Remember that teaching includes supporting learners to learn

In Ontario over the last few years we have repeatedly heard the argument that cutbacks are not affecting the classroom. During this research I began to fully understand that this assertion can be made only if teaching is narrowly understood as imparting information. When teaching is not understood to include attention to the whole student, to why they are skipping school, or acting out, or sitting silently in the back of the room, then students' problems are seen as irrelevant to teaching. Several teachers said they were told that they should ignore issues of violence in students' lives:

They basically say "Your job is to teach. [Violence] is not your responsibility. Don't try and be the social worker, you have no background in that. You can make the situation worse. Be open, and let the person come to you, but take them to the guidance counsellor." (art teachers)

Hearing disclosures of violence is not the most important goal for teachers, however, recognizing the impact of violence is an important aid to effective learning. This is possible when teachers can work in concert with supportive people in a broad range of different roles who can establish strong connections with each student. When those other people are not present in the school, then teaching is effectively curtailed.

Students spoke about the impact of teachers' responses to their problems and the inadequacy of these approaches to support their learning:

Some teachers would tell you they didn't care. "Those are your problems, and you're in school, and you really need to deal with being in school right now." And others would just be like "There, there, everything will be okay, why don't you try this, why don't you do that," and it would just be like one of those - "This is my job, I'm getting paid thirty thousand a year, you're really kind of interrupting it by not learning at the same pace." The math teacher was my one, in high school. I dropped out so much I had to go back and do grade ten math in grade eleven, and she used me as an example for the other students not to drop out. "You're too old to be in the class." (Jennifer Hogan)

If teaching is simply imparting information, students who don't progress at the same pace, for whatever reason, are seen as a problem.