Being an instructor is more than being a trainer in the industry you have chosen to be. The ethical responsabilities to educate connect with moral values. You are a leader, a manager and professional in your field. You are a role model and a confident. You are a coach who fosters champions by engaging your students, motivating them, facilitating active learning, inspiring academic and social growth, honoring fair evaluation, managing stress, workshipping standards and conduct, honoring integrety and showing respect. Instructor's attitude and doings affect directly or indirectly the school students' population and reputation.
I totally agree with this statement.
Working in a career school many of our students are non-traditional students. Some are here for retraining due to job elimination, others have been laid off and are unemployed and need to ramp up their skills. Others have found themselves at a stage in life that they want to do something new and need the training that is offered here. No matter what the reason for wanting an education, everyone has their own baggage and possible barriers that they bring with them.
A students mental health is key to a successful student. While everyone enters our institution with habits, attitudes, beliefs and expectations already in place it is my daily goal to help them rework those things that need to be reworked and to help adjust what needs to be adjusted.
Some students are angry that they lost their jobs, others are dealing with sick children, bad marriages, transportation issues, financial issues, other personal issues. These all affect how they will do in classes during these struggles. My position is to be a good listener, help them find some solutions, and above all else continue to show them that education is the way to a new life. One that they may not struggle as much as they once did.
So we in the education business are certainly in the mental health business as well.
To an extent, yes. As educators we should provide a level of mental health support, such as motivating factors, learning to read our students to know when they are struggling and provide assistance if it is academic related and provide or direct a student to a resource if it is based on another issue.
I agree to the degree that it is important for educators to be aware of the mental and emotional state of their students. If we as educators do not take an active interest in the state of our students then we are not providing the best possible learning environment that we can. In many cases we do not have the background or education required to assess the mental and emotional health of a student; however, we do have the ability to determine when something is out of the ordinary. We can then suggest and direct the student to an appropriate staff member who is qualified to assist them.
Yes, people persue education for life improvment. financial, health both mental and physical, and hopefully to develope a career aligned with thier personality.
I would definately agree with that statement. I work in student advising and honestly some days feel more like a life coach or counselor than an advisor. Students come to us all the time when "life happens." We need to coach them through it and show that we care. They need to know that there is someone out there that cares if they succeed or not.
Thank you, Randi.
It is not uncommonn for students to come to us with certain "I cannot do this" attitudes about something that has not gone welll for them in school in the past. From time to time, I have also had students talk about how the "inability" runs in their family.
These can be tough expectations to overcome. The most common one I heard when I was a Dean was that "I cannot do math." I usually told the students who shared this that we had great math teachers who will find what works for them. Fortunately, I had faculty members who did so.
Jeffrey,
I agree that we are in the mental health business. I actually laughed when I read the term Edu-Psycho-Preneur. In adult education, the students come from multifaceted backgrounds and often need our help to clearly see their own vision along the way. This includes listening, the psycho aspect, to help understand how to guide them to reach their goals. For example, I have a student who shared with me that she is bad in writing and that her mother and grandmother were also bad in writing. If I did not listen to understand here background, I would have not been able to direct her in the right place for help. This student sent me a note last week and she is not doing quite well with her new writing skills.
Randi
I agree that we are in more than one business. My classes are made up of a diverisity of cultures and age groups. Constantley having to change teaching styles to accomodate all of my students and to watch their reactions to lectures and lab assignments.It very important to be able to put students in groups that can get along and work well together and to moniter their progress,attitude and happiness with the education that they are recieving.You must be able to change and adapt to maintain a good repore with your students and continue to show your concern for the student and there education.
Thanks, Patricia.
The emotional state of a learner is something that always impacts how they will interact and how effectively they will learn.
The parent analogy is an interesting one.
I would not necessarily say that educators are in the mental health business, but I do believe that instructors should use EI knowledge as a contributing factor in academics. The emotional state of a learner can be greatly affected by the instructor- for better or worse. Additionally (and the last time I checked), I do not know of any living human being without some type of daily-stress traits. To me, educators are more like parents than mental health professionals. An effective parent listens, protects, and serves the off-spring.
I would absolutly agree that we are also in the "mental health" business. We are delivering information to increase the knowledge and skills of people. This clearly develops the intellect and strengthens the mind. Reading, studying, listening to lectures, performing lab tasks, completing assignments, taking tests and quizes, and engaging in group discussions all work to exercise the mind.
