Job Discussion Forums

[Capergirl]

This is a spinoff of a similar thread I read recently on another web board. The subject was about physical appearance and how being or not being considered good-looking affects one's life in different areas (i.e. how others respond to you). On this forum, we sometimes talk about what attributes we would like to have in a teacher and a few of us have joked about wanting attractive teachers (including me, and I was only half-joking ). Someone even said he wants to be taught by my sparkly-panted avatar. So all of this has made me wonder what role looks really play in the classroom.

Do you think students opine that a good-looking teacher is more competent (or perhaps less competent) than a less attractive one? Think back to when you were in school. Did the attractiveness of your teachers affect how you perceived them? What about now, as ES/FL instructors? Do you think attractive students get more attention than unattractive ones? Do we tend to view them as smarter or more capable and unwittingly spend more time coaxing them than other students? Furthermore, does our level of attractiveness affect their performance?

In spite of politically correct protestation, surveys have shown again and again that people gravitate toward good looks and generally view good-looking people as smarter, richer, more competent, and more successful than less physically appealing folks. I wonder how the subconscious mind translates this in the classroom experience.

[shenyanggerry]

I suspect that looks DO play a role in the classroom as everywhere Capergirl. I do remember years ago hearing that a particular female professor marked 'A' is for athletes, 'B' is for boys and 'C' is for coeds.

It would be a great thesis or dissertation topic to compare looks with course marks. Of course, the teacher's perception of looks is what counts.

It might also be of interest to see how Ss do based on their PERCEIVED looks. Just as anorexics think themselves fat, many attractive/ugly people have differing perceptions of themselves.

[dduck]

I know from personal experience that my motivation to pass French increased greatly when my teacher changed from a short charmless humourless French teacher to a lithe, graceful, young local lass.

On the other hand, I had a fantastically gorgeous teacher from Barcelona who almost managed to kill off my enthusiasm for Spanish.

Iain

http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-looks22.html

[Capergirl]

Very interesting article, dduck, and very fitting! Hmmm....my students just finished their teacher evaluations today. Now I'm concerned.

[johnslat]

I suspect that good looks can be initially, so to speak, attractive. But for the discerning student (yeah, I know, that narrows the field considerably)
if those good looks aren't backed up by competency, knowledge and ability, well, what student, discerning or not, is going to want a good-looking klutz for a teacher?
Regards,
John
P.S. How fortunate that I'm doubly blessed.

[TexGirl]

There are web sites for rating college professors, one that uses looks as part of the criteria (RateMyProfessors.com), giving students the opportunity to rate their professors as "hot tamales." Apparently, students are using this forum to comment on their professor's various physical attributes as reported in this article:

http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/12/2003120101c.htm

[Capergirl]

Wow, Texgirl, that's a bit disturbing.

[Just a guy]

Wasn�t there a study done about the relation between wages & height?
Taller people tend to make more $$ & hold higher positions. Someone has to give the promotions & have reasons for doing so.

I�d guess that since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it would be too complicated to do an accurate study on looks / wages in various fields.

& what is said about first impressions is very true in most any circumstance.

My favorite teachers were the ones who loved what they did & it showed in how they taught & acted in & out of class, I don�t remember having crushes on the less attractive ones though.

I find myself giving the apparently less attractive students more attention than the ones who will get by more easily on their looks.

[Roger]

We had a gorgeous beauty of a history teacher at college, freshly graduated, and clearly knowledgeable and competent.
All the guys in my class came on time, were quiet during the lessons and raised their hands when she asked questions.
The problem was that with so much competition for attention some tripped and lost their face.
And that inevitably caused them to lose interest in the subject too...

[donfan]

I hope not otherwise I'm in the wrong profession.

[FGT]

For enrolement, yes. Attractive teachers certainly encourage students to join a particular school. But they don't see anyone until they come to that particular door, so reputation (of the school) is of prime importance.

Once they join a class, most students soon realise that there are other important factors. After all, it's a very expensive way of viewing a desirable person unless there is something else to be gained (whether that's learning English or ...?) One assumes that the majority of students do, actually, want to learn English so they will opt for the best (as they perceive it) teacher. Generally speaking, that has nothing to do with looks. Character, though, can engage students (IMO) almost indefinitely.

[denise]

FGT--regarding your comment on character--I think I remember reading something a few years back (can't remember the details--sorry!) about a looks/personality connection in elementary school. The more attractive teachers were seen by the students as being nicer.

Granted, these were elementary students--perhaps not the most discerning when it comes to identifying a quality teacher.

d

[Wolf]

The only female teachers I ever had not older than my mother were, interestingly enough, at the Japanese school I went to. I noticed this slight difference in arrangement, but it neither affected my studies (motivated by survival in the first place) nor my decision to re-enroll (same motivation.)

I studied in the mornings, becuase like most Eikaiwa teachers in Japan I worked evenings and weekends. This meant that my classmates were - please don't kill me - beautiful Korean women for the most part. They were happily married to Japanese men, or otherwise their husbands had been transfered to/found work in Japan. Due to their marital status I never bothered with anything untoward, but they were good people. We told each other about our respective countires, compared notes on what our various expat experiences where (they were all born, raised and educated in Korea and not part of Japan's native Korean population), had lunch together, etc. Interestingly enough they were the group of women I related to the easiest, although this was all platonic. They're also the group of women who seemed to act the most natural around me. But I digress.

I've read forums where Japanese EFL students claim that they only signed up for such-and-such a school because the "foreign woman teacher was hot." The three full time jobs I have now were not offered to me on the basis of looks. I was given them by being alive, acing an interview, and applying at just the right time respectively. I'm no Tom Pitt or Brad Cruise or whoever, but my looks have never cost me a job. None of my employers seemed to have discriminatory hiring practices regarding looks, race, age or gender. Seriously. I know I've been lucky, but I don't think it's a factor 100% of the time.

[dmb]

Last week a student told me I was the best teacher he had ever had. The reason- I always smile
What a waste of time-all these bits of paper!

[leeroy]

I think I remember reading somewhere that "attractive people are more successful" - but (naturally) it's not due to them having greater abilities, rather it comes from a subconscious bias from bosses/clients etc...

Maybe, though, "attractive people" (whomever they may be) on the whole have a greater level of self-confidence, which will indirectly lead to achievement, success, etc...