little girl in here, she looks different and she acts different, so they’ll

make up some name that they call her. They, um, it’s the same kid, it seems like every year

there’s one kid that gets picked on more than somebody else, because they’re different, because

they might look different, they might act different. Say, for instance, she will say something or

she gets very excited about something, they’ll tell her to “Sit down,” “Be quiet,” “Stop doing

this,” they’re like on her case all the time. Then you’ve got another kid in here who, well he loses

control of himself, and so he blurts stuff out or yells out, and the kids will turn around and yell

back at him. And out on the playground they do tend to sometimes get pushy-shovy kinda stuff.

Like with her [pointing to a desk] I’ve watched them actually walk by this little girl and

purposely bump into her or something like that, but then even though you’re watching them, the

kid’ll turn around and say, “Well, I didn’t do that” after you confront him. And it’s not

everybody, it’s just a few, and it’s a few that have behavior problems that seek attention, and

they don’t know how to get attention any other way besides a negative way.

I: How do the students deal with these conflicts?

MS. D: They come to me right away to tell me, so then I have to deal with it. I’ve told them to do

it that way. I don’t want them taking means into their own hands, ’cause if they do then they’re

causing more problems than, because they tend to get physical or it’s a taunting kind of thing that

will take place all over the place. So if they come to me right away then I can deal with just the
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two people it involves and that way it doesn’t tend to get blown out of proportion. It stays right

there rather than getting other kids involved in the situation.

I: What kinds of oppressions might your students deal with in their home environment?

MS. D: Oh, jeez. There’s some sad cases here. There’s this one boy who seeks attention because

his mother is a drunken alcoholic. The mom says he’s her best buddy and works hard to get him

what he wants. He’s had to meet with the school counselor. There was another girl who was

taken away from a bad family situation in Philadelphia because of physical and verbal abuse, her

mother was into witchcraft. She moved to live with some relatives here but the home situation

here isn’t safe either, so the police had to be called in. But she seems to be settling in now. Her

mom’s moved down here but the girl’s slowly evolving into one of the neighborhood kids. She’s

the one they pick on a lot because she is a little different, but she’s had different experiences than

a lot of kids, too.

I: What kinds of differences do kids tend to target?

MS. D: With this one student the kids seem to zero in because she did look different, and she …

I: Clothing-wise?

MS. D: No, just physically, she, she just, and she acted kind of strange, she would just rock back

and forth in her chair, that this was a thing of the abuse, that kind of thing. And one of the girls
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said, “Stop it, stop it!” and I would have to go over to her and just put my hands on her, “Don’t

do that now,” that kind of thing, and we had to have her meet with the school nurse. And she’s

the type of kid who thinks she knows everything, so that was another thing that bugged the kids,

that she would, and yet she does know a lot, but they just didn’t like it, that it was her. You

know, once they had this idea that something’s wrong with them, or they don’t like them, then

when they start to interact with the kids and the kids kind of, they’re not accepting. But most of

the other kids in this room have been together for years, so she’s brand new, the other kid with

problems is brand new, and so it’s the ones, they’re kind of not fitting in because they weren’t

with this group as they moved on through school.

I: Like a newcomer?

MS. D: Uh-huh, I think it is like a newcomer thing. It’s basically the new ones. These two new

ones were pretty outgoing and were put down by the others, but another newcomer moved

quietly and she was easily accepted because she didn’t stand out. There’s another boy who’s

obnoxious and the class gets upset with him. The kids pick up on attitude. Their whole thing is

attention: how can I get attention and bring it to myself? Acting goofy or silly is a big thing, and

some of the kids’ll say, “Oh, stop acting like that.”

Common questions

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Diversity in the classroom, as noted by Ms. D, frequently leads to issues of integration and acceptance, where students who visibly or behaviorally differ from the existing group may face oppression. This dynamic underscores the importance of fostering inclusivity and understanding within classroom settings to build an environment that appreciates diversity rather than marginalizes differences .

Promoting inclusivity involves implementing structured classroom activities that foster mutual understanding and empathy among students, facilitating cooperation and team-building exercises, and teaching conflict resolution skills. Creating mentorship systems where existing students support newcomers can also ease transitions, as this involvement encourages acceptance and reduces the social barriers new students face .

Attention-seeking behaviors can exacerbate bullying dynamics by making certain students targets of ridicule or exclusion. Ms. D observes that students who seek attention through negative or disruptive actions might provoke other students’ frustration or disdain, perpetuating a cycle of conflict and isolation . These behaviors reflect deeper needs unfulfilled by their social settings, calling for interventions that address their underlying causes .

Triggers for bullying identified by Ms. D include behaviors that disrupt classroom norms or attract attention, such as outbursts, acting differently, or not conforming to peer group dynamics. Addressing these proactively might involve teaching children social skills to better integrate into peer structures and providing support for those struggling with behavioral issues due to external factors like family problems .

While Ms. D’s strategy of having students report conflicts directly to her helps contain and manage bullying incidents, it may limit students' opportunities to develop independent problem-solving skills. The reliance on authority for resolution reduces the chance for students to engage in conflict resolution themselves, potentially hindering their ability to navigate interpersonal issues autonomously .

Ms. D encourages students to bring conflicts to her immediately to prevent situations from escalating and involving more people, thus keeping the problem contained. This approach helps her manage the direct parties involved and minimizes the opportunity for conflict to spread . Though effective in preventing escalation, it relies heavily on teacher intervention rather than empowering students to resolve conflicts independently, suggesting a limitation in building self-managed conflict resolution skills .

Newcomers often face challenges fitting in, leading to experiences of social exclusion or being picked on. Ms. D notes that students who are new and stand out due to outgoing behavior tend to be singled out negatively, whereas those who integrate quietly are more easily accepted. This indicates that deviations from the existing group behavior are less tolerated .

Family environments play a crucial role in shaping children's behavior and their experiences of oppression at school. For instance, children from troubled home environments, such as those with abusive or neglectful caregivers, may exhibit behaviors that draw negative attention or fail to meet peer norms, making them targets for bullying. Ms. D mentions cases where students experiencing family instability or abuse become more vulnerable to social exclusion and oppression due to perceived differences .

Ms. D observes that the main forms of child oppression in her classroom include name-calling, physical intimidation, and exclusion, which are often targeted at students who are perceived as different. This may be due to physical appearance, behavior, or not fitting in with the existing group dynamic. For instance, certain students are picked on more frequently because they either look or act differently, and sometimes face social exclusion as newcomers .

Peer group consistency contributes significantly to how newcomers are treated. Ms. D notices that established groups with shared history may resist integrating new arrivals, especially those who display divergent behaviors. This suggests the need for deliberate social integration practices to smooth transitions and promote inclusivity for all students .

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