Asking a question, challenging a note, pointing out a hurtful word: trust in the school does not imply a lack of disagreement. It also depends on how an institution treats these situations. In Lebanon, the relationship between pupils, teachers and parents now has to deal with digital exchanges that go beyond the classroom and with different expectations of authority.
Three very concrete decisions go through these tensions: to distinguish a challenge from an offence, to organise listening to complaints and to set the limits of contact outside the courts. The professionals interviewed on these topics do not all share the same diagnosis. Their experiences shed light on practices, without constituting a representative measure of all Lebanese schools.
A question is not always a provocation
For educational advisor Abdelrahman Makki, the teacher no longer occupies the same place in access to knowledge. The student has information and references outside the school. The teacher must therefore accompany the learnings, rather than only transmit knowledge. In this perspective, discussing his statement does not necessarily constitute a lack of respect.
Leïla Chamseddine, a researcher in anthropology and the media, distinguishes several situations often confused. A different way of expressing oneself, a tension around autonomy and a real offense are not part of the same register. In her view, an intergenerational disagreement over codes of politeness alone does not prove the disappearance of respect.
The philosophy professor Firas Hariri, who teaches in public secondary school, for his part sees increased attention by students to the tone of the employee. The choice of words and the personality of the teacher influence the relationship. It does not automatically consider the use of a teacher’s first name as a sign of insolence.
Patrick Rizkallah, a private teacher and trade unionist, expressed a different concern. He believes that the rules of behaviour and the consideration given to the professor have weakened. He stresses the difficulty of having to teach, maintain the class and accompany these transformations at the same time. These diverging assessments show that the same conduct does not always receive the same interpretation.
Trust between students and teachers requires words
Rita Assaf, psychosocial counsellor and teacher evaluation specialist, insists on the distinction between a person and his/her behaviour. A remark must be made on the act to be corrected, without reducing the pupil to a devalued label. In her view, this distinction allows an error to be explained without turning the reminder into a judgment on the child.
It also invites the Commission to examine the reasons for refusal. This may be a search for attention, difficulty learning or fear of failing in front of others. So isolated behaviour is not enough to characterize a student. His analysis defends a relationship based on trust, where expression remains possible without removing the limits.
In charge of the Maarouf-Saad public middle school, Saadiyé Bassiouni notes that the students dare to tell the administration more about what is happening in the classroom. They can report a teacher’s behaviour without fearing a sanction for just speaking. The existence of this possibility does not automatically resolve the substance of a complaint: it allows the difficulty to be heard.
School messages go beyond hours
Mail groups are used to transmit documents, decisions and practical information. For Firas Hariri, their use combines more professional space and privacy. The telephone, once mostly presented as an object to be removed from the class, has also become a tool for school operation.
Saadiyé Bassiouni highlights the possible effects of these exchanges on teachers’ family time. Abdelrahman Makki does not put the limit in the same place: he believes that the teacher can determine himself when to respond. Leïla Chamseddine stresses the need to make the timetables, objectives and limits of contact explicit. Quick access to a teacher does not mean permanent availability.
The role of parents is not limited to homework
Saadiyé Bassiouni notes that some parents focus their follow-up on lessons, without knowing the other dimensions of school life. Leïla Chamseddine insists on the quality of listening: understanding a conflict involves hearing the child and helping him to cope with it, rather than only seeing the presence or absence of the parents.
The institution is also responsible. Firas Hariri believes that school tools have not always followed these changes. Leïla Chamseddine recalls that protecting the teacher’s place requires suitable working conditions. The management of a complaint, the rules of digital groups and the support of management remain concrete decisions to be organised in each school.
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