Fortunately or unfortunately, students are quick to perceive their instructors true feelings and opinions on a subject or in a situation. This makes the genuineness of one's authenticity quintessential in an educational setting.
“How do you know where your limits are for expressing authenticity?”
The answer requires honesty with oneself. People have to do a self-evaluation and ask the question: "How do I react when someone says something I do not agree with?” Some people may frown, give a sarcastic or facetious remark, ignore the comment entirely, or even change the subject. Regardless of the self-evaluated reaction, teachers have to actually do something with this new information. Teachers then need to become aware of how often they make this reaction. If they only make the reaction when students say or do something that requires a teacher’s attention and possible reprimand, then I would say you have a good balance. However, if a teacher has no patience and provides a negative reaction for everything students say, do, or ask, then that teacher needs to re-evaluate the limits of their authenticity.
“How do students tell if a teacher is not authentic?”
Students are quite aware of their teachers’ actions and reactions. Sarcasm, excessive praise, inconsideration towards learning, ignoring certain types of questions or remarks, complete lack of enthusiasm, no care for standards, and body language (i.e. glares, stares, facial expressions, crossed arms, hands on hips, sighs etc) are all among the countless other little tics that easily give away whether a teacher is being authentic or not. Putting up a façade is not a good way to hide one being inauthentic. I have found that many students know when their teacher is being fake.
If a teacher is seen as being fake or inauthentic, I strongly believe that learning slows or even shuts down. One of the biggest factors of this has to do with the lack of enthusiasm the teacher is showing. This causes a lack of motivation among students. Only a few students will truly be enthusiastic about something that their teacher shows absolutely no enthusiasm for at all.
Despite all this, I think it is important to remember that the idea of educators becoming masters of putting up facades is not a good technique for showing authenticity. Instead, I would argue that instructors have to be honest with their opinions but remember to always be professional and politically correct. Sometimes the best reaction is no reaction at all.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Compassion of a Teacher
It was funny when I read the question: "When did the compassion of a teacher make a difference in your life or in the life of your classmate?", because I have an experience that covers both.
When I was in high school, a new kid moved to town about mid-year and joined the high school band, where he played trombone. I paid little attention to the new kid as I had been in the high school band for several years and already had an established friend group.
Band class continued as it always did and nothing seem out of the ordinary, until one day when my band director ask several of my friends, including myself, to talk with him in his office. Now, I had never considered my band director to be a person that had any compassion towards any of his students, but I was quickly corrected. As soon as my friends and I were in his office and the door was closed, my band director began to explain how the new trombone player did not have any friends and would eat his lunch alone in the band room. He did not ask us to become friends with the new kid, but did ask us to leave his office as if everything was normal, get our lunches, decide for a change of pace that we would eat in the band room, and include the lone trombone player in our conversations.
The covert plan proved successful. Though we did not ever become good friends with the lone trombone player, we did bring him out of his shell, convince him that he should come eat with us in the lounge (with everyone else), and introduced him to several of his, now, good friends. Though my band director's compassion did not directly affect me, it certainly did the lone trombone player, and I learned that showing a little concern for a student's well-being can have a large impact on their lives.
When I was in high school, a new kid moved to town about mid-year and joined the high school band, where he played trombone. I paid little attention to the new kid as I had been in the high school band for several years and already had an established friend group.
Band class continued as it always did and nothing seem out of the ordinary, until one day when my band director ask several of my friends, including myself, to talk with him in his office. Now, I had never considered my band director to be a person that had any compassion towards any of his students, but I was quickly corrected. As soon as my friends and I were in his office and the door was closed, my band director began to explain how the new trombone player did not have any friends and would eat his lunch alone in the band room. He did not ask us to become friends with the new kid, but did ask us to leave his office as if everything was normal, get our lunches, decide for a change of pace that we would eat in the band room, and include the lone trombone player in our conversations.
The covert plan proved successful. Though we did not ever become good friends with the lone trombone player, we did bring him out of his shell, convince him that he should come eat with us in the lounge (with everyone else), and introduced him to several of his, now, good friends. Though my band director's compassion did not directly affect me, it certainly did the lone trombone player, and I learned that showing a little concern for a student's well-being can have a large impact on their lives.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Respect
Respect:
Webster's dictionary defines respect with the words--honor, esteem, consideration, and regard; and I would have to agree that the above words do help define respect. I would go a step further and continue to define respect as a privilege, something that is earned, something that takes hard work and effort to build and can be, unfortunately, easily destroyed. Needless to say, I do believe lost respect can be regained. Respect is very complex. One can respect someone or something completely or just respect parts of someone or something, for various reasons. Though is is not a good answer to the question--"What is respect?" I think that it is part of the beauty of respect, as it is a concept that means something a little different to everyone.
As for respect in the classroom, I think it looks a little something like this. The room is controlled. When students work, they work quietly. When the teacher talks, students are engaged and participate when necessary. There is an understanding between the students and the teacher. The teacher is in charge of the classroom and the students in the classroom are here to learn. This is not to say there is no room for fun in the classroom. The teacher should have a decent rapport with their students. This is to say that when something funny happens, for example, whether by accident or on purpose, the laughter and humor is shared by both the teacher and the students. However, with respect, the focus of the class is not lost in such an event, and the lesson can resume in a timely manner. Besides classroom control, I feel respect runs much deeper. Respect must be somehow establish. This is not an easy task, and probably is achieved in more ways then I can think of. However, students have to be empowered by their teacher to take pride in their work. How does a teacher do this? A teacher must be knowledgeable in their area of expertise, they have to be passionate about their subject, they have to be inspiring, they should make their classes interesting and worthwhile, and the teacher needs to be demanding. If a teacher sets high standards, they need to empower and help their students reach those standards. This will help students take pride in their work. Teachers must also be strict. They cannot tolerate unruly behavior. This is not to say that teachers should be authoritarian, just that they should expect that their students will respect both them and each other. On the other hand, teachers must give respect to students who deserve it.
In the end, respect is a necessity in the classroom. With it, learning can be accomplished more efficiently and both students and teachers alike will benefit from the respect and learn more then just about the subject being taught. In a classroom without respect, however, students will not learn the life lessons that can be gleaned from a classroom or the academic lessons being taught. It is as simple as that, students and teachers need to be respected, and the teaching learning process will be that much more successful.
Webster's dictionary defines respect with the words--honor, esteem, consideration, and regard; and I would have to agree that the above words do help define respect. I would go a step further and continue to define respect as a privilege, something that is earned, something that takes hard work and effort to build and can be, unfortunately, easily destroyed. Needless to say, I do believe lost respect can be regained. Respect is very complex. One can respect someone or something completely or just respect parts of someone or something, for various reasons. Though is is not a good answer to the question--"What is respect?" I think that it is part of the beauty of respect, as it is a concept that means something a little different to everyone.
As for respect in the classroom, I think it looks a little something like this. The room is controlled. When students work, they work quietly. When the teacher talks, students are engaged and participate when necessary. There is an understanding between the students and the teacher. The teacher is in charge of the classroom and the students in the classroom are here to learn. This is not to say there is no room for fun in the classroom. The teacher should have a decent rapport with their students. This is to say that when something funny happens, for example, whether by accident or on purpose, the laughter and humor is shared by both the teacher and the students. However, with respect, the focus of the class is not lost in such an event, and the lesson can resume in a timely manner. Besides classroom control, I feel respect runs much deeper. Respect must be somehow establish. This is not an easy task, and probably is achieved in more ways then I can think of. However, students have to be empowered by their teacher to take pride in their work. How does a teacher do this? A teacher must be knowledgeable in their area of expertise, they have to be passionate about their subject, they have to be inspiring, they should make their classes interesting and worthwhile, and the teacher needs to be demanding. If a teacher sets high standards, they need to empower and help their students reach those standards. This will help students take pride in their work. Teachers must also be strict. They cannot tolerate unruly behavior. This is not to say that teachers should be authoritarian, just that they should expect that their students will respect both them and each other. On the other hand, teachers must give respect to students who deserve it.
In the end, respect is a necessity in the classroom. With it, learning can be accomplished more efficiently and both students and teachers alike will benefit from the respect and learn more then just about the subject being taught. In a classroom without respect, however, students will not learn the life lessons that can be gleaned from a classroom or the academic lessons being taught. It is as simple as that, students and teachers need to be respected, and the teaching learning process will be that much more successful.
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