Earlier
today, I was sitting in Spanish class listening to another one of Mr. Plicta’s
stories about his adventures as a foreign exchange student in Brazil.
On
his first day at his new school, Mr. Plicta wanted to avoid drawing too much
attention to himself, so he sat at the back of the classroom, behind the “troublemakers”.
When the school day started, the instructor entered the classroom and began the
lesson. All of the students listened intently. Then, when first period was
over, the teacher left, and the next teacher entered.
You
see, in Brazil, high school is done differently. Instead of each student having
a schedule and moving around between classes, students stay in the same
classroom all day, and the teachers switch. Mr. Plicta described the second
period teacher as being “less strict” than the first period teacher. In fact,
as soon as the instructor began teaching, the “troublemakers” sitting in front
of my young Spanish teacher turned around and began conversing with him.
Mr.
Plicta, thinking he would get in trouble, was incredibly nervous at first, but
his classmates assured him that “this” instructor didn’t care if they talked
during class. It was only during first period that they “had to” pay attention.
And
it was true, Mr. Plicta quietly conversed with these students for the whole
hour, and not once did they get in trouble. It was the same group of students,
the same exact classroom, but something had changed – the expectations.
The
truth is that when students are faced with a set of reasonable expectations,
they normally find it easier to meet them than to fight against them.
Having
thought about this all day, I’ve found that the same concept applies in U.S.
schools. I hear comments like “I just can’t focus in that class,” or “We have
fun, but I don’t learn anything.” Many times, I wonder if our schools are just
like the Brazilian classroom, where some teachers demand the students’
attention and others simply request it. Certainly, I‘ve seen this at work
during my education.
The
closest thing I’ve seen to a teaching style based solely off of expectations is
from my band director. Every band student can get 100% just from showing up,
yet many students choose to take on extra responsibilities like leadership
positions, or volunteer work, not because they need to, but because they are
expected to.
In
a lot of ways, this contradicts both the “old-fashioned,” assembly-line, incentive-reward-based
teaching as well as the “new-age,” flexible, and laid-back teaching style. In
the old days, students were motivated by one thing: grades. Better grades meant
more learning, and that meant a better education. Therefore, teachers only had
to teach and assign, and student would align themselves in a satisfying
bell-curve of success. Under this system, expectations had to be just ahead of
the top students at all times, so they would never stop trying. As time went
on, some teachers became reluctant to accept a system which so coldly and
statistically rated children according to a fixed point-system. They felt that
all children needed a chance to succeed, so they crafted a teaching style based
on building relationships between students and teachers. This newer, more laid
back teaching allowed students to all get A’s so long as they did the work. And
as for classroom expectations, those became the enemy of the student-teacher
connection that was so important for building a relationship. They became a
dangerous weapon that had to be used sparingly, if ever.
But
neither system seems to be in line with the needs of students. Students have to
be trained for the workplace, but the current system does not achieve this. A
business is like a massive machine and each employee is like a cog. There is no
immediate feedback, every action is rated subjectively, and success has to come
from one’s own initiative. Compare this to school, where feedback is immediately
available from an objective rating system based on performance during standardized,
required activities. There are almost no similarities.
So,
how does this relate back to expectations? Expectations are a greatly underutilized
teaching tool. They can let students experience pressure without giving them
the cold certainty of being graded on a fixed scale. Moreover, they are not the
enemy of student-teacher relationships. Students respect teachers who set high
expectations and will normally rise to meet them. And teachers can achieve this
without being judgmental or impassive. They just need to clearly state the
rules.
Realistic
expectations are a powerful tool when coming from a highly respected
instructor. They don’t work when they are too high, or if the teacher is not
taken seriously, but there is certainly something to be said for humans’ innate
desire to meet them.
