Be warm. Care. Laugh. Be human.
Loosen the reigns, but don’t lose control.
I’m not interested in whether my students want to be my
besties. I don’t care if they think I’m cool (which is lucky because I just
ooze daggy!). I don’t care if they ‘like’ me, but I do care whether or not they
respect me.
Great relationship + High expectations = Respect.At least, that’s what I believe… Relationships need to be positive and productive, built on trust and mutual goals. ‘Expectations’ refers to a demand for excellence. All students can learn and it’s a teacher’s role to help kids achieve their potential.
Great relationship + Lack of expectations = Friend, not a
teacher.
Lack of relationship + High Expectations = 1950’s teacher (good luck in the 21st century!)
Lack of relationship + Lack of expectations = Indifference (why bother being a teacher)
To me, teachers need to actively build positive and productive relationships with their students, whilst also having the highest expectations for learning. I believe that it’s possible, for you to have excellent working relationships with your students, but that does not mean a teacher needs to compromise on their expectations for learning. In fact, surely the higher the quality of the student-teacher relationships, the higher the quality of the learning environment, the higher the quality of the learning.
Lack of relationship + High Expectations = 1950’s teacher (good luck in the 21st century!)
Lack of relationship + Lack of expectations = Indifference (why bother being a teacher)
To me, teachers need to actively build positive and productive relationships with their students, whilst also having the highest expectations for learning. I believe that it’s possible, for you to have excellent working relationships with your students, but that does not mean a teacher needs to compromise on their expectations for learning. In fact, surely the higher the quality of the student-teacher relationships, the higher the quality of the learning environment, the higher the quality of the learning.
If you’re a teacher, do you think your students respect you?
Do you think it matters? Have you earned it?
If you’re a parent, do your children respect their teacher?
Does it matter? Do you respect their
teacher?
As a starting point, this post lists 10 key ways to build a
respectful relationship with students [http://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/10-ways-to-get-your-students-respect/].
I’ve come across a few other pieces recently that talk about student respect
for teachers, such as this article comparing respect levels for teachers in
countries around the world [http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/oct/03/teachers-rated-worldwide-global-survey],
or this article which speaks the truth about teachers nowadays needing to ‘earn’
respect, unlike years gone by [http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/martin/martin011.shtml],
or this blog entry which begins, “Dear students, Your teachers are not out to
get you, I promise…” [http://itsssnix.tumblr.com/post/62952676811/dear-students].
- Teachling
More from Teachling:
A
teacher's take on positive thoughts and how kids let negative thoughts consume
them...A teacher's take on independence and helicopter parents...
A teacher's take on the jargon of explicit teaching...
A teacher's take on "How Children Learn"...
A teacher's take on self-help and parenting advice...
A teacher's take on blogs...
Access Teachling:
Teachling’s Wordpress, Teachling’s Blog.com, Teachling’s Blogspot, Teachling's Tumblr
Image source: http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/232/4/3/My_Crazy_Class_XD_by_3Peoples.png
No comments:
Post a Comment