So my younger sister is currently an assistant teacher. She’s quite and shy but she does greet them and smile. She told me she’s been working there for about three months and she said some students don’t like her. I mean she said that there’s students that ignore her, don’t listen sometimes and when she greets them kindly, a few won’t even look at her. She said she thought all the students will like her. In the class she works in at least. The kids in her class talk to the other three teachers but not her. Some do but they don’t talk to her. She also said a student said hi to the three staff, but when the girl saw her, she frowned. Some students that used to say hi to her don’t even say hi to her anymore. She said it stung with some students looked dissatisfied when they saw her but happier when they saw other teachers. I put my heart and soul to these kids and it hurts her that students prefer other teachers over her. She said a little girl was like, “No! No.”
So this is what I told my sister, “Well you just learned something. Not every student will like you or be fond of you. You gotta let go of that ego. Hopefully the experience will humble you more. Yea students should respect you and say good morning when you great them but don’t expect every student to like you. It doesn’t work that way.”
She got choked up and said, “Yes but one of my former teachers told me oh the students will love you. I thought she meant all of them. One students gave me a disappointed cold hi when I greeted him but when another teacher did he was smiling.”
Then I told her that her former teacher probably said some students. She should’ve told her that not every kid would like her and be prepared.. don’t go near a kid when they’re going though a hard time.
she still won’t accept it, so what do I do? She’s 20, and is autistic.
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Ah, no wonder she’s taking it so personally. First of all, tell your sister that comparison is the thief of joy. If she’s always comparing herself to other teachers or other people, her mind will always bring up ways to make her fall short in comparison. It’s better just to focus on you and what you do rather than compare to the actions of someone else.
Secondly, let her know that it’s natural for these negative feelings to weigh on her, we humans have a natural, evolutionary urge to focus on the negative as it activates the same part of our brains we would use in the caveman days when we spotted a dangerous predator, so we have an instinctive urge to always watch it and keep an eye on it. Obviously, a kid that might be having a bad day is not a threat to her life and so it’s probably a good idea not to let it weigh her down too much.
Thirdly, if she’s autistic then she likely has a heightened sensitivity to rejection. Let her know she is not solely responsible for making these kids’ days better, anyone in a position of authority is not going to be universally liked by everyone they have authority over, nor is she directly responsible for every student’s bad mood. She’s not a bad person or a bad assistant teacher if the kids don’t like her. Some teachers go their whole careers being absolutely hated by the kids they teach, and while this will likely not be her, there’s a resilience in that worth admiring in how these teachers are able to still teach the material to their class without relying on their personal opinions of them. If she’s going to rely on the fickle opinions of teenagers or minors in general to tell her she’s doing her job, it won’t get done. Some kids don’t like the class, or the school, but it’s not a reflection of who she is as a person or as a teacher.
She will understand that, ask her the same question, did you like all the all your teachers who taught you when you were in school?
That’s why I should have asked her. She’ll have to understand that when she’s working with kids. I understand she wants to help children but she has to understand that they will prefer other teachers over her and she isn’t the only one. She’s kind but she has a HUGE ego that “everyone likes me” or “everyone is going to like me” but when a child shows dislike, her heart gets broken.
I understand what you mean.
So how would I humble her?
You can DM if you want
I think you did your best and can’t do anything else.