GREENSBURG — Some educators say many teachers are unprepared to handle real-world situations when they graduate from college, especially after a teacher at St. Helena Career and College Academy was accused and arrested on simple assault charges.
Ambria Cook is accused of attacking a 13-year-old special needs student and ripping clumps of the girl’s hair. She was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of simple assault following the incident, which allegedly occurred on Wednesday.
Jeanne Donaldson, a professor at Louisiana State University, said it’s never acceptable for teachers to argue with students, but it’s understandable. She said many new teachers are unprepared for teaching after graduating from college.
Donaldson said courses should be offered on how to properly conduct classes.
“They should practice their classroom management skills and then get mentoring from people who have relevant knowledge so they can refine those skills. Then teachers should train other teachers, teachers who are qualified in that,” Donaldson said.
She said schools have protocols to defuse problems in the classroom. Donaldson said teachers should never meet a disruptive student eye to eye, but should try to understand the root cause of the student’s behavior.
“This student is really struggling, and it’s our job as educators to figure out what’s causing these problems. Why is this student doing this, and what plans can we put in place so that they don’t feel the need to get so upset the next time they have problems,” Donaldson said.
She said teachers should work on building relationships with their students because it makes a difference.
