The work of the teacher is truly the work of the soul. Even with the highest knowledge of the subject, you cannot consider yourself a teacher. Because it is not enough to know the subject, you need to be able to convey your knowledge to the emerging personality. And not just to convey, but to make the teenager want to accept the knowledge and skills that the teacher offers him. To achieve these goals, special pedagogical skills are needed that allow you to influence the psychology of a growing personality.
In addition to learning activities, the teacher must educate the individual. To educate in all available ways: with your appearance, with your speeches, with your behavior, with your worldview. The basis of the educational process as a way of communicating with children and adolescents is pedagogical tact.
In translation, the word “tact” literally means “measure”. A sense of proportion should initially be embedded in a person called a teacher and educator. For example, having developed a democratic style of communication in a team , a teacher must still be able to keep his distance: he is a friend, but at the same time a leader, he is responsible for children's souls, fates, for their misconduct and mistakes.
Many educators are not immune to the mistakes that they make in the process of educating the individual. But the ability to recognize them, even in some cases, if necessary, ask for forgiveness from the child will not only not drop the dignity of a mentor in children's eyes, but will raise it to the level that he needs so much, will help to achieve respect and even love.
Children are like a litmus test: they sense lies, injustice, hypocrisy right away. And if they can forgive mistakes, then accept hypocrisy and bigotry - never. Therefore, teachers who replace the practical method of education, based on a personal example, with moralizing alone and reading long moral and ethical lectures, are obviously doomed to failure.
Only the teacher’s pedagogical tact will help determine exactly that invisible line in communication that should not be crossed. For example, in a teenage team, relations between representatives of different sexes begin to form. It is clear that this problem is quite serious, letting it drift is risky.
What will a mentor with pedagogical tact do in this case? He can hold a conversation with the guys on the relationship between boys and girls, can arrange a joint viewing of a film of the corresponding subject with subsequent discussion, and quietly bring the conversation to the desired line. It may even suggest that teens spend an evening with tea and dancing, with guitar songs, and reading poetry about love and friendship. And in between, talk about your first love, about the problems that guys may have, about how to solve them.
The same teacher, to whom the pedagogical tact is alien, will break into teenage relationships, offend young people with mistrust, leave a rough mark in their souls. What a sin, sometimes “for a heart-to-heart talk” is caused by adolescents who also had nothing wrong with their thoughts, who do not dare to touch each other - their feelings are just beginning to arise.
So, direct conversation often has the exact opposite effect to that which the tactless teacher would like to achieve. Young people are so shocked by the suspicions that fell on them that they can commit rash, irreparable acts.
It is no secret that cases of suicide began to occur more often precisely because of tactless behavior of adults. One teacher undeservingly publicly accused the student of theft, another scornfully spoke out about the behavior of her parents. The third teacher intimidated the young man by expelling from school for passes. And the boy simply looked after his paralyzed mother and earned money by handing out leaflets - there was a catastrophic lack of money in the family.
If these educators had a pedagogical tact, they would never have allowed themselves to do this. Indeed, it is the feeling of tact that gives an adult such a huge trump card as the confidence of adolescents. A true teacher is always aware of how his students live, how they spend their free time, whether they are able to commit theft or go down to debauchery.
Is it difficult to become a discreet teacher? In principle, not really. And what needs to be done for this? Probably the only thing: just to love children, love your work and be a clean and bright person. And then the heart itself will tell you what to do in this or that case.