Need for Initial Respect
A quality learning environment must be based on respect between the participants and the facilitator (3.1.1 Overview of Quality Learning Environments). Without this respect, students tend to lack confidence in their abilities, and teachers find themselves unable to believe that every student can be a star. At the beginning of a course or workshop, the participants are apprehensive and in some cases they expect to fail. They lack the fortitude to persevere. If trust and respect is established, however, participants will not want to disappoint the facilitator and, for this reason alone, they will try to meet expectations. After awhile, they will gain confidence in their ability to succeed and will strive to perform well so as not to disappoint themselves. One way to create an atmosphere of trust in the classroom is to make the course standards clear and then to adhere to these standards fairly (Provitera-McGlynn, 2001).
It is difficult to establish respect for student performance at the start of a course because the facilitator has not yet observed the participants in action. At this stage, the teacher has to respect each student’s potential to perform, and to express this belief so strongly that students begin to trust that they will be supported through both success and failure. This belief that there is no limit to a person’s ability to learn is at the core of the Process Education philosophy (2.3.1 Introduction to Process Education).
Instructor Introductions
The first class or workshop meeting is the time to establish initial respect and to begin to convince participants to buy into the learning process (3.1.5 Getting Student Buy-In). When facilitators introduce themselves, it is important that they be forthright in expressing their belief that all students have the potential to succeed as learners, and to be honest in revealing some of the learning challenges that they themselves have faced. Participants have to believe that facilitators have experienced familiar learning difficulties and that they are capable as well as willing to stay with each participant as they grow as learners. A good way to cement this interdependency is for the facilitator and the participants to sign a learning contract (3.1.6 Obtaining Shared Commitment).
Preassessment versus Prejudgment
The second step in the Methodology for Creating a Quality Learning Environment (3.1.3) is to start with no prejudging. If participants think they are being judged before they have had an opportunity to perform, they will not be able to trust the facilitator and all the groundwork discussed in the previous paragraph will be wasted. There is a vast difference between judging and assessing. The purpose of assessment is to help the learner improve by focusing on what he or she has done well, to describe how they can improve, and to generate insights about the students’ learning progress and potential (4.1.1 Overview of Assessment). By contrast, judging is a form of evaluation performed by the facilitator and over which the learner has no control (4.1.2 Distinctions Between Assessment and Evaluation). When facilitators do not prejudge participants, this does not mean that they ignore information that they may know about them (such as the quality of their performance in prerequisite classes); it means that facilitators do not let this information create prejudicial attitudes toward students. The next section will discuss some techniques for pre-assessment that can deepen the mutual respect between facilitators and participants.
Implementation Tips
A number of helpful tools and techniques for establishing initial respect are described below. The module Identifying Learner Needs provides a similar set of techniques, although their purpose is quite different. That module focuses on inquiring about personal needs and identifying gaps in knowledge and skill development. This module focuses on parties introducing themselves, enhancing their strengths, and their promoting their willingness to work together.
Setting the Stage—Before class starts, arrange chairs in a circle, write your name on board, chat with early arrivals, and ask students to get acquainted with their neighbors (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2006).
Instructor Testimonial—Give a candid self-introduction in which you relate your professional skills to your experience at an age similar to that of participants or in a course similar to this (Provitera-McGlynn, 2001).
Round-Robin Introductions—Give each student a number of questions to use in interviewing another classmate. After the interviews, ask the interviewers use the information they have just gained to introduce the interviewees to the rest of the group or to a subset of the class (Krumsieg & Baehr, 2000).
Two Truths and a Lie—Ask each participant to tell three things about himself or herself, one being untrue. Ask the others to try to guess which “fact” is untrue by asking insightful questions.
Peer Testimonials—Ask several students from a previous course offering to give brief statements about their learning experiences, including the challenges they encountered, and the resulting personal growth. Allow the panel members to spend some time afterward answering questions from new students.
Burning Questions—Divide the class into small groups. Have each group review the course syllabus or a course assessment from a previous class (3.3.6 Mid-Term Assessment) and have them pose to you their most burning questions about the course. Answer these for the entire class (Krumsieg & Baehr, 2000).
Philosophy Statement—Ask students to do a free writing assignment in which they describe their vision of an ideal learning environment. Ask them to comment on how well this vision was realized in prerequisite courses, and ask them to suggest how this might be implemented in this course.
Student Survey—Ask students to fill out a one-page survey that gives information about their pre-college background, their preparation for this course, special skills/experiences they can draw on to contribute to the course, and their academic career plans (Davis, 2001).
Learning Contract—Give students a contract like the one described in 3.1.6 Obtaining Shared Commitment. After fielding questions and making small edits, sign it, and ask everyone else to sign it as well. Keep copies available in a binder to refer to during individual and team consultations.
Concluding Thoughts
This module challenges you to moderate your use of authority in the initial class session in order to avoid misperceptions and to gain the respect of each student. Though this openness seems to undermine the instructor’s need to maintain a professional image, it is necessary to ensure that students trust you enough to take the necessary risks to grow their performance capabilities to the level expected at the end of the course. We encourage you to try some of the techniques described in this module at the start of a new semester or workshop and to continue to build a quality learning environment for your students and yourself by obtaining shared commitment, fostering and supporting risk-taking, permitting learners to fail, implementing a quality assessment system, documenting performance, and continuously challenging performance.
References
Davis, B. G. (2001). Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Krumsieg, K., & Baehr, M. (2000). Foundations of learning. Lisle, IL: Pacific Crest.
McKeachie. W., & Svinicki, M. (2006). McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Provitera-McGlynn, A. (2001). Successful beginnings for college teaching: Engaging your students from the first day. Madison, WI: Atwood.