Most students are smart enough to test you if you get too chummy with them in class. If they sense that you are becoming a 'friend' of the class, they'll try to get you to lower your academic standards to make the course easier for them. You can never let your guard down, no matter how tempting it might be.
For the students too respect you they must see you as a professional and not as one of their friends. Once the barrier is broken class discipline becomes a big problem. The students feel they don't have to obey class rules because the instructor is their buddy.
Students should be able to communicate easily with instructors but at the same time must regard the instructor as a mentor who has experience and knowledge in their field. Respect for instructors is diminished when Instructors do not maintain a professional distance from their students. Also, instructors may be less objective in their grading and assessments of students.
It is easier to deal with the negative situations that arise and the consequences if you are a professional and you are not perceived as a friend who is no longer on their side.
Hi Erica,
You are right! I have students tell me all the time, when I grow up I want to be just like you. We are looked up to as role models.
Patricia
Hi John,
Yes. Students really look up to us in every way. We must remember they will do as we do. Being professional is the only way to go.
Patricia
You are a role model, when students see your sucess they want to try and achieve it.
As instructors we are the professional role model for students; our professional image is one more teaching tool.
It is important to dress and act as a professional to train future professionals.
You may show your students you care about their suscess butit can not become a friendship as long as they are your students. This will disminish your position. A professional friendship as a mentor can take place after graduation. I have students from several years ago call be for advise on cases they are working in the field
I agree that dress can reflect professionalism. It gives the students a good example to follow when they need to present themselves in a professional manner.
Hi Tracey,
What a response! I agree whole heartedly. You did a magnificent job distinguishing between building a rapport with students and befriending students. This is exactly the approach that I take with all students.
Patricia
Students look up to us as professionals. They listen to what we say and how we say it.
In order to remain professional, consistent,and fair while establishing good rapport with students, you must maintain a professional distance. Saying hi in the hall and asking a student how he is is part of that rapport; but going to lunch with him or being invited to his home and accepting that invitation is unprofessional. It only causes you grief and hardship in the long-run. It also creates a barrier between you and other students.
This is why you have friends and family outside of the classroom. There is no need to become "friends" with students. However, it is important for you to have good rapport and be an eductional support for them.
In order to gain respect, you need to draw a line between a professional and personal relationship with students. As an instructor, if you get to close to a student, you not only lose respect, but you also lose your credibility in the classroom.
I am an attorney and I teach paralegal students. I find that if I show a professional demeanor it helps convey the seriousness of the subject matter and the responsibilities that the students will be involved in as professionals themselves. I try to intersperse examples of when the wheels fall off the bus to show that even the most prepared professional may encounter unforeseen problems. I usually ask them what they would handled the situation themselves.
Students want to believe that we are concerned about them and that we want them to succeed. It is important to maintain this type of environment because once we overstep that boundary and want to become a friend, we take the risk of disappointeding them, and lose our respect as a professional educator.
Hi Jeremy,
You're right, therefore instructors must be in full control of relationships and never let them turn into personal ones.
Patricia
Hi Marife,
Most students learn professionalism from us as instructors. We are constantly being watched at school and everywhere else.
Patricia
Hi James,
It will never fail you as long as you do not let students cross the line. I too have never let if fail me after 21 years of teaching.
Patricia
