One of the signs of a dysfunctional society is the inability to take responsibility and pass the bulk of the blame to other people. The debate on who should be responsible for a student’s failure wouldn’t have come into play if both the teachers and parents understood their roles.
As a teacher, I have seen parents blaming teachers for their children’s low test scores and also see teachers doing the same.
Both parties don’t want to be responsible when a student fails. But I believe that for a student to be successful academically, so many forces are responsible.
I will try as much as possible to clarify who is responsible for student failure below.
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Academic Success or having a high test score is the total of all positive influences on a child. This shows that the parents and teachers have a responsibility to ensure that a child succeeds academically.
The role of a teacher
- Content provision: relevant and diverse!
- Entry Assessment follow-up
- Monitoring of student readiness and interest!
- Attendance monitoring with a commitment
- Assignments: giving and recording performance consistently
- To instill learning in their students
- To inspire hope in their students
- To have a high expectation of their students
Role of Parents
- To provide an enabling environment at home
- To ensure the emotional well-being of their child
- To ensure their child’s homework is done
- To ensure they provide necessary materials like textbooks, notebooks, etc.
- To monitor the progress of their child
- To encourage and have a reasonable expectation of their child
How students engage
- Readiness: Current skill level
- Interest: Choices and background
- Learning profile: Brain intelligence
You can see from the above highlights that blaming teachers for low test scores is unfair because the parents, teachers, and students are the three stakeholders who are responsible for student failure or success.
When one party fails to perform his or her role, it will make another effort by the remaining stakeholders to be in futility.
My submission is that both the parents and the teachers should examine themselves whether they have fulfilled their responsibilities before accusing another party.
Passing the bulk of the blame won’t solve the issue, but a collective effort by the parents and the teachers will help the student to succeed. I have discovered that every student who is doing well in his/her studies is a product of a good parent and teacher relationship which culminates in his or her success.
I hope this article on who is responsible for student failure has revealed to you that you can only blame the other party once you are sure that you have played your role well.
