One angle cannot judge the image of a teacher.
In recent days, social media has been buzzing about a clip showing a male student teasingly hugging and stroking the hair of a female teacher right on the podium, witnessed by many students in a classroom in Hanoi.
On the afternoon of October 3, answering questions from the press, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training Nguyen Quang Tuan said that the incident happened during recess on September 27, at Thach Ban High School (Long Bien District).
The Literature teacher, newly graduated, born in 2001. During her work, she was sociable and close to her students. However, the young teacher, with little experience in classroom management and handling situations, was not strict and did not give timely reminders to her students.
Speaking to Lao Dong, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam - Vice Principal of the University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that recording images, especially those that occur in schools, and then spreading them on social networks is an inconsiderate act. The poster did not foresee that it could have a negative impact on those involved.
"The community is seeing this as an inappropriate behavior. But if we approach it from a broader perspective, with critical thinking, we can also assess that the current teacher-student relationship has changed a lot.
In the past, teachers were the center, respected, prestigious and had distance from students. But now, the relationship between teachers and students is like two friends, the teacher plays the role of a guide, accompanying students on the journey of knowledge discovery. This is what we encourage and aim for" - Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam analyzed.
Need to improve pedagogical skills for young teachers
From the incident of a female teacher having inappropriate behavior with a male student at Thach Ban High School, Long Bien, Mr. Nam assessed that this is a valuable lesson for teachers in improving their skills in controlling emotions and behaving more professionally in the educational environment.
"We are teachers, we must act according to the standard principles of teachers in any circumstances" - Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam emphasized his point of view.
According to Mr. Nam, teachers need to be skillful in all pedagogical situations to educate students with personality. Teachers need to acknowledge the emotions or positive attitudes that students have towards them. But they also need to remind them of the way of speaking to ensure respect and courtesy, demonstrated through appropriate behavior in the educational environment and classroom.
In a specific case, when a clip recording the image of a teacher being intimate with a student spread on social networks, negatively affecting the image of teachers, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam said that it is necessary to improve digital capacity for both teachers and students.
Teachers know how to handle information crises on the Internet. Students must understand that not everything can be posted on the Internet.
"Do not let regulations and codes of conduct be just documents, but need to be seriously practiced and trained for young student teachers.
To do that, teacher training institutions need to make standards of quality and pedagogical behavior into output standards, helping teacher students to firmly form these capacities during the training process.
At the same time, it is necessary to extend the professional integration time so that young teachers have enough time to approach real-life situations and gain experience in skillfully handling pedagogical situations," Mr. Nam expressed.
