dey, INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

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oN CA Published by the National Institute for Staff ood Organizaticnal Deveiopment
rn With support from the Wi. K. Fellogg Pouneation ood Sid Wo Ricnatison borindetion

 

 

 

IMPROVING QUALITATIVE CONDUCT: A TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE

The teacher does not work in isolation from his students or from his colleagues. Neither does he work in

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isolation from the curriculum, the framework in which he works. The first prerequisite to great teaching is that .
the teacher must be "OK." This being the case, he may then improve his qualitative conduct as a teacher by .

developing effective relationships within the educational environment: for example, teacher-student relationships
and teacher-colleague relationships.
Teacher-Student Relationships

A strong teacher-student relationship which is conducive to both student and teacher growth is based upon
mutual respect, trust, and caring. The excellent teacher creates an atmosphere in which students learn. He
builds a rapport with students; he values the student's world and is willing to learn from the student. He is not
merely a dispenser of knowledge and the student a receptacle. He is human and should discover his students’
humanness.

The first step in building a strong teacher-student relationship is getting to know each other, 1 always tell the
student how | prefer to be addressed and request the same information. I have discovered that | involve the
students in classroom activities in a more equitable manner when | know their names; they, in turn, are more
enthusiastic about participating. To facilitate the learning of student names, I take Polaroid photographs of
students in groups of five or six. Although students always question why I do such a "crazy thing," they are
always pleased when addressed by name the following morning.

| ask students to provide me with personal information on a file card. In the first class session, the student is
asked to provide his name, nickname, address, phone number, interests, successes, and failures. Students
receive a phone call when absent from class and a card during the summer holidays just to say "hello."

| believe that freshmen, in groups of 10 or 12, should be assigned to interested faculty who would act as
"faculty advisors" or mentors. The advisors would be encouraged to welcome incoming students by mail or
telephone prior to their arrival at the college, to meet with them on their arrival, and to spend a full day with
them during orientation week in an informal setting. The same faculty member would be available as a mentor
to the students throughout their program.

I make efforts to socialize with my students. A reasonable objective is to meet with each student at least once
a semester to discuss performance but also to get to know each as an individual. The information gathered in
these informal meetings is recorded so that future meetings can be more personal. At the conclusion of each
class period, | request one student to stay behind and compliment him on something he said or did and walk
with him to the next class, if possible.

The second step in building a strong teacher- student relationship is aiding the student in getting to know
himself—his strengths and weaknesses. Early in the school year | interact more with students to discuss their
goals; | help them establish goals which are realistic given individual strengths, weaknesses, and resources. To
aid in this process, I support pretesting to evaluate the likelihood of student success in my courses. Students
who are identified as being academically or otherwise unprepared would be counselled into remedial courses.
Regardless of pretesting activities, there is nothing to prevent me from making a recommendation to the student
and the appropriate program coordinator that entry into my course be delayed until the student has an
improved chance of success. Should the student insist on proceeding against my advice, at least he would not
be likely to view his failure as an inherent, uncorrectable weakness, but a prediagnosed case of poor
preparation—a problem which can be rectified through remediation.

When a student clearly demonstrates a need for counselling, rather than merely advising him to make an
appointment with the counsellor or rather than making the appointment for him, | take him to the counsellor
and offer to stay with him if he wishes. I ask the student to keep me informed about the outcome of
counselling, to communicate to him that he is not being relinquished to another in an assembly-line manner, but
that there is a continuing and genuine interest in his concerns.

But the teacher must not get so caught up in empathizing with the student that positive, high expectations
are lost. Positive, high expectations — re communicated to me SHISeRt as eqrly as possible. I insist upon

 

 

 

Kop Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712