Should we love our students?
Stephen Burnage FCCT M.Ed
international education consultant, inspector and author with over 35 years experience in supporting school improvement.
What makes a great teacher?
You will have guessed by the heading that this was the focus for a training workshop I ran in Southern China a couple of years ago.
During one activity, my cohort of 40 Chinese teachers were asked to sum up their idea of a great teacher in just one sentence. The feedback went quite predictably at first.
A great teacher is:
‘Someone that plans interesting lessons’
‘Someone that controls their classes well’
‘Someone that knows their subject’
‘Someone who enjoys teaching’
But then I got a response that took me by surprise …
A great teacher is:
‘Someone that loves their students’
This reply was warmly greeted by my trainees, who nodded approvingly. Do we, in the UK, ‘love’ our students or is that a cultural divide too wide to be jumped?
As I thought about this, I gradually came around to the idea that, in a terribly British, reserved, sort of way, good teachers do love their students; and, what’s more, for our students to succeed, they need to be loved and know that they are loved. This is especially true whilst they are working remotely and are distanced from teachers and friends
In a recent post, I wrote about Maslow and the hierarchy of need in the context of students learning better within structures that make them feel safe. Perhaps another layer of Maslow’s hierarchy also plays a key part in the motivation of student learning. Students need to feel that they belong and are cared for (or ‘loved’ as my Chinese colleague so clearly said).
So, what can we do to make students feel part of our learning community?
Here’s some ideas:
1.Know names and pronounce them correctly
2. Have discussions with students about what belonging actually means and how to make sure everyone is represented both face to face and in our current virtual learning world
3. Develop teacher routines, such as standing at the door to greet students—with a smile or greeting students online and taking a few minutes to share news from each one.
4.Relate to prior experiences by asking questions about what students already know about the lesson’s topic?
5. Help students to connect with each other using chat rooms, WhatsApp groups etc.
6. Set high expectations for self-efficacy. For example, frame the lessons with high expectations for all students: “Today, I am going to give you some challenging work. Every single person can get better at this. I am here to make sure.”
7. Use cooperative learning experiences, so that students experience success as a group. Examples include jigsaw activities, whereby you have one group become an expert and then teach others, or set remote learning challenges that students can collaborate on virtually and then come back together to share their learning.
ABOUT MISTER STEVE TRAINING AND CONSULTANCY
Steve Burnage offers consultancy, training and coaching to schools and school leaders internationally through Mister Steve Training and Consultancy. In addition, he provides consultancy services through many UK and International training providers, he works extensively with education reform projects in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, he is a leadership coach to new and aspiring headteachers in Europe, The Middle East, China, and the Indian Subcontinent, he is a GCSE and A’ level examiner; and regularly contributes keynote speeches, articles and ‘think pieces’ to education conferences and publications worldwide. To find out more, please call +44 7767858360 or Email [email protected]