COVID Chronicles: November Update

Today is 18th November. Ireland is 4 weeks into its 6 week circuit breaker lockdown. 

Progress has plateaued, and we are averaging 400 new cases a day. Today there are ‘only’ 379 new cases, bringing the total recorded case numbers to 69 058.

Apparently this is ‘good’ and Ireland has the third lowest 14 day rate per 100 000 in the EU.

Today the death toll for the Republic of Ireland has ticked over 2000 with an additional 12 deaths. 1650 of these were between mid-March and June. 

Current hospitalisations: 274

Current ICU cases: 33

In un-COVID related news, I had a very peculiar call on the final day of mid-term break. A principal called me, and asked me if I would be available for the next two weeks. 

I said yes.

He outlined how the school he was principal of was a special care facility. Having already taught in one of the special needs schools here, I assumed it was much the same. He explained some more. It was a place where children went when they could no longer be managed by their parents or the foster system, and the judge wanted another option other than juvenile prison. 

Oh. 

You’ll be fully supported. He said. You’ll only have one student at a time, and they have care staff with them at all times, so if they try anything, you can call on them. 

I figured one student at a time couldn’t be all that bad. 

Always up for a challenge, I accepted, figuring if it was terrible I could always bail later. 

The next morning, I entered through a barrier arm, on Orla the Orange, my trusty metal steed, and followed another car through a 6m high metal gate, the entire facility ringed with two layers of 6m high fences. 

The principal greeted me eagerly, as I was issued a set of keys and a ‘pinpoint’, a device like an emergency beacon that you pull the end off and people come to your rescue. As we walked through the grounds towards the small school building, he issued lots of reassurances such as ‘we’re here to educate and build relationships.’, ‘It’s not your job at all to try and keep students in class for their allotted time.’,  ‘If they want to go, just let them go.’ ‘It’s when you try and keep them there that problems happen.’ ‘If at any point you’re uncomfortable, you can leave the room. Just say you need to go get something. These are tricky characters, and very volatile, but at the end of the day, they are just kids.’

My first day I saw three out of four of the students that currently resided at the facility. The stories that they come with would break your heart. But the violence and aggression they present with also makes one very wary. 

As they were all teenagers, I had even less of an idea what to teach them than in a primary classroom. Most of them had missed years’ worth of schooling, as such the previous teacher seemed to be working through some adult literacy courses with them. I frantically set about trying to plan something appropriate.

Usually the students are kept largely separate from each other, but there was a crossover of students at the main entrance to the school as one student was leaving and another was coming. A fight nearly erupted, but thankfully the second party just walked away rather than escalating the situation. 

Never have I seen the statement ‘If you don’t heal what hurt you, you’ll bleed on those who didn’t cut you’ so true as in this very angry, aggressive young lady. I was equal amounts scared and sympathetic.

I found out later that day that there is only an opening because one of the students assaulted the English teacher, so she’s currently on stress leave. 

The first week was OK, the honeymoon period ended when students refused to come to class, or tried to sit in my chair, or used class as a means of getting songs on their MP3 player instead of doing any work, or simply rolled their eyes and said ‘Oh not that New Zealand cunt again’. 

The ‘good’ student refused to attend my class because I wasn’t the normal English teacher who would just chat with her the whole time, and expected her to actually work. 

One of the students raised a fist at me, and I truly couldn’t tell if she was joking or actually going to punch me. 

One of the students was bragging to me about how he’s been expelled from ten different schools. Another told me how he has lived in twenty-four different towns all over Ireland. 

Most days, I’m lucky if I have two out of four students attend class. School seems to be an optional extra at this facility, and the students have other things to fill their time with such as restorative meetings with care staff they’ve assaulted, psychologist appointments, Gardai (police) interviews, meetings with family, or simply refusing to get out of bed. It is a really interesting arrangement that challenges most assumptions about how to do schooling and is pushing me professionally. 

So far so good. I found at the end of my second week that they really struggle to keep staff there, and that apparently I’m some sort of super teacher if I can make it two days let alone two weeks there. 

I have been super well supported, and am slowly starting to build a relationship with the students, and learn more about their interests, the traveller community in Ireland, and how these kids tick. I’m teaching rhyme schemes through rap music, writing biographies about James Charles, and practicing reading through learning about the IRA and the Troubles. 

I have purchased novels and am going to attempt to get them to listen to me read. We shall see. None of them do sitting still or listening very well. 

I think it speaks volumes on my teaching experience in New Zealand when I say that the ‘hard’ students I’ve encountered here have very little on some of the kids I’ve taught in NZ in mainstream classrooms amongst a group of 25 students, with no teacher aides most of the time. 

Aside: Want to know why teachers in NZ are leaving in droves? Little support or training for how to deal with difficult kids is a large part of the reason, and teachers are often blamed for the students’ poor behaviour, rather than supported to grow their skills, leading young teachers to conclude (erroneously in most cases) that they’re not good enough. It sets teachers up to fail, and the personal and professional cost is huge. Investing early in education support will prevent a whole lot of social problems later in life for many kids and be less of a drain on society. #teacheraidesareawesome #supportsupportworkers

I have this position, at this stage, until just before Christmas. It’s nice to know where I’m going each day, and be able to leave my stationery in one place rather than have to tote it around with me in my backpack each day. The reduced number of students and the fact that they live on site means that it is a reasonably safe environment to teach during a pandemic. I hope that continues to be true! 

So I’m not expecting the next few weeks to be like some Hollywood movie where I magically turn everything around, but I am optimistic that I can make some progress with these lovelies. 

Watch this space. 

If you happen to have any experience teaching ‘troubled’ teens and have any ins as to strategies that help or lessons that were surefire winners, then please do share. 

What has been challenging you, professionally or otherwise, for the last little bit? What has been one of your small wins? Comment and share your awesomeness.

You made it to the end?? Go you. Have some Christmas lights.