Walter Geerts & René van Kralingen - The Teachers' Handbook

1  How do students learn?

1.1.4 Relationship: communicate and involve the whole class Students feel the need to have a relationship with their teacher and with fellow stu dents. A student will function well when he can trust his teacher and when he feels he is an active part of the group. As a teacher you can support this process by: ■■ Stimulating and utilising the social process. ■■ Involving all students in the lesson, even in a large group. ■■ Taking some communication advice to heart. Stimulating and utilising the social process Learning takes place within a social context. The school functions like a meet ing place. Many students experience going to school as a pleasant social activity: it’s where they see their friends; a large part of their social life is at school. As a teacher you can use this to motivate students in their learning process. It’s easy to create a working atmosphere conducive to student participation and good effort. Mutual engagement creates commitment. Also, bear in mind that learning is a social process. Learning improves when students are engaged with the curriculum while interacting with each other. They have to verbalise the content and hone their thinking skills. They get to re structure existing knowledge and make new connections to reach fresh insights. Through this process, students develop their own view of the material. This is what social constructivism entails. This sociological theory of knowledge takes the view that people construct their own knowledge through interaction with other individuals (see section 1.4.4). Commitment Commitment sounds like yet another trendy concept that you are expected to devote yourself to as a teacher. As a teacher, you naturally want your students to have a connection with you, with each other and with their school work. It would be so easy to take this need for connection for granted and to forget to pay atten tion to it. This can be a pitfall. Commitment doesn’t appear out of nowhere, but is created by consciously setting a good example: showing your commitment while work ing with your students; during assignments, during explanations; in other words, in everything you do. Take a look at your students. Who are they? What are their abilities? What are their wishes? Incorporate their needs. Once students notice that you are genuinely interested in them and that you really want them to learn, they will feel validated. They will start to put trust in you and in themselves. Furthermore, by showing that you are keen to get the best out of yourself, they will in turn live up to your highest expectations. A good relationship involves a bit of give and take. Students will give gladly, as long as their achievements are appre ciated. If you apply yourself to this, commitment will be a natural outcome. It’s as simple as that.

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