Job Discussion Forums

[leeroy]

with the students - I mean.

Some teachers, I am sure, stroll into class on a Monday morning with their shirt tucked in, nod a quick hello and begin teaching. They might allow themselves the odd smile or frown, but pretty much stay "un-engaged" on an emotional and social level with their students. I've observed very good teachers like this - nothing wrong with it .

On the far end of the same scale is a teacher who strolls in, sits on their desk (or possibly on the chair with their feet up on the desk) gives everyone a big grin and starts chatting casually about the weekend. Nothing wrong with this either per se .

It might seem fair to assume that, on the whole, (young) students prefer teachers of the latter kind. Who wouldn't? But is there much more to be gained (in terms of effective language learning) from a teacher who knows what your pet hamster is called? I had previously always thought

"Yes - students respond better to a teacher who seems to take an interest in them personally."

But do they really? I can't think of anything to actually back that up - it just seems like one of those "taken as red" things that people automatically assume. It's very cool to say "yeah, you know, I like to tune in to the students' personal needs and, like, the vibe of the class..". Does this actually help?

Naturally, language teachers should have a degree of awareness of what the class's language learning needs and objectives are - but this does not presuppose that the teacher should assume the role of "friend, therapist, advisor, comedian and confidant" at the same time...

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Good topic.
I am definitely of the latter ilk. It's just more comfortable for me (and I like to think for the students) when we know each other more personally. I don't know whether either one is more conducive to learning than the other, though I know I always learned better from teachers who taught like I do.

[Guy Courchesne]

[moonraven]

There was a video floating around a few years back that showed the same actor playing a series of different types of teachers. It was being used in training sessions and I know The British Council was pushing it because one of our profs 2 years ago went to their "do" in Mexico City and came back to tell us that they only good thing he saw was that video....which we already had a copy of and had looked at maybe a week or two before he was hired....

As for their being no information about how students really respond to the different styles--I disagree. I have looked at thousands of student evaluations of teachers (including of me) and have found that they actually prioritize the interest that the teacher takes in them very highly.

Now--I have to say that the population groups involved here are those of folks from the US and Latin America. It may be a different story in Mali or Sumatra.

[Guy Courchesne]

It would be interesting to know more about the student-teacher relationships in other cultures/countries. From my scant knowledge of Jaoanese culture, I had assumed that the teacher (and elder) are given great respect, inside and outside the class. Probably not true anymore in a very Westernized culture, so if anyone out there in Japan would care to pop in here?

[moonraven]

Oh oh, Guy--You know who shouldn't pop in here unless he provides his test scores.

[Guy Courchesne]

Post that test link again...I didn't bookmark it. I think it could be a fun tool in an EFL class that can handle the political nature of it.

[moonraven]

I didn't either, but I found it:

www.politicalcompass.org

[Guy Courchesne]

Grax