Teacher’s Relationships

“What will happen to my relationships with my fellow teachers?” As teachers teach with an emphasis on thinking, what will happen to their relations with other teachers in the school? The answer probably depends upon the quality of the relationships before the program in thinking began. A teacher who had good professional relationships before probably will continue to have them. Of course, if teachers become boastful or arrogant and claim to have solved the problems of the world, they may not endear themselves to their fellow teachers. On the other hand, if teachers see themselves as learners, searching for knowledge, and if they do not become emotional when differences of opinion occur, they may well find that their relationships with fellow teachers even improve.

Relationship with the Administration

“What can I expect from the administration?” Administrators are primarily concerned with the smooth running of the school. When teachers are teaching effectively, when students are eager about attending classes, when parents believe the school is doing an important job, when problems are at a minimum, administrators are usually satisfied.

Almost everybody is for thinking, and administrators are no exception. Today, more than ever before, they are in favor of a curriculum in in which thinking is emphasized. Therefore, as teachers incorporate thinking activities into their programs and as students become more challenged by their educational experiences, it is likely that teachers’ efforts will be welcomed. As students gain skill in using thinking operations to some purpose, the results will speak for themselves. An ineffective teacher is often the source of much concern to an administrator. An effective teacher is often a source of security and satisfaction.

Relationship with parents

How will parents respond to the program? A primary concern of most parents in relation to school is whether or not their children are learning. Anxiety over learning is expressed in many ways. Will my daughter succeed? Will he pass? Will she get into college? Will he be a success in life? In one way or another, these questions are related to learning. When parents have the idea that their children are not learning, problems may well develop. When parents have idea that their children are learning, they tend to support schools and their children’s teachers. There is much evidence that teaching for thinking enhances learning. As students gain skill with thinking, they grow in their enthusiasm for school, their studies, and their teachers. The parents’ anxiety about their children’s progress tends to diminish as they see the results.

Doing well versus meaning well

“But does this mean me? I already do that all the time!” As teachers read about thinking, a frequent reaction is, “This makes sense to me. I do it all the time. ”Sometimes a teacher asked, “What did you do today to emphasize thinking in your classroom?” the response is, “I do it all the time in so many ways I just can’t think of any examples.” Some teachers believe that because they mean well, they do well. But do they always do as well as they student interactions is one way of finding out whether we are practicing what we preach. The two self-assessment instruments provided in Figures 4.1 and 4.2 can also help teachers to examine diagnostically what it is they are actually doing when they say they are teaching for thinking. Some teaching guidelines have also been suggested. Questions for teachers to consider have been raised. It is hoped that these suggestions will lead to some fruitful introspection and soul-searching, bringing what teachers say and what teachers do into closer congruence.

Here today, gone tomorrow

“ Is this just another educational fad?” it often seems as if society is searching for easy answers or panaceas. Each year publishers come out with the answer to “all” our teaching problems. Of course, publishers want to sell their books, and they may be inclined to overstate the case. Too frequently the answers become fads that are discarded when new answers become available. Teaching for thinking is not offered as a panacea or the solution to “all” educational problems. There are some occasions when thinking may not be appropriate. It is not suggested that teaching for thinking to be sole objective of the school. The authors see teaching for thinking as an approach to the curriculum needing effective and judicious application at the kindergarten through twelfth-grade level and beyond.

“I keep discovering students’ learning problems. Is this good?” The saying “ignorance is bliss” may apply to teaching for thinking. If a teacher’s only contact with students is as a lecturer to a large class, the chances are that neither recognition nor identification of learning problems will occur. The teacher probably will not notice the students as individuals. It is when teachers associate closely with students that they become aware of their problems. It is when teachers give students opportunities to reveal their behavior that behavioral symptoms may be identified. Teaching and thinking programs may therefore result in the surfacing of learning difficulties that have hitherto gone unnoticed. When such problems emerge, it may be an indication of a teacher’s greater awareness of the functioning of each student. It is only when the problems emerge that we have any chance of dealing with them effectively.

Encountering New Teaching problems

“Will teaching for thinking create more problems for me?” No classroom program is completely trouble free. No matter what teaching method is used or what curriculum is taught, problems are likely to develop. Teaching for thinking is no exception. If teachers are autocratic and rigid in their teaching, problems will develop. If teachers are democratic in their teaching, other problems will develop. If teachers are permissive, still other problems will develop. No matter how classes are taught, teachers will face problems. If teachers are very successful, they may be the object of envy. If teachers are inept, they may be the object of contempt. Furthermore, teachers may be subjected to a certain amount of criticism no matter what they do in their classroom In extreme cases, on a single day a teacher may be criticized for being too strict, too lenient, too easy, too hard, giving too much homework, boring the class, telling too many jokes, and so on. Sometimes the school and teachers become scapegoats for the frustrations of the public. Life itself involves problems, challenges, striving, and difficulties. As long as problems and criticisms are part of life, let us accept them. They do not diminish the satisfaction that comes from teaching for thinking.

References:

1. Louis E. Raths and Anna P. Burrell, Meeting the Needs of Children (Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill,1972)

2. Melvin Berger, Science and music (New York: Whittlesey House, 1971), p 2 reprinted with permission of the auther.