Just genuinely interested from a psychological perspective. I'm not pointing fingers here or complaining, just interested really... Does anyone have any experiences to share on "teachers pets" or having that kid the teacher finds annoying, irritating, and obviously doesn't like much...
The reason I ask is that my daughter, in y6, always swears that her teacher last year hated her. She was scared of this teacher because she was "so strict" with her. I told her not to be daft, of course the teacher doesn't hate her..but if she misbehaves of course she will be told off...
Thinking about it though, last year was a real turning point.. a real decline. I remember thinking that nothing positive was said about her at parents evening, or her end of yr report. The years before, parents evening were always standard..she's very quiet but works hard, behaves well, and is where she should be academically.. Nothing bad, up until last year.
I was chatting to my daughters friend today about this teacher. We were joking about her being strict. And this girl commented on how she thought the teacher was quite hard on my daughter..and would often tell her off for things she wouldn't necessarily tell others off for. I thought it was interesting to hear another child had noticed. We also then discussed who this year's "teachers pets" were.
I think y5 is a difficult year, lots of hormones, friendships become tricky, plus COVID... And it certainly was a real turning point for my kids mental health.. she's now seeing a therapist but it got real real bad (without going in to too much detail). I don't blame this on the teacher At all... BUT... I do wonder what the impact is on kids when teachers are a bit more blatant on which kids they favour, and which they don't.
Now I'm not daft. It's human nature. People gel with certain individuals, and don't with others. Personalities clash. I find some kids quite annoying, some I find very pleasant. Let's be honest... We all do... but it shouldn't be obvious to the kid... Should it? Or can it never go un-noticed to a perceptive child no matter how hard one might try?
But my most vivid memory as a child is having a teacher I felt hated me..and her really really shouting at me for something even though many others in the class were doing the same.
If this memory has stayed with me my entire life (despite me having a terrible memory!!) of course having a teacher who maybe doesn't treat you as favourably as other kids will impact your self esteem... Won't it?
Interested to hear from teachers, people with kids who aren't the teachers pet, or people who felt disliked by teachers.