M & M: A lesson in leadership

G’day. As we come out of Covid, I think many parents and grandparents have come to realize what humble heroes teachers are and have been. Let me share Kerry’s story.

I was supervising students at a school in inner city. There were two kids in Kindy that immediately drew my attention. Their real names were Michael and Mark but the teacher’s aide called them M and M – she claimed you had to bribe them with M and M’s to get them to do anything!

They both took so long to move, to work, to finish anything, to answer. But like every label we load on kids there were the back stories that needed to be told.

Michael had always been slow, to walk, to talk, to learn his colours, to learn nursery rhymes, anything and everything took time. His parents had taken him to paediatricians, psychologists, but the message was clear - there was nothing that could be done to speed Michael up; he was a slow learner.

Mark had always been absolutely normal on all his milestones. But his parents were involved in a bitter divorce dispute. He was shunted from one parent to the other, each blaming the other, of course, and when neither of them could fit Mark into their schedule he would go off to grandma, whose husband had a terminal medical condition.

Both boys were in a fog, both took forever to do anything, but one was intellectual in origin, the other was emotional; In fact Mark was just so confused and sad that he didn't have a clue who he was; sometimes he'd even say "give that to Mark" when he wanted something.

But, come in Kerry! This Kindy teacher organized a special program for Michael so he got as many accolades as the other kids. When she couldn't get Mark's parents up to see her, she put in a report that he was "at risk" and that way eventually got to meet both parents. Then with the help of the Specialist counsellor for emotionally disturbed children, she set out to win Mark's confidence, his eye contact, his cuddles and his smile.

And for both M &M's she was able to hook into the school "kookaburra" reward system; each time any of the kids did something good (eg finished work, answered a question) they received a "Kookaburra" certificate. Ten of these neat certificates could be traded in for a "Golden Kookaburra" award and then 15 Golden Kookaburras earnt the "00" badge!

This badge earnt some special privilege such as eating lunch inside, the right to sit on (limited) chairs at assembly while other kids had to stand, special end-of-term excursion, special line at the canteen and special borrowing rights at the library.

Last time I heard from them M & M had both earnt their "00" badge and their eyes were wide awake.

It reminds me again of the famous Haim Ginnot quote

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”

To Kerry and all the dedicated teachers doing so much for so many, thank you!