Hi Roy,
Absolutely! The feelings really need to be very neutral in nature.
Patricia
Hi Cindy,
Once respect is lost, it is certainly hard to regain!
Patricia
Hi Elizabeth,
You are right! These are the reasons why the student/teacher relationship should be strictly business in nature.
Patricia
Hi Christopher,
Distance is important in a student/teacher relationship. Boundaries must be established so that students fully understand your role and their role.
Patricia
It sets the standard of objectivity. I believe that a class must have objective outcomes to ensure that everybody has faith in it. If you do not keep a professional distance it compromises that faith.
Once reason that this is important is because if you become "buddy-buddy" with your students, they often feel entitled. They may ask for preferred treatment beyond the standard allowances such as additional make-up, constantly turning in late work without consequences, etc. These student will try to take advantage of this relationship to get an easy grade in the course and may end up passing the class without really having the knowledge.
They will lose respect for you if you dont.
Professional image also should be maintained by the appropriate manners and style of clothing.Students are really paying attention!
So that their are no emotional ties to each other, other than the learning asspect.
Students need and want us to be a professional. They like to know that everyone is being treated fairly and consistently, and that cannot happen when your professional distance from students is jeopardized.
Hi John,
Absolutely! As educators we should always increase our standards to be much higher than that of the student.
Patricia
It separates me from the class. I am the expert (professional)so how I act, dress and communicate with the students sets the tone!
As a new teacher, I fell into the trap of wanting my students to like me, to act more as a peer or theirs than a mentor. My own mentoring teacher saw this and warned me about it, but I continued. At the end of the term, when the final projects were due, some of my new friends turned in half-completed papers with a wink -- I was their buddy, and surely I would understand! It was then that the folly of my approach truly came home to me. I assessed the papers appropriately and lost some friends in the process. Since that time, I've been careful to maintain a professional distance with my students, to be a mentor, a guide, a teacher, but not a pal.
Some students will strive to become friends with their insturctors, and by accepting that, the instructor finds it hard to reprimand that student if they needed that. Also it will be obvious to the other students that the instructor has favourites.
I believe it helps them respect you, and will encourage them to get help and make friends with other students.
Hi Sharon,
Students do not need another friend. They need a professional who can serve as a role model for them.
Patricia
Hi Sherri,
You are the person in control, and your authority should never be taken lightly by your students. Always remain profesional, and you will get the respect that you have earned.
Patricia
Hi Edward,
We should always be reminded that personal relationships with students are not worth losing our jobs over.
Patricia
Hi Maria,
Yes! Keep everything strictly professional. Students really aren't looking for another friend. They need someone they can emulate.
Patricia
Hi John,
I concur! Students look up to us in so many ways.
Patricia
