Different styles of teaching
Irina
This article suggests specific ways in which college teachers can foster relationships with students that promote motivation and satisfaction. The techniques presented here were organized into groups of techniques dealing with 1) fostering personal relationships with students, 2) obtaining regular feedback from them, 3) motivating students to work through effective classroom leadership, 4) showing special attention to certain types of students, and 5) handling miscellaneous interpersonal issues.events early in the term do not harm the development of rapport but have limited power to produce it, are not likely to be attended by the students who most need rapport, and can not offset distancing or rejecting remarks by the teacher in class. Some college teachers try to promote rapport and reduce their classroom image as authority figures by dressing casually, encouraging students to call them by their first names, or giving students considerable freedom to select the work they do. Others encourage informal interaction with students outside classrooms by scheduling conferences, sponsoring parties or picnics, inviting students to lunch, or holding class meetings outside on the grass or in their homes. Unfortunately, none of these strategies ensures satisfied students. Furthermore, none are necessary for interpersonal rapport to develop and for students to be highly motivated. The students most likely to call the instructor by his or her first name or to accept social invitations are the ones who already feel relatively comfortable, not those who are most in need of special attention. Many students find the novelty of calling their first name. This novelty or comfort of calling first names of instructors is superficial and is no quick substitute for a real relationship period near the beginning of a course, this comfort is developed over time. As Kenneth Eble observes in The Craft of Teaching [3, p. 73], the best strategy for developing rapport may be no more formal than providing excuses and opportunities for easy talk. Raquo; One-to-one interactions with students in the second half of a course are likely to be more meaningful than those that occur earlier. The subtleties of a college teacher s behavior toward a class throughout the term do more to produce an optimal class atmosphere than sweeping structural changes at the beginning ( Let's move the chairs back and sit on the floor ). Personal Relationships with Students. The easiest way to begin forming personal relationships with students is to learn their names. Nothing so impresses students as a college teacher who makes a serious effort to get to know them as individuals. Any instructor can learn to match up to 50 student names with faces in the first few classes if he or she approaches the task with a positive attitude and commitment. With practice, some may be able to learn up to 100. Learning each student s name is so effective at promoting rapport because it begins personal contact immediately but does not seem forced, rushed, or intrusive. When we meet a new colleague, we learn his or her name as the first step in forming a working relationship; so it should be between college teacher and student. Learning them in class requires a large amount of eye contact, and this may contribute as much to the growth of the individual relationships as your permanent association of face and name. Note on the card other information about each student if needed, but concentrate on looking directly at the students faces, forming a visual image of each face while silently saving the matching first name over and over. Then go on to the next card, and so forth. Another way to develop rapport with students is to come to class five to ten minutes early, especially before the initial class meetings. This conditions students to expect to start on time and also provides opportunities to chat informally with them before class or for them to approach you about their concerns. Students will take your interest in being accessible to them for questions or discussions more seriously in your home telephone number is listed on the course syllabus and you encourage them to call you in the evening and on weekends ( But never after 10.30 at night! ). Few students will call, but all will view the invitation as a serious indication of your commitment to communicate with them.Feedback from Students. Giving students many opportunities to communicate and listening carefully to them can be valuable for a number of reasons [1, p.67]. Interpersonal relationships require a dialogue, a two-way communication, so any teaching method that encourages students to communicate will help to form personal bonds. One effective method of encouraging student...
