TBers,
Over the years so many faculty have talked to me about this subject, I
thought it important enough to repost here. - Jim Greenberg
The posting below gives some good advice on how to handle "implicit
expectations and behaviors" that come up in the classroom. It is from the
chapter Problems, Pitfalls, and Surprises in Teaching: Mini Cases, by Lori
Breslow, J. Mark Schuster of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
the book, Strategies for Teaching Assistant and International Teaching
Assistant Development: Beyond Micro Teaching, Catherine Ross, Jane Dunphy,
and Associates. Published by Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint. Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. 989 Market
Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 <www.josseybass.com>.
Handling Problems, Pitfalls, and Surprises in Teaching: Some
Guidelines
In workshops, suggestions about how to handle the problems in the scenarios
under discussion have surfaced. Those ideas have been distilled into some
guidelines to help you handle many of the challenges that will arise in your
teaching career. These guidelines fall into several broad categories.
1. Be aware that two kinds of contracts exist in the classroom.
Two kinds of contracts govern the expectations and behavior of both
instructor and students in any classroom: 1) the explicit contract, which is
often spelled out in the syllabus and covers such aspects of the course as
weekly classroom topics, course requirements, and course expectations; and
2) the implicit contract, which stipulates norms such as who can talk in the
classroom, what styles of teaching are used, and what styles of learning are
emphasized. Give careful thought to the explicit contract; it is directly in
your control, particularly at the outset of the semester. But also be
conscious of the implicit contract, particularly as it evolves through
precedent in the classroom interactions of your course. Monitor it and
respect it throughout the semester.
2. You are a human being. Admit to and share your humanity.
This guideline is, perhaps, a corollary of the previous one. You can make
your teaching life a very complicated one if you think teaching is neither
nothing more nor nothing less than delivering information. What seems
critical is to figure out how to be yourself through your teaching. Then you
will accept the role of teacher easily and comfortably, and honesty will be
easy to accomplish. Students see through artificial poses, as they should.
Be yourself.
3. Use outside resources, including colleagues. Remember, you are not alone.
Your university has resources available to help with difficult situations
that arise in the classroom. That you have been asked to teach is not, in
itself, a validation sticker on your teaching abilities. Teaching skills can
be developed and honed, and your university provides a lot of resources to
help you in that growth. These may range from an ombudsmen to written
policies on cheating and plagiarism to a guide on handling sexual
harassment. One of the most valuable resources at your disposal consists of
fellow faculty members and fellow TAs. Use colleagues as sounding boards as
you develop your own teaching style and as you work your way through some of
the problems that will inevitably challenge you.
4. Honesty is the best policy.
We have experienced very few issues in education that are not addressed best
with honesty. If you do not know the answer to a student's question, admit
it, but promise to find the answer before the next meeting. If you find
yourself in a dilemma to which there is no ideal solution, say so. Provide a
truthful reason for why a policy is what it is, and if you do not understand
why it is what it is, say so, but once again promise to find out.
5. Listen with empathy and make sure you have all necessary information
before making a decision.
Listen intelligently and carefully to a student when he or she comes to talk
to you about a problem. Try to sidestep any preconceived notions about the
student, the problem, the class as a whole, and so on. Put yourself into his
or her shoes and attempt to determine both the meaning and feeling behind
what the student is saying. Recognize those feelings (e.g., "It must feel
terrible thatŠ"). Make sure you talk to all concerned parties before
deciding on a course of action, and remember that the issue that is under
discussion may not be the underlying problem.
6.Think strategically about the problem.
By strategic thinking we mean analyze the problem you have been confronted
with by answering he following questions:
* What is my purpose in this situation? Every problem or difficulty presents
an opportunity to accomplish one or more teaching goals. Can this situation
provide a chance for learning? Can you use this problem to change the
learning environment in the classroom? To the extent that you can determine
beforehand what you want to achieve, you will be able to decide on an
appropriate response more effectively.
* What are the characteristics of the students who are involved in this
situation? Knowing something about the personalities and backgrounds of your
students will help guide your response. For example, the norms in some
cultures dictate that students should be silent in the classroom, neither
participating in class discussions nor asking questions. This norm might
account for the unusually quiet behavior of some students, and that
knowledge could help you aid those students in modifying their style of
expression.
* What responses and/or feelings are brought up in me as a result of this
situation? How can I use my particular teaching style and communication
skills most effectively? It is not unusual that teaching dilemmas bring up
strong feelings in the instructor. For example, you may feel uncomfortable
addressing gender issues in the classroom or trying to communicate with a
student who is a nonnative English speaker. Recognizing these feelings in
yourself will help you frame an effective response. Similarly, we all come
with teaching and communication strengths that we can call on to help us
cope with difficult situations. A sense of humor, the power to observe
closely, or the ability to work at different levels of abstraction may all
be used to handle effectively the kinds of pitfalls we have been discussing.
* What medium would be the most effective to use in this situation? Is this
a situation that is best handle by a meeting with the student? By writing a
memo or letter? By addressing the issue with the class as a whole? Each
strategy has its own benefits and liabilities, and sometimes using a
combination of media is best.
* What cultural variables are affecting the situation? Cultural variables
are at work in the classroom on several different levels. Every course and
classroom has its own climate, every university has its own distinct
culture, and your students bring the norms of their home countries and/or of
their peer groups into the classroom. Recognizing this diversity of norms
will help you understand their impact on the situation and respond
accordingly.
7. Think about ways a difficult situation might be turned into a learning
opportunity.
All kinds of learning take place in the classroom in addition to mastering a
certain subject area. Students are learning how to learn, how to work with
others, how scholars in the field think, and so on. Often difficulties in
the classroom can be used as vehicles that contribute to these kinds of
learning.
8. Remember that each student is a member of a larger group that comprises
the class as a whole. Keep issues of fairness in mind.
Often the thorniest dilemmas in teaching involve balancing the needs of the
individual students with the needs and rights of the class as a whole. To
use the quiet student as an example again, if a student is from a culture
where silence in the classroom is a norm, should that student be penalized
for not contributing to classroom discussion? On the other hand, is it fair
to have two sets of standards in one classroom? And are the other students
in the class missing valuable contributions because the expectation of
particular modes of classroom behavior impedes the ability of some students
to speak in public?
Another challenging situation is that of the monopolizing student. Students
talk too much for a variety of reasons, including genuine excitement about a
topic, insensitivity, nerves, and problems with impulse control. Generally,
a good approach to dealing with both the excessively talkative or quiet
student is to meet one-on-one outside class to talk and establish strategies
to ameliorate the situation.
Similarly, recognize that once a student has asked a question (raised an
issue, or expressed a viewpoint), that question may then become the question
of other members of the class, and it may no longer be sufficient to respond
to that individual student alone.
These suggestions are not meant to be inclusive. Instead, they are an
attempt to help TAs think through ways to handle the problems, pitfalls, and
surprises they will face in their teaching careers. We hope these guidelines
will provide a springboard to an ongoing conversation about teaching in
higher education.
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