5 Ways Teachers See Students?

From my short experience in teaching, the most important aspect I learned is how teachers see their students. This shows that there are no bad students, only bad teachers. Remember the teachers that have made marks in our lives, inside and outside school. The key why they have touched us is the way they see us.

Here are some perspectives on how teachers see us.

1. A student is a workload.

The initial information teachers obtain before conducting a class is the number of students and the relative impression of the teachers, who had prior experience with them. Then, teachers formulate strategies on how to deal with them. This is good at least for the first few meetings, but this can be difficult in the long run. Teachers may just merely go to a class for the sake of work, thereby seeing every student as part of their workload.

In return, students feel nothing to the teacher. Students remember the tasks the teacher required them, rather than who the teacher really is. Students see teachers not as bad teachers, but individuals just doing their jobs. This, however negatively affects the teacher themselves as this results to boredom and exhaustion at work.

2. A student is an opportunity.

Some teachers assume that students are sitting in a classroom for improvement. The teachers relates every discussion as if it was never taught before, providing new methods on how to learn the same topic. In this way, the teachers see an opportunity in every student, worth in time and effort. The teacher does not mind about whether a student has the capacity to learn fast, or not. Instead, they are concerned about the difference they have made in each student they have.

Students seldom find teachers like this. They see their teacher more than person, who is doing their job. They see them as learning catalysts, trying to reinforce past learning while extensively introducing new concepts. Students respect their teachers as they feel obligated to reciprocate the teacher's efforts. However, not all teachers are capable of doing so. This does not depend on how a teacher was educated in school but on how they were raised as a person.

3. A student is a symbol of authority.

Great power comes with great responsibility. However, teachers sometimes follow the opposite. Since the tasks are great and so there exist a need to impose one's power and authority. This teachers highlight their authority to create order, believing it is necessary for them to attain a good learning environment. Although often misused, this traditional perspective can be effective, as long as teachers do not solely show their authority to their students, but also their abilities to impart something for students to learn.

Fear is what students feel. They feel obligated to do task because there is someone higher in authority demanding them to do some activities. Regardless of whether students appreciate the relevance of the task, they still follow. This method can be effective if teachers are fully aware that authority is only a means of learning, and not teaching itself entirely.

4. A student is the key for fulfillment.

Some teachers see teaching as their passion. It is not merely a cliché but truly these individuals live to be teachers. They see their job as a means to actualize themselves and feel happiness in every teaching moment. They see no problems but merely challenges for them to strengthen their beliefs that they were born or made as a teachers. They do everything they could inside the four walls of the classroom. They have good strategies and see each student as opportunities. They also impose authority at times but sees to it that students are aware that is necessary for them to learn and improve.

Students feel home together with type of teacher. As if the school is an extension of their home. Whatever tasks the teacher asks, students follow because they see the relevance of it with the learning process. Students are not afraid to give feedbacks politely and accept authority from the teacher wholeheartedly. The best thing is that students remember the teacher in his or her teaching and the methods employed to facilitate learning. Perhaps most of our best teachers have this perspective.

5. A student is a person.

This is the most debatted perspective about how teachers treat their students. This means teachers feel obligated to guide each student to any aspect of their lives. Teachers act as parents, friends or siblings. They go beyond teaching. Regardless of how good the teacher inside the classroom, the teacher exerts effort to communicate with students on non-classroom issues, especially with their personal lives.

In this way, students feel the attachment to their teachers. This is good if both the teacher and student know their boundaries. However, this is easy said than done. This engagement could easily be misunderstood and expectations would increase significantly. Whether teachers believe on this perspective, most important is for them to express themselves with clarity and sincerity. This is preemptive to avoid problems closely associated with close associations, especially between students and teachers.

Whichever perspective your teacher had seen or is seeing you, it is important that students provides time for their teachers to reach out. All teachers try but not all succeed. Students must not see their teachers as an opponent, but a person who will at least share something significant that is worth listening. Students need not to befriend their teachers, but students can eagerly listen at the minimum to them.

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