Hi Monika,
Nicely said! Do not establish a personal relationship with students. Personal relationships are prohibited with students.
Patricia
Hi Allison,
A personal relationship with students makes for a bad situation. It is definitely frowned upon.
Patricia
If a personal relationship is formed between instructor and student, a comflict can arise. Friends expect certain things and that can lead to favors. This is not appropriate in a professional environment. Other student can see this behavior and hold resentment towards the instructor.
Good point Gregory. If we don't start off on a professional basis the students will quickly pick up on that and try to control the focus and direction of the class. Good Job, Chris Graves.
I agree Regina,we don't want to adversely affect their potential because we decided not to be the leader but instead to be a friend. Both can be done, but emphasis always needs to be placed on being the leader of the people that strive for our knowledge and education.
Maintaining a professional distance from your students is an important and imperative part of class management because you can run the risk of affecting their careers and personal lives. As Instructors we need to learn who are students are and their learning styles, but we cannot and shouldn't not become "buddies" with them. There still needs to be a "chain of command" as well as a leader for the class. If you became "buddies" with the students the chain of command may breakdown and students may not respect your opinion or position if they don't get their way. Thanks, Chris Graves.
Students should not view you as a friend, a nice teacher that can be trusted, an authority figure who is on their side, those things are fine. But being friends with them is not helpful to their learning experiance or your teaching experiance. Students are supposed to be treated equally and you will no longer be objective if you are very close to just one person.
Hi Lynn,
Awesome response! Looking back on it, you really appreciate those who thoroughly prepared you for the real world. The push over instructors have been forgotten about.
Patricia
Once the line between instructor and friend is crossed, there is no going back. It's just like being a parent, someone needs to be the adult! A child does not expect a friend to discipline him/her and when that happens a sense of betrayal is felt by the child. Same happens with students. Students expect a certain behavior from friends and another behavior from teachers. You just can't be both.
It allows the student to respect your professional experience, knowledge and willingness to share that information.
I agree with you. I think the parents and instructors that are trying to play the friend role are trying to take a shortcut to respect and because of their desire to be like right away instead of years down the road. Think about it. Some of the best instructosr you had and liked were not the ones you thought that about right away or even at graduation. It wasn't until you had gained real world experience the hindsight to see the fruit of different instructors that you decided which instructor was best and that later opinion is a lot more informed and accurate. That is the goal.
Keeping a distance from the students and providing them with the knowledge and experiences that we have to share with them involving their career choices proves to them that we care about their futures. By not getting caught in their traps, we need to hold a high standard of professionalism.
Maintaining a professional image allows the students to see someone whos committed to their education.If you get personal then it can bring problems...like if the student feels you should pass them base on the fact you and that student developed a friendship.
Hi Byron,
Befriending students after graduation is appropriate, befriending students while they are in school is asking for trouble.
Patricia
I believe that the students should see the Instructor as a Mentor and someone who has knowledge they want to gain. By keeping a professional distance it is easier to keep control and gain their respect. Once they graduate then you can always stay in touch and be a friend or mentor from there as well. I have many students that email me and ask questions, or just to say hi and make sure everything is going well for me.
Hi Kevin,
Once respect is lost, it is extremely hard to regain it.
Patricia
You will lose respect of the students.
Hi Earnest,
Awesome response! I can tell you are a true professional, and you lead by example. Thank you for giving our students someone to look up to.
Patricia
Hi Alison,
We must reach out to our students in a professional way, but we have to establish boundaries so that students know that it is strictly a professional relationship.
Patricia
I think that students want both a professional and a friend. You need to find a balance in between both that you are most comfortable with. Each student or group of students are unique.
