Teaching/Mentoring with Heart: It’s Ok to Be Human
This is the title of Peggy Liggit’s TEDxEMU talk about connecting with students and making a difference.
Like every other thing I feel compelled to write about, I loved it.
As the director of faculty development at Eastern Michigan University- and the daughter of a professor so dedicated to teaching that he instilled the same love in his children- Liggit clearly has a vested interest, and a true love of students.
To take a quote directly from her TED talk (and gordontraining.com), she says:
“If teaching-learning processes are to work effectively, a unique kind of relationship must exist between these two organisms, some kind of ‘connection,’ link, or bridge between the teacher and the learner.” –Gordon Training International, Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET)
This is absolutely true, and I feel that teachers need to be reminded of that from time to time. I believe in connecting with students as people, and I know this makes a huge positive difference in their learning and motivation.
I actually had a blog reader and fellow part-time instructor graciously send me her NCA (National Communication Association) paper on the topic of positively connecting with students, titled “Striving for Instructional Communication Competence: Maximizing Students’ Learning Potential through Awareness and Assessment of Instructional Communication Behaviors.” Based on her research and observations as (at the time) a new communication instructor, she found that there were a number of factors at play in positively affecting student learning outcomes.
Among the eight factors was ‘caring.’
Gone are the days when teachers were expected to simply impart their knowledge to students and scold them into submission. This is one way to effectively deter academic progress.
“If you disconnect, there’s no magic,” as Liggit says.
I believe many schools acknowledge this and are starting to put programs in place to encourage this ‘magic’ between teachers and students.
The other day I was invited to a ‘Lunch and Learn’ on campus with one of my students. I had never heard of this before, but I learned that it’s a required program that’s been put in place to encourage first-generation college students to get to know their professors outside the classroom. The university pays for the lunch, and the teacher and student get a chance to establish a mentor-mentee relationship.
During the same week, I was invited to a campus organization brunch by another student. My student told me that this year her organization had started a semi-annual ‘Academic Brunch’ to help bridge the gap between students and teachers at this particularly large university. What a fantastic idea.
I truly hope more schools start implementing valuable programs like Lunch and Learn and Academic Brunches, for not just first-generation students, but for all students.
The biggest benefit I see with programs like these are the opportunity for students to make valuable connections with instructors who can give them guidance, who can write them letters of recommendation, and who they can stay connected with during their college experience and afterward.
I look back fondly on the student-teacher relationships I made during college. With each year that passes, I realize that those approachable teachers helped me choose a path during some confusing semesters that ultimately made me feel safe, happy, successful, and confident as a learner.
My instructors lovingly coached me through my undergraduate thesis, made me feel comfortable asking potentially ‘stupid’ questions, and even talked to me about graduate school options during my senior year (which I didn’t know was an option, being a first-generation college student myself). Then during graduate school, I was guided by teachers with the same approachable and caring attitude, who taught me how to teach other students with heart.
I hope they know the life-changing impact their kindness and encouragement had on me.
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Be a mentor for students who seek out your guidance.
Do you know who your students are? Do you know their academic concerns and the ways you can best help them? Do they know they can come to you to establish a valuable connection and receive direction?
These are important questions to ask yourself.
And remember, it’s okay to be human.