JULIE BOWER: What is it about that one teacher we remember so strongly that makes

us feel either
immense warmth and admiration or sheer dread when remembering how we learned about
how
to find the area of a triangle!
I came across a really powerful statement a number of years ago by Dr Haim Ginott
that
has completely changed the way I walk into a classroom.
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the
classroom.
It’s my personal approach that creates the climate.
It’s my daily mood that makes the weather…I possess a tremendous power to make a
child’s
life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated
or de-escalated
and a child humanised or dehumanised”.
The student – teacher relationship is profoundly important in how students learn.
When the classroom is characterised by emotionally engaged teachers, there is a
much greater
chance that students will be actively engaged and deep learning will take place.
Meta-analyses by John Hattie indicate that the student-teacher relationship is
absolutely
paramount – the school context is a major source of social and cultural learning
and
the quality of the relationship that a student has with his/her teacher is an
important factor
in that student’s well-being and learning outcomes.
The teacher smiles, some laughter, – a relaxed but structured atmosphere, students
are respectful
of a teacher’s knowledge about a subject, students feel comfortable sharing
opinions,
students know and accept teacher expectations, teachers treat students with
respect.
Cornelius-White (2007) conducted a meta-Analysis of 119 studies to identify these
teacher-
student relational variables.
The emotional connectivity of the teacher with the student, the student with the
student, and the
teacher with the teacher optimises the classroom for positive learning experiences
and outcomes.
Emotions drive our engagement with the world around us.
They influence our decisions, how we interpret experience, and how we create
memories.
As educators it is imperative to leverage this emotional drive in our students if
we
want to impact student motivation for deep learning.
Relationships are a crucial pathway for doing so.
Cooperative group learning and peer mentoring have been linked to positive social
and academic
outcomes, relative to individual or competitive tasks.
Social emotions such as empathy, admiration, love, and compassion meet our basic
human
need to belong.
So providing opportunities for students to work together, and for teachers to work
together,
can have important positive outcomes in schools.
Some fascinating research about empathy by Mary - Helen Immordino - Yang has shown
us that
being able to empathise with others actually increases neural activity in the
brain.
What her research shows us is that by engaging social emotions (such as empathy)
where students
experience meaningful learning and connect socially with others, they are actually
using
more brain processing capacity enabling them to connect ideas, to remember these
experiences
longer term, and make meaning of their life experiences.
The Mindful Practice for Teachers program was developed with teachers for teachers.
It provides an opportunity for teachers to work together on their own well-being
and
experience social emotions such as empathy.
This program combines relaxation skills, self-awareness, mindful movement, and
background knowledge
about the effects of stress on the body and brain to assist teachers to self-
regulate
their emotions in the classroom.
Teachers have found some really positive impacts on their daily teaching practice
and their
relationships with their students.
We know positive relationships are crucial to learning, but what steps can we take
to
build an environment where positive teacher-student relationships flourish?
Firstly we must look after our teachers.
Teachers need opportunities to plan together, to debrief, to make professional
decisions,
and to learn about emotions.
Teachers need to be aware of the enduring effects that their own presence, empathy,
and emotional states have on their students.
Secondly, we then need to create relaxed and respectful classrooms where students
and teachers
can engage meaningfully with each other for deep learning.
Thirdly, we must find the balance between helping students to find their strengths
and
challenging them to broaden their minds and build the capacity to think creatively
about
new and exciting concepts.
Emphasising the importance of competition and performance outcomes, such as how
much
an exam is worth, might encourage the students to work hard, but it may also
produce negative
emotions.
Activities that promote interest, challenge thinking, and provide opportunities for
success
for all students, whether individually or collaboratively, are more emotionally
engaging
longer term.
So once we establish that emotionally positive educational climate, there are a
number of
strategies we can use to build positive student teacher relationships.
For example, we can explicitly teach social and emotional skills for working
together
(for example managing emotions, mindfulness, social problem solving, being a good
communicator,
naming emotions, understanding how emotions and the brain work, finding personal
strengths);
we can provide opportunities for students to work meaningfully together towards
self-set
goals; periodically we can check in and see if the presentation can be made more
creative
or enjoyable, we can smile; we can provide a sense of predictability in the
classroom
to heighten students’ perception of control; we can clearly communicate
expectations and
performance demands; we can create a learner-centred classroom where learning is
separate from
testing; we can encourage students to become intrinsically motivated and self-
regulated
learners; and we can provide a degree of student choice in authentic learning
tasks.
If we focus on building positive teacher-student relationships using these
strategies, perhaps
we will become that one amazing teacher that someone conjures up and remembers when
reflecting
back on what they have learned at school.