Being Transparent
Posted by PLB Blogger · 1 Comment
The classroom is a highly competitive place where a lot of children compete for our attention. Given the very nature of their development, it is easy for children to misunderstand what a teacher is doing and wrongly believe that perhaps a teacher even favors a particular student. In situations like these, it becomes increasingly important to help students know that they are being treated equal and fair.
Being transparent is the beginning of this process. It involves setting rules for the classroom that everyone needs to follow. It involves communication of not only what the exceptions are, but also why you made exceptions. It involves breaking up assessments into smaller parts that students can see and understand. Modelling transparency is difficult and takes effort, but the long term results are great. Students learn to think maturely, to reflect on the consequences of their actions and to be transparent themselves.
What are the struggles that you face while attempting to be transparent with students?
I have found that parents attempting to be their child’s best friend with the teacher being the enemy is our biggest challenege. Parents with econmic woes and little education spend less time parenting and more time being a “buddy”. The parents have low expectations for their children. The converstion we try to have is that their child is capable and the excuses parents hand them only gets in the way.