Back To School: What Students Expect of Their Teachers?
Posted: Tuesday, August 23, 2011
by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian
Given the prevailing situation in many public schools of our nation, a sizeable portion of the students evidently expect their teachers to leave them alone to say and do as they wish. They want no discipline, no home work, no failure for refusing to do the work For many kids school is a place where they are required to hang out and goof off until they are old enough to drop out.
• They need and have the right to expect competency from their teachers.
• They need their teachers to be prepared for the day’s work when they enter the classroom.
• They need teachers who are professional in the conduct and demeanor; that act like mature, respectable adults.
• They need a classroom where order is maintained with an atmosphere suitable to learning.
• They need teachers who care about them as individuals, not just as names in a roll-book.
• They need teachers that will make and take time to help them with matters they are having a difficult time understanding.
• They need teachers that have high expectations of them.
• They need teachers who understand their situation at home. In today’s world many students live in dysfunctional homes; homes that show little or no interest in their educational progress. From infancy some have lived in an environment dominated by illegal drugs and alcohol abuse. Domestic violence has been their normal way of life. They live among parents bereft of meaningful education. They have learned to speak only the primitive language of the streets. The only books they are exposed to are porno and other magazines. Television has been their primary teacher outside of the classroom. For these kids to compete with those from normal, stable, happy homes they will have to have lots of help along the way.
• They need teachers who will show them how to live in the real world as they are teaching them the assigned curriculum.
• They need teachers who can be patient with them as they struggle to climb out of the blighted environment in which they have grown up.
• They need teachers who can help them see a brighter, better way of life and can inspired and motivate them to reach for it.
Someone might say, "But I am not hired to be a babysitter or a spiritual advisor. My job is to teach the assigned material." Those so inclined might consider the fact that a recording can teach the assigned material. What students need is the human touch...better, the humane touch of a mature teacher who truly cares for them and lives to see his or her students emerge from his or her class, well on their way to a successful life.
The student from a good home with caring parents is halfway to the victory line. They will almost certainly make it. It’s the rest of the class that must have your help if they are to succeed.
Let’s make this new year the best yet, for both teacher and students.
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