Teacher’s in Treatment Centers: An Ethnography Clark1

Teacher’s in Treatment Centers: An Ethnography

Shandy T. Clark

Salt Lake Community College

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An Overview of This teaching culture

In my observations of Teachers in Treatment centers I thought it would be interesting to

see how there are in and out of the classroom. I chose this group because these teachers do not

have the same experiences as the teachers in regular public schools. Through this process I have

found that teachers are not only different in how they feel on or off the clock , but I was able to

see these differences. Being able to notice burnout and how much faster it happens within

teaching a population such as residential treatment teen girls.

Observations in The Classroom

For background purposes, it is important to mention that I am familiar with Residential

Treatment teen girls. I work as a floor staff in a residential, so I see the manipulations and the

girls tendencies to be disrespectful in a discreet way. This is important to understand when

observing these teacher’s interactions with them, otherwise you might not see why a teacher

would choose to say or do the things they do in response to their students. ​One of the things I

wouldn’t see from a simple observation was when a student was arguing with the teacher about a

missed assignment and the teacher seemingly rude and dismissive. He would call her out and say

that it is not true and to not talk to him any further on the subject and asked her to go to her next

class. Knowing the background of this student, I knew that the student was trying to manipulate

the teacher. In her treatment process she is working on not making excuses and manipulating

others. Also with other observations, noticing that any chance she was given to do homework she

chose to do different activities.

In any other case, for instance, in a public school teachers would be frowned upon for

saying and reacting this way to a student trying to show that they are trying to work on making
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things better. In this specific field of teaching there is more praise for teachers calling out lies

and keeping students accountable for their issues. You wouldn’t see this in public school which

is why it is so interesting to see the culture of teachers in an abnormal environment.

One on One Interviews

I asked teachers to interview one on one with me outside of their workplace. This made

the interviews better, because they felt they could more freely express how they really feel about

their jobs and the environment in which they work at. A lot of teachers expressed that they just

want to teach their subject and not have to hear that students can’t learn because they are too

depressed. I think it is really interesting that in this institution mental health is more on the

forefront than education (relatively). I cant see this frustration with teachers that are passionate

about their subjects, but an institute is giving the students a leniency to dismiss learning for

mental health reasons. I also found that many teachers have a different view on the girls mental

health and how they balance school with it depending on how long the teacher had been working

there.

Findings Within Teachers in residential treatment centers

One of my biggest findings I found within studying this culture was the differences

between the teachers enthusiasm of their jobs based on how long they have been employed in

this field. It was fascinating to see that someone who had worked there for over 13 years

expressed not caring about the students, feeling burnt out, and also generally acting more strict or

dismissive to the students. On the flip side another teacher who had been there for 3 years seems

more empathetic towards the kids, seems to let things slide with them, and also seems more

compassionate and willing to do extra things for the students.

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While I think it is important for teachers to hold compassion in this field of work,

I also see an importance for them to have more of a backbone. I think overall this will help

residential teen girls to get a taste of how the world is when it comes to not getting their way

every time. It is also good for them to have compassion from people and give them hope when

they feel hopeless. Overall I think the balance of both throughout the different classrooms is

really beneficial. The culture of teachers in a residential was very eye opening when viewing it

from a different perspective that someone who has only experienced a typical public high school

teacher interactions.