Maintaining a professional distance from the students is an importnat part of classroom management because instructors should not be 'friends' with their students. It will become difficult to grade fairly, give constructive criticism, and manage your classroom if you are perceived as a friend.
I think maintaining a professional attire, attitude,and language role models the behavior you are trying to develope in your students.
I only give information about me that relates to the course and my experiences. I keep my personal life out of the classroom and try to maintain and professional rapport with my classes.
Because if you allow yourself to be on a personal level with your students, they might not take you serious.
I feel this keeps a line of respect from your students as well as the students feeling comfortable or entitled to speacial treatment in grades or class privelages.
The students need to understand we are there for support, but not their friend. There has to be a respect between student and instructor. It is very similar to parent and child.. can not be your child's friend when raising them.
You want students to see you as their leader not their buddy. Students will have more respect for you if they view you as someone who has the knowledge they are seeking, not someone who is their Facebook buddy.
It is important to set a high standard for your students by your example. You should consider the way you dress, your organization, how you treat your students with respect, your preparation and your ability to pass on your experience in the field to the students.
These steps will ensure a professional image in the classroom and in turn will help the students with their professionalism as well.
Hi John,
It is always good to try to keep the classroom environment professional in nature. It is way too risky when personal issues become the center of focus.
Patricia Scales
It keeps the student from injecting their personal life into the classroom setting.
It is important to be approachable, but there still should be boundaries between instructor and students. Sharing too much information or getting involved with the personal lives of students can take the class off course or interfere with the instructor's ability to assess the student honestly.
Professional distance encourages the student to independently complete the course sucessfully. If the student feels that you would be too easy on them, or exhibit favoritism, that will act to diable the student.
This is really important. A real mistake is wanting to be a student's friend, instead of a professional instructor. The professional distance allows you to comfortably support and when necessary, reprimand a student, without allowing personal space to become an issue. Students will respect you more when you show respect for the relationship of instructor-student, and are more comfortable with that. This doesn't mean that you can't have fun with the students in class, but class management runs on the standard of respect for instructors, the policies and procedures, and requirements for completion. And this professional distance is a big help in maintaining that.
Maintaining a professional image and distance from students ensures that the student/instructor relationship is not jeopardized. This will eliminate favoritism and temptation by maintaining respect and integrity.
We are supposed to be models/mentors/leaders and our students need to recognize this. By keeping a professional relationship with out students, but still one in which they are comfortable talking to us, we are showing them how a professional handles themselves.
I have made it very clear, I care about my students, I learn from them as they do from me, I respect their differences and likes, and that does not mean we cannot be friends, but in the classroom/campus/during their education, a professional relationship has to occur.
as a new instructor, i present myself to the students as a professional with almost 30 yrs experience, and highlight what my specialities are and what my work experience has included. i let them know that since i have worked in the profession for a long time, i know what they need to know to work in this field
A professional distance will remind both instructors and students of their goals, their task and their responsiblity. It also makes teaching and learning more effective.
Hi Johnson,
Also to establish an example for our students we need to maintain a professional image.
Patricia Scales
Hi Billie,
I agree! Distance means a lot when it comes to the student/instructor relationship. Boundaries must be established so that the students clearly knows who the authorative figure is.
Patricia Scales
Hi Lawrence,
You are right. You must be able to distinguish the difference, otherwise students will take advantage of your kindness and heartfelt ways.
Patricia Scales
