Have you noticed how many teachers are not only offering students the use of their first name in class, but some are offended if you call them “Sir” or “Ma’am?”
This extreme case made headlines just over a week ago.
But today I found headlines from Canada and around the world, where many teachers believe there is a power struggle associated with how names are handled.
Joel Westheimer, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of education and regular CBC contributor, told Ottawa Morning host Hallie Cotnam that more casual approach to the teacher-student paradigm can help ease tensions in the classroom. “Students and teachers have to feel comfortable,” said Westheimer, who goes by “Dr. Westheimer,” “Mr. Westheimer” or “Joel,” depending on his own students’ comfort level. “I spend a lot of time paying attention to the way relationships are built in my classrooms, and the way students connect with me.”
Turns out, many teachers outside the US are much more casual, using nick names, first names, or in some cases, no names at all!
From Amanda Van Mulligen, writer of Expat Life with a double buggy, a list of how other countries talk to their educators.
Australia
- I’m a teacher at an Australian primary school (ages six to 12) and we are always addressed as Mr/Mrs/Ms and surname. Sometimes if a teacher has a long or difficult-to-pronounce name, it is shortened to Mr P etc. – Anonymous
Brazil
- Generally in Brazil, students use the first name of their teacher. If the students are still quite young, they often put ‘tia/tio’ (aunt/uncle) in front of the name. Tia/tio is a universal term of respect that young people use for their elders, regardless of relationship. – Stephen Greene, Head of the Herd
China
- In China, children use the teacher’s last name and add ‘lao shi ‘(teacher) after it. If it is a foreign teacher, then they say ‘teacher’ and add the teacher’s first name (eg. teacher Varya) – although I go by teacher V because no one can pronounce my name properly! – Varya of Little Artists
Equador
- In Ecuador they used to say Miss _____ (first name) and Mister _____ where I went to school. – Diana Limongi Gabriele of Spanglish baby
Finland
- In Finland, it’s first names or even nick-names with teachers, no titles or surnames. The whole society is very informal. I don’t think that even the president would flinch if someone called him by his first name. – Rita Rosenback of Multilingual Parenting
France
- In France, it depends on the teacher. It can be ‘Madame/ Mademoiselle/ Monsieur X’ or it can also be the first name and adressed as ‘vous’ or first name and tu (=you) but the last one is more for the kids in pre-school.” – Eolia Scarlett Disler
- My niece in France uses the polite form ‘vous’ and Mrs C: Madame C. She is in primary school. – Annabelle Humanes
- It’s also very common for kids to use the terms ‘maîtresse’ and ‘maître’ for female and male teachers respectively, meaning simply ‘teacher’ (for primary school age six to 10). Pre-schoolers (three to six) usually use first names and secondary students use ‘Monsieur’ and ‘Madame’. – Phoebe from The Lou Messugo Blog
- In France students will say simply ‘maîtresse’ or ‘maître’ (meaning teacher, femine/masculine) by itself when asking a question or trying to get his/her attention. In maternelle (pre-school) the teachers went by their first names for the students. Beginning at elementary, it changes to to ‘Madame’ or ‘Monsieur’ (plus last name of teacher). – Jennifer Poe-Faugere
Germany
- In Germany at kindergarten, kids use the first names and ‘Du’. – Annabelle Humanes
- In Germany, students address teachers by using ‘Herr/Frau’ and surname, using ‘Sie’ as the polite form (Herr Schmidt, koennen Sie…). Teachers address students by their names, but when the students are over 16 years old they also get ‘sietzt’ – addressed using ‘Sie’. Sometimes teachers would use first name and ‘Sie’. – Olga Mecking
Italy
- In preschool (three to five years) in Italy children use just teachers’ first names. – Galina Nikitina of Raising a Trilingual Child
Korea
- Similar to China, my students in Korea added the word for teacher – ‘seonsaengnim’ or the abbreviated ‘saem’ – after the full/first name. Or sometimes they just used saem. It felt strange to have students address me by my first name (I’m American). – Marielle
Latvia
- In Latvia you commonly avoid using names or surnames but simply address them as teacher (skolotāj) and use the polite form ‘jūs’, which is akin to the German ‘Sie’ or French ‘vous’. Talking to a third person, you’d say teacher and then add the last name, though by high school when talking with other students you’d just use the surname or name of the teacher. But you’d never address a teacher that way as it would be considered disrespectful. – Ilze Ievina
Morocco
- In Arabic class it’s ‘usted’ or ‘usteda’ and French ‘maîtresse’. No names; just the word teacher. – Amanda Ponzio Mouttaki
Poland
- In Poland, it’s ‘pan/pani’ (sir/madam) and the pupils get called by their names. In secondary school, the students sometimes address their teachers with ‘pan profesor’ or ‘pani profesor’ – even if the teachers are not professors. – Olga Mecking
Portugal
Portugal
- In primary school, children refer to the teachers as ‘Sra. Professora’ (female)/’Sr. Professor’ (male) or by their first name. In high school, they call them ‘stora’ and ‘stor’, which is an abbreviation of ‘Professora/Professor’. – Joanna
Russia
- In Russia children use full names to address teachers: first name + patronymic. How does a patronymic form? Let’s say a teacher’s name is Ivan, and his father’s name is Mikhail. His full name will be Ivan Mikhailovich (which is rather like ‘Mikhail’s’). Last name + first name + patronymic is what you will find in Russian documents. It is very common to use full names when addressing an older person, co-worker or a stranger, though less common than in the past. In the last couple of decades there is a tendency to use only first names, but not for teachers. – Liska Myers at Adventure in a Box
- In Russia, we address by teachers by their first names with patronymic (a variation of father’s name that is added after the first name in our passports) – it is a general official way of addressing people. – Varya of Little Artists
Spain
- In Spain, our kids just use the teachers’ first names. – Kara Haberbush Suro of Our Whole Village
When I was young, it was a game to discover what the first name of your teacher was. Even now as an adult, 20 years past high school, I cannot comfortably call my past teachers by their first name, even after buying them a beer during Homecoming!
More on this hot topic Thursday morning on 101.5 WBNQ-FM, and our WBNQ Facebook and Instagram pages.
Susan Saunders 9/5/18
