9. Pride over humility

The ‘proud professional’ might experience an angry student swearing at them. The mind state of this persona interprets the misbehavior as a personal attack, and responds strongly from the Red Zone. Often, this sort of teacher will seek punishment and retribution applied from middle or senior school leadership. In other words, the outcomes sought are meeting the needs of the teacher. In some ways, this type of teacher is displaying as much self-management as the swearing student.

A professionally humble, or situationally aware teacher (aware of self, others and environment) will respond more to the student themselves, not the behaviour. If the behaviour is public, this teacher will seek to manage the environment first. Next, this teacher will address the emotional state of student, seeking first to mitigate any Red Zones before coaching the student around the behaviour. This sort of teacher is nearly always calm in the face of verbal abuse, and has not interpreted the behaviour as a personal affront. Outcomes sought are those that meet the needs of the student. School leadership, in contrast to the ‘proud’ teacher, is involved as a last resort, not the first.

The message here is again related to being calm under pressure: stay calm, observe rather than judge, act with clarity and fairness.