an emotional level they were not. My students needed to feel a bond with me; and | needed to teel a little
more their emotional confusion, anxieties about the present and the future, and fear of English composition,

Gradually, | began to make minor changes in my classroom management that had a profound effect on
the emotional climate of my class. [| distributed a survey, asking, students to tell me about their experiences
in high school English classes, their work schedules, and their expectations about the course. What an eye-
opener! Suddenly, I realized what impossible lives many students lead—dealing with car payments, difficult
jobs, heavy academic schedules and the struggle to mature.

I also spoke more honestly about my own life through my free writing, talked with more candor about my
writing problems, and listened with more empathy to their excuses and difficulties. One day I wrote a
composition about the pain of divorce, read it out loud nervously, and listened while four students
responded by talking about their experiences of divorce in their families.

By thinking of my classroom as a dinner table, | became more aware of the ratio of teacher-talking to
student-talking and began to be quieter at the head of the table. By patiently listening, by developing the art
of asking questions, by requiring students to read their writing out loud, I led the students to more
participation and more creativity in the classroom.

| made their adjustment to my course easier by requiring an essay at the beginning that was evaluated but
did not count in the final grade. I also tried to be more sensitive to the feelings of individual students by
giving back poorly written essays in the privacy of my office where a critical remark would not be
embarrassing.

To make sure 1 was aware of the emotional dynamics in the classroom, I scheduled an anonymous
student evaluation at mid-term.

Instead of just teaching students to write, I started thinking of my responsibility to befriend them—
thereby creating a bond that transcends the classroom.

My sense of what I represented in their lives also changed. I felt more paternal and less like an
impersonal evaluator. I began to place on myself the same expectations that I placed on my kids’ teachers:
to be both demanding and nurturing.

| experienced a growth of trust with students who felt comfortable sharing their lives with me.

I also felt more successful as a writing teacher; as I cared more about the individual student, he/she
seemed to care more about pleasing me by working harder on essays. Students accepted my suggestions,
worked more diligently on drafts, and talked more intelligently about their essays.

There still were many students who failed my course; but there was less bitterness, blame, and hostility.
| was pleasantly surprised that some students who had failed took my course again deliberately because they
did not feel I had treated them unfairly.

Have | the secret to being the best teacher possible? I have no idea. I do know that for me teaching now
involves less of the head and more of the heart.

Joseph F. McCadden
English Instructor

For further information, contact the author at Burlington County College, Pemberton-Browns Mills Road,
Pemberton, NJ 08068.

 

 

 

Suanne D, Roueche, Editor
April 22, 1988, Vol. X, No. 13

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of
Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512)471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsortium members for §35 per year. Funding in
part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring
terms and once during the summer.

The University of Texas at Austin, 1988
Further duplication is permitted only by MEMBER Institutions for their own personnel. ISSN 0199-106X