Retention & Empathy
I have found that many of our instructors have little or no empathy for our students under stress. I believe this is largely because they see themselves as coming up the "hard way" and are somewhat resentful of our students opportunities. Is this common among career schools?
So true, Annette. Students must learn the to be self reliant if they hope to be successful. In my opinion, it is immoral to give false praise and develop an inflated sense of accomplishment.
Loren Kroh
Too often I see faculty and staff blur the line between Empathy and Enabling. Students must understand that when they get out into the work force - many times employers don't care about their "issues" and if they cannot fulfill the job requirements, they will replace you with someone who can. Students are better served by learning coping skills, stress management, persistance, and effective ways to problem solve. You CAN be empathic and/or sympathetic and still maintain academic and procedural standards.
Very interesting thought that potentially could be incorporated in our hiring process...I'm gonna pass this one on and see what results from it. Thank you.
In a way I feel I have to agree with that statement . if we start to have a feeling of us against them mentality then not only do we make our job as a teacher more dificult but we also succede in making sure that our customer base (students ) will dwindle until we can not maintain the enrolments that we rely on . The way I see it is that we have to teach students what they need to learn while at the same time keeping in mind that this is a business and a business cannot survive whether it is making pizzas or teaching students to a better future.having had the opertunity to manage a business I developed an understanding for that thinking however I also know that there are others who dont appretiate that yet .
I feel most instructors do really care and try to help but it also takes some effort by the student.He has to want to make things work out. Maturity and age also play a large part both on student and instructor.One other item that can an does effect the instructor is the hours he is spent teaching 13 to 14 hours really is not benificial to him or his students.So their are alot of areas that need to be looked at before you can give a fair answer.
I find that the instructors try to be the students friends as a way to understand the stress they have.
What sort of group support have you offered, Albert? What types of results did you get?
Students are mandatory to the retention process and can be the biggest support with students who are on the edge. I have also offered student group support and the rewults have been unpredictable.
Kristin, what do think makes your school different than Steve's? How do you maintain instructor's desire to build students and not tear them down.
I have not seen this at my school at all. We do out best to build students, not tear them down.
It must be very disappointing to have faculty who are son involved with students yet the students don't respond in a positive way. Have you tried peer pressure - using peer mentors and/or successful graduates to connect with the students who 'don't get it'?
I have found that our instructors are more than willing to assist our students in their educational goals. It's the students that have a hard time getting to school. I find that they are unable to balance and see the importance. They tend to take the easy way out and they do not attend class. Our instructors encourage our students, they call, they give me any information that might prevent the student from completing their program.
No question empathy and good people skills are essential for faculty members. Are there specific techniques you use to identify these traits in an interview?
I have been affliated with career schools over 12 years as either an instructor or an administrator and have found that it's more common that the instructors show more empathy than not because they understand our students life experiences.
During the interviewing process if the applicant doesn't exhibit empathy or good people skills, my feeling is that he/she is not the right person for the job.
This is has not been typical in any of the Career Schools I have been affiliated with. I attended a Career College years ago and it was just the opposite. Every Instructor there cared for the students and they did not have any resentment towards the students at all. Their primary focus was preparing the student for their chosen career so the student could obtain meaningful employment once they completed the program in which they enrolled. Your screening process may need to be reviewed because these Instructors are teaching these students and if you don't have the right staff in the classroom, you are not going to have students who want to attend their classes.
We have been using this process for about 18 months. We have found that the feedback if done anonymously is very instrumental. The topic is choosen by athe appicant as long as it is applicable towards the course they will teach. We so offer materials if necesary but truly enjoy when the applicant is motivated enough to bring his/her own. The staff is also hired by a smaller pannel.
Very thorough process, Nancy. How long have you been using this procedure? How often does the feedback change a decision to hire someone? Does the applicant choose the presentation topic or is he/she expected to use provided materials?
At our campus we also have panel interviews that include a classroom presentations. Included in the pannel are instructors, upper management, a representative of student services and one or two graduates of the program. The feedback we get from everyone is intrumental. Also, once a student finishes a course with an instructor we conduct a classroom survey for feedback and improvement.
