Job Discussion Forums

[ls650]

[shenyanggerry]

I guess you've never had Ss who routinely skip or sleep in class. I don't take attendance. University Ss are supposed to make their own choices. Those of my Ss who tried all had noticable improvement. If the rest didn't care, why should I?

[foster]

Being in a high-school, I don't do any TOUCHY at all..but I do provide praise for the kids when they do well. I try to help them with encouragement but not over doing it. I am not a touchy feeling person to begin with, so that is just not a good idea.

[Lanza-Armonia]

I supposed this 'touch-feely' stuff is different for each educational level. I teach kindys so you have to highly praise and highly dicipline at the same time . If I was teaching Uni, then I probably wouldn't go OTT like I do in kindy, but still give the appropriate amount praise if someone does a good essay. If you don't they could think every foreigner is this stuck up meister that doesn't know his head from his a$$. (I apologise to all feminists. When I learned English some 12 years ago, I was told it's common to refer to the human race as the male form, especially in the Romanic languages).

[Capergirl]

You know, I spent some time thinking about this topic and I would have to say now that I do care about my students. I care if they learn or don't learn. I care if they fare badly on an exam (specificially, the TOEIC test). I'm not concerned for my job, but I am concerned for theirs. These students are adults who have left their families (and in many cases, this includes a spouse and children) to come to Canada and be trained for their jobs. They are intelligent, hard-working people and they deserve success. I, as their teacher, want to see them succeed and when they do succeed, yes, I am proud of them!

I just ran into one of my former students from the UAE last weekend. He is a student now at the local coast guard college and is doing really well. So well, in fact, that he is one of the best students in the program. I am so thrilled for him. Why wouldn't I feel happiness and pride when I hear that he is doing well? He has worked hard to get where he is and as his former teacher, I feel that I helped him in some way to achieve his goals.

Does this make me "touchy-feely"? Well, maybe it does. However, I also think it makes me a good teacher. My students know that I care. They know that if I tell them that they need to do X, it is because X is going to help them in the long-run. I am not being arbitrary. I want them to do well and will try my best to help them when they need help. Students are able to decipher who is there to help them and who is just there to do the job and go home. If you don't care about your students, why be in this profession at all?

[johnslat]

Dear Capergirl,

"If you don't care about your students, why be in this profession at all?"

1. For the BIG BUCKS?
2. Because it beats working for a living?

Just kidding, really. I agree wholeheartedly with the implication in your question. There are undoubtedly some people in ESL/EFL who don't care about their students - or about much else - but in my experience, the vast majority DO. Anyone who doesn't should do him/herself and the students a big favor and find another line of work. "Touchy-feely" is a loaded, prejudicial term, anyway - rather like "bleeding heart" - and is almost always used only by people who are trying to justify their lack of interest, commitment and caring.
Regards,
John

[arioch36]

I don't think many people would accuse me of being the touchy-feely type. I was the youngest of 4 boys, fought and clawed for everything, still tend to be too confrontational, especially in China. I am also a strict teacher, on the surface.

I think there is a definite element in education and society that REPLACES rational thought and objective reasoning woth tochy-feely because it allows them to delude themselves, thinking all is now okay because we have expressed ourselves. This sort of touchy feely is hideous to me, I think it keeps us from confronting and dealing with problems.

I think we all definitely need to learn how to be a good teacher in the "self-actualization" of our own personalities (and our own nationalities)

On the other hand, a girl I wish i had married taught first grade. As each student arrived for the day, and as each student left, she hugged them, and told them she loved them. The students could feel this, and they worked for her. But also, there was this one boy...I don't know if his parents legally abused him, but I do believe this hug and her class might have been all he knew about love, and I think God will highly reward her someday, even if society wll never know what a service she had done.

When I taught high school, when the class knew I loved them, and it was mutual, teaching was much easier, and much more fun. I am not the comic type, but we were able to enjoy each other, and I believe it definitely increased classroom effectiveness. For the high school, the Chinese teacher would often have to sit in on the class.

The students were talking in their groups of four. Normally I would be on the prowl to make sure everyone was practicing as they should. I was talking to the teacher instead, and I said, no, I have to go prowl the classroom. She said, wistfully, "you don't have to because the students love you, and they are leting you sit and talk", and she was right. I wouldn't do it all the time, but this time the students were rewarding me by doing the work well without me.

Developing "Love", mutual trust, etc is very important. I let my boy and girl college students"hug" (in a non sexual way) me, hold on to my arm, usually, when they want it, though I really feel unnatural holding a boy, it is how they do it in China, and of course allowing a girl to hug you (i never hug the girl) is dangerous, and requires care and self-discipline.

Years ago I might have argued against this, but now I see how much it means to them, what confidence it gives them in themselves. So how does this group feel about allowing a college/high school student to hug (from the side, basically hugging the arm so there is no frontal contact) ??? I know in my heart I feel right, yet if i saw another teacher being hugged by a student, I think I would feel it was wrong (talk about being hypocritical), escpecially a female teacher being hugged by a boy, but then i know what dogs many boys are.

[ChadwickKent]

Students who do not care have not been taught to care. If you claim to be a teacher why don't you try teaching them to care, try motivating them, rather than taking the easy way out and not caring yourself. What are you paid for anyway?

Students know if you love to teach and they know how you feel about them. They respond positively to a loving and caring teacher.

Backpackers beware! The students know who you are and what you are, sometimes even before you realize it yourself.