As a student, I remembered being affected by who my teacher was - and this was mirrored in the grades I got and how much I loved the subject. I am a Media lecturer, so I use movies to serve as a point of reference to start a discussion in my class.
I have seen this movie before I started working at MCAST, but it still affects me - especially in knowing what a major influence the teacher has over the students.
Have you watched this movie? Or do you know of other movies that portray the teaching setting that might influence us somehow?
The Ron Clark Story: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473389/
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I haven’t seen this movie but will surely try to find some time to see it as it seems interesting. I believe that as teachers we are in a position by which a person’s life can easily be affected; in the sense that as teacher we are constantly involved in judging and classifying students in various ways and of course this process of classification (labelling) will leave an impact on students and affect their performance. Students may gradually bring their own self image in line with what we as teachers are thinking about them; so those labelled as bright are likely to be successful in education and more likely to perform in line with the teachers’ expectations and predictions while those labelled as of low ability are unlikely to succeed. In both cases the teachers’ predictions may come true so it is our responsibility to make sure that we are affecting/labelling students in a positive way so that then students would start to believe more in their abilities and make more effort to try and be successful.
ReplyDeleteI also haven't seen this movie but want to see it because I feel that movies can inspire us to go a step further in our teaching - to learn to expect more from the students because we believe in them. I think positive movies can help us believe in the power of change and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteOther such good movies that can be used for inspiration are:
- Dead Poets Society (discussed in our tutorial)
- Renaissance Man
- Mona Lisa Smile
- Pay it Forward
Such movies show the influence a teacher has on students, how his/her actions can influence their life decisions, their motivation, even their future.
As we saw in the talk given by Sir Robinson, children lay their dreams at our feet so we have to thread very carefully.
This may sound like a romantic notion but when I am faced with a situation where I can either go the extra mile to help and motivate a student or just do my job to the letter and walk away, I imagine myself acting in such movies and act in a way that would be described as 'inspiring'. I find that students greatly appreciate this (sometimes more than we know) and I happy knowing I helped in some way.
Here is the link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQAULXvel-k
ReplyDeleteHere's another interesting clip on Ron Clark:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgrsfpI5b9c&feature=related
Also there are two more films:
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Dangerous Minds (1995)
I believe that all of us have been influenced and affected by experiences or persons encountered in our lives, sometime or other. We try to be independent in our decisions and choose our way but we might be influenced without being actually conscious about it. Our opinions and values are built up as we go along in life. It’s our experience in life that makes us what we are today, how we think, how we look forward in life.
ReplyDeleteEducation has a big influence in this. Students spend from 6 to 8 hours every day in contact with their teachers. It is therefore natural that teachers have an immense influence on how the students look at their education and eventually also at their lives and careers.
During the PGC in VET course that is coming to a close, I have had the opportunity to share experiences with my colleagues. We all agreed that our ultimate task is to inspire our students. We also agreed that we influence them immensely through our behaviour in class. We must therefore thread carefully with students; we have to keep in mind that we affect their thoughts, their ideas and their dreams.
Mariella
The formation of expectations does not necessarily mean that teachers communicate expectations to students. However, most of the times, us teachers do convey expectations, in a number of ways.
ReplyDeleteTeachers may label students as “less able”. We use differential practices and behaviour. This sometimes may have a negative effect on their self-efficacy perceptions.
We sometimes tend to praise low achievers for their success in relatively simple tasks. This strategy can have a negative impact on the student’s motivation and self-esteem. This can show that the teacher can have little confidence in the student’s abilities.
Many teachers may adopt different questioning techniques. Do we sometimes pay more attention to the answers of high achievers and wait longer before calling on someone else?
When I was a student myself I used to notice that students who were considered more capable were often provided with more opportunities to perform publicly on meaningful tasks. Teachers used to interact differently with high achievers and create a warmer climate, such as smiling more often to them.
In a nutshell, as Chris said we teachers should try to label our students in a positive way and therefore pay attention to try and limit the above behaviours which unfortunately can lead the students in not believing in themselves and as a result not successful in their lives.
I wholly agree that we as teachers have a tremendous influence on our students. The way we interact with them, our method of teaching and even we as individuals can encourage and engage our students.
ReplyDeleteI have found out that students want their teachers to be strict but just especially when marking assignments. Favouritism is picked up immediately by the students and this causes feelings of resentment. Being organised and knowing your subject matter also rank high on the students’ list of what they expect of their teachers. Being punctual and presenting himself/herself in a neat and professional manner is also imperative. One of my students remarked, “when a teacher is scruffy in her or his clothing and appearance, we get the impression that his or her work is also shoddy”.
Another student has remarked that when a teacher is accessible and patient it helps her to understand the subject more, and she feels more confident when asking questions and therefore she enjoys the lessons more. Whereas when a teacher does not take the time to explain well, or does not encourage questions, she will be automatically put off that particular subject.
I agree with Mariella when she said that all of us have been influenced and affected by experiences or persons encountered in our lives, sometime or other. I think that this fact is even more pronounced when it comes to a teacher. I feel that this compels a teacher to do her or his utmost to be of a positive influence on the students.
In order to tackle such an fundamental area in teaching and learning, I will comment on the movie ‘Dangerous Minds’ (mentioned by Shaz). In a nutshell, a teacher finds it extremely hard to get through to the students entrusted in her care. The director chooses a number of ‘extreme’ cases to portray this. In fact such students are described as “rejects from Hell” who have no interest in education. Yet, when analysing this situation in further detail, one will realise that the mentioned cases are ones we, as lecturers, encounter everyday; such as students who are afraid to show their intelligence through the way they tackle assigned tasks or through the way they reply to questions for fear of being mocked their classmates.
ReplyDeleteYet despite having such problems in her classroom, Michelle Pfeiffer who played the part of the school teacher in this movie, kept high her expectations of students and found other methods (which can also be described as rather extremist – karate, bribing them with candy bars and so on) through which to get them to learn.
I will comment on the other film BlackBoard Jungle directed by Richard Brooks.
ReplyDeleteBriefly, a teacher Richar Dadier teaches at an inner-city school where a group of cynical teenagers are totally disengaged from conventional schooling. Pupils led by student Gregory Miller frequently engage in anti-social behaviour.
Dadier, an idealist teacher, makes various attempts to engage the student's interest in education, challenging both the school staff and the pupils.
Issues of race and class lie at the heart of the dynamics of this film.
I definitely agree that us teachers have an influence on students. From my teaching experience, I notice that different students react differently to our behavior. Life is not easy in our case as what is good for one student is not good for the other. It is difficult at times to pass a general comment as not all students interpret the same. What I have found best is that during practical exercises in class I go round the students one by one, adapting my comments and actions according to the student I am assisting.Patience is a virtue of our profession.
ReplyDeleteNello
School days were very influential for me. As a student I remember how I could associate the subject with the teacher. If I liked the teacher, I liked the subject and I did well in assigned tasks, and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteCase in point I remember well when I had extra private lessons where the private instructor taught me how to like the subject.
Today I understand that the way I present the subject and organise the lessons affects the students' motivation towards learning the subject.
The students are very much influenced by their teachers to the point that a student’s perspective about the subject can change if the teacher was or acted differently. I think that it is very important for the educator to leave a positive mark on the student and always tries to make the subject more interesting and enjoyable. This may lead to the students practicing and taking part more in the lesson thus increasing their interest in the subject which would eventually result in getting better grades. This is one of the biggest challenges for the educator as he seeks to deliver the lecture in a way which is appealing to the students.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the teacher’s expectations of student? Let us read what Naomi Rockler-Gladen, a college professor has said on Oct 13, 2006:
ReplyDelete“It floors me how important technology has become in the lives and educational experiences of my students. My students text message each other in class (a major teachers complaint), and listen to their iPods all the time, as if their lives had a soundtrack. One of my students last year sat in the front row, participated actively, and listened to her iPod. She said she couldn’t concentrate otherwise (and she got an A in the class). Students can do most of their research at their desk, check their grades on-line, and are accustomed to Power Point in the classroom.
Some professors complain that students are losing out on interpersonal skills because they communicate via IM and email and tune everybody out with iPods. To some degree, this may be true. But hey, students, I would have loved all of this technology when I was an undergraduate. So enjoy it.”
Personally, I do not know what stance to take. After all, nothing wrong of having all this technology employed during the classroom, if all students or the most of them would be as that one mention by Naomi, but I simply do not believe in that multi-concentration, i.e. being concentrated in the same time on two, three or four things. This is not my expectation of the students.
Nistenna rispett mingħajr ma nitolbu.
ReplyDeleteMeta nikkompara lili nnifsi meta kont student - għaxar snin ilu - mal-istudenti ta' sittax-il sena li għandi, nagħraf differenzi. Mal-studenti ta' tmintax dawn id-differenzi jonqsu.
Tul is-sena mal-Foundation narani kuljum fi ġlieda biex inġagħalhom jifhmu l-ħtieġa tar-rispett - għallinqas fil-lingwaġġ u fl-attitudni - minkejja l-informalità ta' bejnietna. X'aktarx qed nistenna ż-żejjed, għax ħafna minnhom għadhom żgħar. Madanakollu ċert li wara s-sajf se narahom jinbidlu u jista' jkun li dan ir-rispett jibda jidher. Hekk ġara s-sena l-oħra.
I completely agree that lecturers have a very influential effect on our students. Research in Jussim (1986) shows that there is a tendency for teachers to get what they expect from their students. This happens because teachers have, mostly unconsciously, the tendency to treat students differently based on how likely it is that students will be successful. However, when teachers do not have information about their students, they may form their expectations of the students from preconceived biases or stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteTeachers’ beliefs on students are based on various aspects, primarily on students’ past academic performance. Such information is not always reliable since assessment procedures used to measure students’ competencies do not always give them enough opportunity to show what they really know.
The biases teachers gather through observations and the biases teachers interpret through interaction with the students, contribute to their reinforcement about their beliefs. These beliefs affect teachers’ behavior towards students, which can sometimes improve and enhance learning, but other time inhibit students’ learning, especially when teachers give up on the students’ learning too soon and refer students to special education.
To add to what Claire said, that is teachers are influencial on students and do treat them differently. In my opinion this largely depends on the students motivation rather than their individual success rate. That is a motivated student can try very hard to achieve his/her credits, but may be less succesfull then his/her peers. I think this further strengthens the student-techaer relationship.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that teachers make a whole difference in their students' lives. I can recall that I started to fall in love with my subjects "Marketing" and "Human Resources" since I enjoyed attending to the respective lessons. This was so since I enjoyed the delivery of these lessons. The teachers were enthusiasts themselves in their deliveries and this was receipted by the students. In my case, such positive feeling was reflected even in my grades.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if the teacher is able to transmit the love for the subject, the students might be more keen in increasing their intrinsic motivation to know more. Obviously this is not a rule for each and every student.
I did not watch the above mentioned video but let me add another film, 'The History Boys'. It was mentioned by Duncan and Daniela and think it is a good film. You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45OsKkHhv90
I was listening to an interview on youtube were university students are asked why they want to become teachers. One of the students answered: “I think the reason that I want to be a teacher is mostly ….. they were the largest influence in my life … became the person that I am because of them.. The greatest thing that I can do is to return that favor to someone else” I agree that teachers influence the students’ behaviours.
ReplyDeleteTo add to the previous post, I also agree that teachers should feel confident when teaching a subject.
To agree with many of the comments above, I also belive that teachers are of great influnce on the formation of the characters of their students. And in class the students will not only learn the subject being taught, but also they will be learning social skills, to be fair and just, to be curtious, to be part of a society.
ReplyDeleteAn educator can monitor the student’s behaviors and their expectations through the use of questionnaires. The lecturer can make use of such techniques to improve the quality of lesson delivery and hence increase the student’s motivation which is one major quality that every teacher is expected to see in the students.
ReplyDeleteWe all agree that motivation plays a very important role in the eventual success of a student. This week I had the job of delivering results to students. Among these were two students who failed. This happened on two separate occasions, ie they were spoken to individually. After explaining to them why they failed and what they had to do in order to pass on their second attempt, we asked them if they were happy doing the course they were studying and if it was really what they wanted to be doing, they both suddenly burst into tears. It is only then that we discovered that what she really wanted to do was photography, a course which MCAST does not offer. The second student was not happy because as much as she liked the subject, she felt that she was under too much pressure. The honest truth was that she lacked the motivation to succeed and she never put her heart in what she was doing.
ReplyDeleteIn the first case, we have discussed the various options she has, including studying abroad and doing evening classes in photography outside MCAST and she is weighing her options.
We explained to the second student that her success or failure depends on her own motivation and on how much she really wants to study 3D design. She knows that she is weak in sketching but then again, when there is a will there is a way.
The question is what were their expectations when they started the course? The second student definately thought it was going to be a fun and easy ride....big disappointment. In the first case, she took up a course which she thought was closest related to photography - graphics but she was soon to discover that she did not enjoy the subject.
These are individual issues that the earlier we recognise them, the better we can help guide our students towards a career which they have the potential to enjoy and be good at.
Guidance and mentoring I am discovering are roles that we inevitably play as educators.
When you ask a small child what he/she would like to become when he/she grows up, most of the time the reply that one gets is ‘a teacher’. This explains the influence that a teacher has on a child. It is clear that ‘Teachers are Role Models’ for their students. Students tend to pick role models from their teachers, trainers, facilitators, coaches and parents. A classroom, a playing field, a workshop, a lab are of much importance in providing influential learning places for students. The interaction that we have with our students at all such places tends to be exemplary. As a teacher, facilitator, trainer or ‘role model’, whatever we do and say to the students has a great impact on them. Our behavior goes a long way in shaping the kind of human beings, they will evolve into.
ReplyDelete