Dedicated to empower, grow, contribute,
challenge and support individuals and organisations through behavioural
change initiatives.
There is a secret truth: what
you ultimately teach is who you are.
There is no escaping this
truth. No matter how cool, new, or different the teaching session is,
the underlying core message you're imparting on your learner is who you
are - - your values, beliefs and personal standards.
For example, if you believe the
world is a dangerous place filled with people who will "get you" if you
slip up (i.e. victim mentality) then this is what others will
ultimately learn from you -- you'll end up perpetuating fear. On the
other hand, if you believe and operate from a place of power and
contribution then this is the real lesson your clients will learn from
you.
This means THE most important
investment you'll ever make as an educator is to "upgrade" who you are
by investing in your own personal development on a consistent basis. As
you grow, so will your ability to touch the lives of the people you
teach.
Excellence in a school setting. *
Can you think of a service sector where respecting the client is not
part of the job requirement? Where the customer must attend every day
no matter how much he may detest the experience? Where she is used to
ensure the company's results look good?
Well, if this doesn’t sound familiar it’s probably
because you have been out of school too long. The fortunate aspect is
that school doesn’t really have to be unpleasant, and
learning really can be a positive experience. It is possible to create a
situation where children want to come to school, and will work
willingly once there. All that is needed is a willingness
to make a choice, and support to internalise that decision.
Before we can seek to change things, however, we must first examine the
current situation. In most places today, children experience school as
something unpleasant; they only attend because they have to. Most would
rather be somewhere else than in school. This “I
don’t want to be here” attitude creates an
environment in which teachers feel they must behave in an authoritarian
manner in order to enforce control and discipline. Not surprisingly
then, learning, the one function which the human brain is designed to
do naturally, has become a battle ground; a test of wills.
Until the age of twelve or so children more easily submit to this
situation. But as they reach the teen years and start High School, they
begin to challenge their teachers’ authority (as they do
their parent's). It is then that control, fear and intimidation
determine how “smoothly” a school is run. Working
in an environment based on suppression, fear and control ultimately
eliminates the drive to excel. It reduces schooling to an exercise in
mediocrity. Most students study only because they have to, not because
they want to.
Means and Ends
One of the main reasons for this state of affairs is that teachers are held accountable for
the wrong thing. Teachers are held accountable for the
results students achieve on tests and exams, and not for the
contribution teachers make to children’s lives. Therefore,
the curriculum has become more important than the student. The books,
lessons, structure and discipline rather than being a means by which to
grow and enable students, have become an end in themselves. The student
has been reduced to being a means, a tool, to achieving a result. One
consequence of this inversion of means and ends is that the child, who
should be at the center of the educational process, has been moved to
the periphery. Results are now at the centre.
Intent
Children don’t feel that schools exist to serve their needs.
This is crucial to how children experience school. If a learner is only
a means to high academic achievement, his experience of school is one
of being used for someone else’s purpose. On the other hand,
if the intention of the teacher is to use the curriculum, the books,
the rules and the tests to enable the child, the child’s
experience of the interaction will be different. The student will then
be the beneficiary of the interaction. Therefore it is the
teacher’s intention, either to get something from the student
or to give something, which is at the core of the teacher-student
relationship. It is the crucial factor in cultivating a willingness to
work for the teacher.
Legitimate Authority
At its fundamental level the teacher-student relationship is one in
which the big one in the relationship is growing the little one. By
definition the teacher is in a position of authority and power. After
all, you cannot have a relationship of equals between teacher and
student without bringing the teacher down to the level of the learner.
It is also not possible to elevate the learner suddenly to the maturity
and intellectual level of the teacher. To grow takes time. I was not
born with a beard and leather jacket.
We all deal with the power wielded by authority figures in our lives.
That could be the parent at home, the boss at work, or the policeman on
the street. However, sometimes we acquiesce to their demands willingly
and sometimes only under compulsion. In a school situation then, where
the teacher-student interaction is the fundamental activity that takes
place, the key question has to be what makes the authority of a teacher
acceptable? And how can we create an environment where students
willingly listen to and work for their teachers?
Research and experience taught us that when the intent of the
super-ordinate is the care and enablement of the subordinate, authority
is perceived as legitimate. It is the reason we accepted the authority
of our parents when we were young. This model has effectively
transformed many organizations all over the world by changing the
paradigm of workers from “I work because I have to”
(because I fear the consequences if I don't) to “I work
because I want to” (I now have a meaningful reason to work).
If we explore the first relationship of power that a human being
experiences, that of parent and child, the fundamental element that
makes the relationship legitimate is that it is the parent’s
intent to care for and grow the child. It is the instinctive
acknowledgement on the child’s part that he is cared for,
that allows his willing submission to the parent’s authority.
It is the realization that authority is being wielded by the parent in
the child’s interest that gives legitimacy to the
relationship. Later in life when adults describe the boss they would
willingly work for, all the elements of this ideal authority figure
fall into two categories; care and enablement.
The essence of the student-teacher dynamic, especially in the teen
years, is one of authority, compulsion and rebellion. Therefore,
cultivating the willingness to work has to be a key element of
successful schooling.
For this to happen we must invert the current means- ends paradigm in
schools. We must acknowledge that the curriculum, examinations, and
results are only a means to encourage the growth of the individual
child, and not the ends to prove the effectiveness of the teachers or
the system. The teacher’s intent then cannot be to get
results out of the child, but to contribute to his growth.
Keeping this in mind, tests and exams should be viewed as no more than
indicators of progress (measuring how well the learner is cared for and
enabled), not as goals in themselves. The results obtained by learners
measures the success of enabler- the teacher. It is therefore vital
that teachers understand this issue of Intent. It is ultimately the
intent of the teacher, as much as his actions, which determines his
relationship with the child. Students who perceive their
teachers’ intent as being for his growing and care, will
willingly do what a teacher asks of him, and more.
Making a Meaningful Contribution
To bring out this transformation in schools, to move from mediocrity to
excellence, teachers will have to cultivate willingness to make a
contribution to children. They must feel a higher purpose than logging
hours for a paycheck. For this to happen benevolent intent must be
built into the very fabric of the school.
Exactly the same principles which govern an effective teacher-student
relationship must guide the interaction between school administrators
and teachers. The function of the administrative structure in schools
is to care for and enable the teachers. Instead of using teachers to
achieve the purpose of the system, administrators could care for and
empower them to achieve their highest potential, which is to contribute
unconditionally to the growth of their learners. Again it is the
teacher’s perception of the administrator’s intent
that determines his willingness to work. Is it the
administrator’s role to get something out of the teacher or
contribute something to him? Is he paid to give or to get? Is the administrator's
attention on the teacher to see how he could help, or on his supervisor
to see how he can please? In an ideal world the administrators serve
the teachers who serve the students, who ultimately serve the community
in which they will work and live.
Care means teachers must feel respected, trusted and secure. To trust
and respect anyone is the job of the supervisor. If someone down the
line of command prove to be unworthy of trust and respect, he should be
fired (held accountable). Any thing else means that he is not respected. Enablement means to make able, supply the
means and hold accountable. It is unfair to treat any one as if s/he
should not be held accountable.
Ability includes both the how and why of a teacher’s job. The
how is teacher training, including lesson planning, lesson delivery,
and classroom management. The why includes an understanding of the
importance of the contribution teachers make to learners and to
society. In cultivating the leaders of tomorrow, do we want to be
examples of takers or givers? Which make for better government? People
who contribute willingly or those who feel they are entitled to always
want more, without contributing?
Teachers must then be supplied with the means which includes the tools,
authority and time to fulfill this role. For effective
growth to take place, teachers must be held accountable for their
contribution to students and not for the results their students produce.
To learn more about cultivating volunteers, contact Johan Manson 021
858 1402, 084 909 4999, e-mail
link
You may qualify for a pro bono programme.
*Adapted from an essay by Shahpur Jamall: www.schuitema.co.za
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