With the recent sex scandals, the all-important topic of boundaries has become a hot topic in schools. This concept itself appears more in its physical hypostasis. But violation or observance of the boundaries of the “invisible body” of a person is a much more complicated problem than the question of tactile contact, kisses, hugs and sex, says philologist and teacher Sergei Volkov.
It is not at all obvious where these invisible boundaries pass for each person and how not to violate them. Development is partly a struggle with one’s boundaries from within and a push beyond them. Or for some of them. As a person develops, some of his boundaries change. And some will never change. Which is probably good.
Any pedagogy turns out to be partly a pedagogy of invasion, violation of boundaries, a call to go beyond them. She cannot do without invasion as a technique — and somewhere it turns out to be an impetus for development, and somewhere it leads to injury. That is, it is not at all obvious that any violation of boundaries is violence and evil (although this sounds somehow doubtful).
When we stun children with a sudden task, collide familiar facts in an unusual way, bring students out of emotional balance so that they come out of hibernation into the «movement» of the lesson (for example, put on music that creates the right mood, read a highly «charged» text, show a piece of a movie) — this is also from the field of violation of boundaries. Wake up, feel, think, start the inner work — isn’t that a kick, a shake, an invasion?
And when, for example, the same Zoya Alexandrovna, whom Olga Prokhorova she remembers as a teacher putting a chalk cross on the crown of her head (“So we will mark the stupid ones”), when this Zoya entered the class and said in a theatrical voice, pointing her finger at a certain student: “Only YOU know how the word intelligentsia is spelled correctly”, Who did he feel like?
A naked man, who was instantly put on public display, separated from the mass (“Let go, why are you offending me?”)? Or a bearer of secret knowledge blessed with attention, a magician invested with power, and really knowing how to write this difficult word?
And what is there to wish for: more, more of these tricks (after all, it was just a trick built on an unexpected move, we often keep a class with such tricks) — or, on the contrary, never and for nothing?
We invade other people’s boundaries, not only yelling at the child or humiliating him, but also praising him at all
We invade other people’s boundaries, not only shouting at the child or humiliating him, but also praising him in front of everyone (I remember from kindergarten my awkwardness and terrible discomfort at this moment), affectionately ironically over him, calling him to the blackboard (he did not sign permission for us to do this — to move your own body according to our will to another point in space), giving it a rating …
Yes, even just appearing in front of him: who said that his boundaries are not violated by the color scheme or the style of our clothes, the timbre of the voice, perfume or its absence, not to mention the style of speech or the ideology expressed? “I wanted to pull his words out of my ears like rotten splinters” — this is also about breaking boundaries.
If a person seriously decides not to violate the boundaries of another, I’m afraid he will only lie down and die. Although even with this, he will undoubtedly invade someone’s borders.
Why am I doing this? To the fact that if suddenly the matter turns to the formalization of requirements in the field of violation of invisible (with easier visible) boundaries, then simple solutions cannot be found here. And yes, I understand that with this text I also violated the boundaries of many, and I apologize for this.