Expected, Inspected, & Respected.
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
Building relationships is the most important thing in education because, as Theodore Roosevelt once said, I also know that an important part of building strong relationships often includes physical touch. However, physical contact between students and teachers can be problematic because the perception of that touch by the child can be far from the innocent intentions of the teacher. No matter how pure the intentions of the teacher might be, the (mis)perception of that touch is very real in its consequences. For this reason, I have distanced myself from hugging students. Since I am 6'9", the head height of many children happens to be the same height as my swimsuit region and unexpected hugs can be awkward. I don't want to become the subject of litigation because of a misperception of intent but I also want to demonstrate love for my students. When I read Harry Wong's The First Days of School a couple of years ago after deciding to apply for the faculty of education at the University of Winnipeg, I thought I had found the solution to this conundrum. He is a proponent of shaking hands with each of his students as they enter his room, and his practice is backed by some great research from R. Allan Allday at the University of Kentucky. The studies he conducted showed that in classrooms where the teacher greeted the students at the door, "there was an increase in student engagement from 45% to 72% and students got on task faster, compared to the control class that was not greeted." I thought I had my strategy for teacher-student contact in the classroom all figured out. However... ... today, in class, a classmate talked about how her cooperating teacher conducted a survey on the first day of school asking the class if they were huggers, handshakers, or high-fivers. (I would add fist-bumpers as a possibility). The students were invited to update their survey answers at any time if they wanted to change it, no questions asked. I think that's brilliant, so I will steal the idea. And as long as my students don't come at me with a surprise hug, I'm more than willing to take a knee or find a step ladder in order to make the hug as appropriate as possible. I also like the advice that when you are hugging a child, always be the last one to let go. You never know how much they need it. Now,
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David Wiebe
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