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EDUCATORS’ ROLES IN TRANSFORMING THE NEGATIVE HABITS OF LEARNERS INTO POSITIVE ACTIONS THROUGH MENTORSHIP
Students with negative attitudes in the classroom can create an unpleasant environment for teachers and peers in the school, this negative attitude can also hold a student backward from his or her true potential in life if not rectified timely. But little is known of this negative attitude of the students to be a manifestation of either innate potential or expression of unsatisfied needs. This is to say that, there is no habit of the students that is negative, but the failure to channel such habit and energy to productive uses that made it  useless.

In the aspect of unsatisfied needs of students, we need to understand the underlying causes of this misbehavior. For example, all negative behaviors serve a purpose. It might be that such student is finding the subject or teacher difficult to understand, trying to avoid failure in the examination, getting attention from adults or peers, tired of boring class activities, or to fulfil other unmet emotional needs like bereavement, single parenting, poverty, poor health, domestic violence or even learning difficulty. These negative attitudes of the students should not be taken personally. Let’s look at a scenario of such situation.

Warris is a student that hardly attend classes since the beginning of the session. Although sometimes he is willing to work, most days he is resistant, saying that he doesn’t understand the essence of schooling; that school is a scam. He hardly copy notes neither attempt to do assignments given in the class by the teachers nor dress properly. When you press him about his educational performance and success in life, he feels less concerned about his future.

As a caring teacher, you try to spend more time with him. But instead of getting into a power struggle over the completion of work, you get to know him as a person. Speaking with him, you find out that Warris is a brilliant student that has lost both parents. It turns out that Warris is not trying to be difficult, he is just in a genuinely challenging situation that feels overwhelming for him as a teenager. Perhaps, this is just a chip of the scenario that such students with unmet needs are going through in life. Likewise Saheed; an orphan that emerged as one of the Prize Winners at the school valedictory after he was labelled as "too cold to learn" before mentorship.

Another scenario of unsatisfied quest of a student as a responsive factor for negative attitude is the case of Treasure. He is an intelligent but indigent student from parents experiencing life changing challenges. Little was known about this problem facing Treasure both at home and in the school; until a discovering was made about such problem confronting him after resuming school at the sixth weeks of resumption because of financial difficulty by the parents. Eventually, scholarship was granted to him after hearing the bitter side of the story the following Term in the school. Perhaps, Treasure’s academic performance and his position in the class improved significantly from 16th position to 3rd position; as he is less distracted by those overwhelming family problems as a teenager.

On the aspect of negative attitude of a student being a manifestation of unutilized innate potentials, I believe that the school is a cosmopolitan society that prepares the learners ahead of the larger world. The essence of schooling is to help the student to develop their innate ability to the fullest. Most of the time, our mode of education is one-way that test intelligence of the students on their ability to master their books. In other words, our system of education is based on the 3Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic).

Unfortunately, according to Albert Einstein: “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think; and everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will lives its whole life believing that it is stupid”. This is the reason those students with negative attitude towards academic work are assumed to be stupid by the educators and the society at large.

As an educator, I will like you to take an insightful investigation into how inspiring teachers are transforming the lives of pupils and students for the best. The case of dyslexia Shaan that his Art teacher helped him to discover the artistic skills and creativity in him after being considered stupid by other teachers. The case of an orphan named Bola that her teacher helped to recover from emotional trauma and depression to becoming a super performing student is an inspiration about the nobility of the teaching profession.

A common teacher will shout at a student drumming with his hands in the classroom, but an inspiring teacher will see a potential in such students to be nurtured. This is the case of a struggling Clint that his teacher helped him to nurture his drumming talent to becoming a world renowned drummer. A common teacher will rebuke a student stammering, but an uncommon teacher will mentor such student on articulation’s techniques. This is the case of how a teacher assisted the president of the most powerful nation Joe Biden to overcome stuttering. A common teacher is quick to call a student unbefitting names over negative habit, but an inspiring teacher is swift to nurture potentials.

Another scenario of negative attitude of a student as an expression of innate potentials is the story of Habeeb, who is not just a notorious fighter but also with poor academic performance in the school. On a fateful day, he boxed the whole of teeth of his peer out of his month for a mere provocation. The worse thing that could be done for this student is expulsion or rustication from school. But this disciplinary measure alone will only harden the mind of this student, gives him more freedom to grow wilder on the street and probably turn out to be a terror in the society. I was furious at him as a teacher and tempted to take it personally on him. But something flashed through my mind that this student needs mentorship and not condemnation. Over this experience, I have made Habeeb my friend and mentee. Of course, his academic performance has improved from E8 and D7 to B2 and A1. Perhaps, I also made his first boxing glove, while training him towards becoming professional Boxer.

Some students are kinesthetic learners that learn effectively based on what they could see, feel and touch. This set of students are mostly perceived as bad learners by the common teacher. Some student are restless in the class and will always disrupt the pre-planned activities. Some students are known to sing in a class, identify them and engage them in a task that makes learning musical. Some learners are dancers, integrate dancing steps in your teaching for this set of students through project. Some students might be talkative in the class, engage them in group presentation. You need to nurture the innate ability of your students that acted as a distraction in the classroom.

Recommendation:
 The negative habits of learners can make classroom management difficult and turn the school upside-down. The followings are suggestion on how an educator can transform the negative attitude of a student into positive action:

i. Build friendship with the students. Students are prone to open-up and trust those friendly teachers who respect their views than the teachers that acted as commanders. Talk to them about their life, their interests, their talents and really listen to them. You will discover that your relationship will improve as well as their attitude in your class.

iI. Find out the socio-emotional needs of your students; such as the social and emotional states being experienced by the students. Students who have negative attitude have underlying socio-emotional needs that are not being met. So, investigate and find ways to addressing such needs.

iii. Be an example to model a positive attitude. Positive thinking tends to breed positive outcomes. If the students see positive outcomes from your attitude, they will likely want to experience the same positive outcomes.

iv. Create a positive and conducive learning space for your students. The best way to inspire optimism is to establish a hopeful learning environment. Create a home-school classroom that gives a feeling of security of thought, expression and brighter future.

v. Help the students to visualize positive outcomes for all situation in life. Regulate plan goals with your students. Create reading timetable for them and evaluate them from time to time. Acknowledge every slight improvement in the class and celebrate every accomplishment made by the students.

vi. Eliminate negative talk and thinking, especially on the phrase that “I can’t do it”. Find out why they can’t do it and how you could be of guide.

vii. Find volunteer opportunities for your students and engage them in healthy competition both within and outside the school.

viii. Motivate and reward them with positive remarks, clap, certificate, sticker, fancy tag among others. This will reinforce such positive behavior and action.

ix. Be empathic teacher. Avoid using abusive language. Abusive language will only reduce the self-esteem of your students and destroy the confidence of the students to try and explore.

x. Be your student’s biggest fan. Add them on your Facebook and other social media they belong to. Monitor them underground and guide them properly without them detecting that you’re monitoring them online.
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In conclusion, for you to change your students, you need to change your thought and be a dynamic 21st century teacher. You cannot give what you don’t have. This is the reason you have to continue to learn, unlearn, relearn and be a long life learner for you to be able to make a positive impact in the lives of your students.