I hope I've whetted your appetite with part one of this series. The first principle of teaching that I'm going to propose is relationships. I am certain that cultivating a mutually respectful relationship with each of your learners is a key to success.
When learners are younger they do not do their work for themselves, no matter how hard we might wish that they would; they work for their teacher. They might like to learn new facts and acquire new skills but very few will value the work necessary to embed these facts and skills. During this time the students will be working for their teacher and so the relationship really matters. I am certain that learners who feel that their teacher really cares about them will do more than learners who feel that teacher is indifferent to them. Note that this is about the learner's perception of the teacher. It is perfectly possible that the teacher cares deeply about the learner but the teacher may not have communicated this effectively to the learner. It is communicating this caring and building the relationship that is important.
You know that it really makes a difference if someone connects with you and talks to you about things that are important to you. It makes your your day a little better and helps you to tackle the next task. It is the same with the learners in your care. I know that in my classes there are certain people who love football, others have a passion for horses. I could name the favourite bands of several of my students. There are many other interests that individual learners have that are important to them. Sometimes, it is worth a few words about their interest; it fosters a connection and it makes them think that they are important to you.
Some of you may well be thinking that you don't have time for this, that the time spent cultivating these relationships would be better spent delivering the curriculum. I would strongly argue that the time spent on these relationships is an investment and you get it back several times over because the learners will be more involved and so they will get through tasks more quickly and with deeper participation if they know that they matter to you as people.
As we know, it is important for learners to fail and to bounce back form failure if they are to progress. It is the willingness to try things out and take risks, allied with the response to failure that brings real progress. Learners have to feel that they will not be judged as failures if they 'get it wrong'. There needs to be a climate in the classroom that failing in fine providing that the failure is a step to future progress. Part of building this climate is building relationships with the learners in the class. When we are with strangers, or with people who we feel will judge us, we are reluctant to try things out that may not work as we fear being judged as failures. Maintaining respectful relationships with learners is a step along the way to creating a culture where failing is alright.
There are times when we as teachers need to deliver difficult feedback, "Jack, that really was not good enough." We have heard of 'two stars and a wish' and the 'jam sandwich' technique for burying critical messages. No matter how hard we try, many people take critical messages as a personal criticism and not simply a criticism of their work. I am sure that the teacher who has a genuine relationship with the learner will be more willing to deliver the message and the learner will be more willing to act on it and make the necessary changes to progress.
Some of you may well be thinking that you don't have time for this, that the time spent cultivating these relationships would be better spent delivering the curriculum. I would strongly argue that the time spent on these relationships is an investment and you get it back several times over because the learners will be more involved and so they will get through tasks more quickly and with deeper participation if they know that they matter to you as people.
As we know, it is important for learners to fail and to bounce back form failure if they are to progress. It is the willingness to try things out and take risks, allied with the response to failure that brings real progress. Learners have to feel that they will not be judged as failures if they 'get it wrong'. There needs to be a climate in the classroom that failing in fine providing that the failure is a step to future progress. Part of building this climate is building relationships with the learners in the class. When we are with strangers, or with people who we feel will judge us, we are reluctant to try things out that may not work as we fear being judged as failures. Maintaining respectful relationships with learners is a step along the way to creating a culture where failing is alright.
There are times when we as teachers need to deliver difficult feedback, "Jack, that really was not good enough." We have heard of 'two stars and a wish' and the 'jam sandwich' technique for burying critical messages. No matter how hard we try, many people take critical messages as a personal criticism and not simply a criticism of their work. I am sure that the teacher who has a genuine relationship with the learner will be more willing to deliver the message and the learner will be more willing to act on it and make the necessary changes to progress.
Put yourself in your learner's shoes. Who would you rather have as your teacher, the one who makes you feel that they know you and care about you, or the one who does not even know your name? And which of those teachers would you work for?
