Once respect is lost, it it very hard to manage the classroom. If the students see you as a friend and not an authority figure, you're no more credible than another classmate. A clear line must be established.
Hi Patrice,
Instructors MUST know where to draw the line. Students well expect favors if you befriend them.
Patricia
Hi Timothy,
We should not make it our business to intimidate students. We should make it our business to ensure they succeed.
Patricia
Hi Jviveros,
The standards MUST be established on Day 1.
Patricia
When the students become to familiar with the instructor, they may expect favors. They need not see the teacher as a buddy, but rather as a professional whose standards must be attained.
I let the students know from the first day that i am the instructor, i am in control earn there respect.
As I mentioned, students can be easily intimidated, and we do want to strive to avoid that.
Well, you wouldn't want to make them nervous, and nothing does that quite like proximity.
Familiarity does not always lead to contempt if a cordial yet professional relationship is established. The fact is that a teacher-student relationship is not equal in power. It is a quid pro quo scenario that requires the intructor who as benefit of the title has all the postitional power and the obligation to use it but not abuse it. The instructor must then exhibit personal power by demonstrated expertise and attractive personality attributes. Through positional and personal power the instructor then acquires politcal power with his group and can be in control with the willing participation and consent of their class. In such a dynamic environment is the traps of arrogance and wanting more. Influence, once gained, by instructor or student, needs to be restricted to the professional task at hand. Feeling the result of success can be a heady experience. Occassionally it is not a suprise how some may want to pursue this dynamism further and cross over to excess in a personal relationship with a student. Separation is neccessary to prevent this.
maintaining a professional distance from your students an important part of class management , because you are the model ( all eyes on you ) and you should have set a very high standars of professionalism form the very first day of class!
Hi William,
Great response! Student should automatically know there is a distance based on the two different roles.
Patricia
Organization, Standardization and Control of the classroom will command respect in the classroom. Students want organization, direction and need to know what the end result will be. Professional appearance encompasses these traits for an instructor.
So true. Students need to know who is the instructor and who is the student. The line has become blurred in recent years. I am not here to be the best friend. I am here to be an instructor-- and I can be an instructor who cares-- and one who portrays a professional image.
While all would agree we must be professional, the idea of maintaining a professional distance is a different concept.
The distance arises from the fact that we are the instructor and everyone else is the student. Students typically look up to the instructor and expect a distance. And if they don't look up to us, they nevertheless expect there to be a distance between us and them :)
Students really do not want a best friend in class. A professional distance helps us to set expectations, follow them, and apply them to all students equally.
Hi Ronald,
Simply put, treat everyone the same!
Patricia
Hi Jacqueline,
All students should be treated the same.
Patricia
Hi Rick,
I understand. At my institution it is corporate culture to call the instructor Mr./Ms. and last name. A sense of respect is established by this practice.
Patricia
Hi Elizabeth,
A line has to be distinguished between the two.
Patricia
Hi Elizabeth,
Absolutely! We have to be our students role models. Some students do not get guidance from home.
Patricia
When being a professional it is so important to keep the line between friend-student-teacher.
Very important for level of respect.
