By Danielle D.
Without teachers there would be no school!
When children start school they end up spending more time with their teacher than their parents. Depending on the school some children can spend up to 12 hrs at school and by the time they see their parents, it’s time to go home, eat dinner, and then go to bed. This means that the children end up spending up to approximately 2-4 waking hours with their parents. The children that spend all this time at school start to depend on their teachers. The teachers that spend all this time with the children end up having a close and personal relationship with these children. The teachers need to make sure that the children get 100% of their attention. The teachers have to teach them, as well as make sure they’re fed, have gone to the bathroom, and even take a nap (like at my work).
These teachers are affecting the emotional, intellectual, and social development of each student they come upon. (1)
Teachers have a huge impact on children’s social development. With teachers eager to help teach, children are eager to learn how to socialize. There are many ways teachers can help children socialize, but they have to be done successfully.
Key elements of successful student socialization include modeling and instruction of prosocial behavior; communicating positive expectations, attributes, and social labels; and reinforcing desired behavior (Dix, 1993; Good & Brophy, 1994, 1995). (2)
Modeling prosocial behavior is the most basic element for enhancing student socialization, because teachers are unlikely to be successful socializers unless they practice what they preach. Modeling, accompanied by verbalization of the self-talk that guides prosocial behavior, can become a very influential method of student socialization because it conveys the thinking and decision making involved in acting for the common good. In situations in which prosocial behavior is difficult for students to learn, modeling may have to be supplemented with instruction (including practice exercises) in desirable social skills and coping strategies. (2)
Consistent projection of positive expectations, attributes, and social labels to students may have a significant impact on fostering self-esteem and increasing motivation toward exhibiting prosocial behaviors. Students who are consistently treated as if they are well-intentioned individuals who respect themselves and others and who desire to act responsibly, morally, and prosocially are more likely to develop these qualities than students who are treated as if they had the opposite inclinations especially if their positive qualities and behaviors are reinforced through expressions of appreciation. When delivered effectively, such reinforcement is likely to increase students' tendencies to attribute their desirable behavior to their own personal traits and to reinforce themselves for possessing and acting on the basis of those traits. (2)
Good and Brophy (1995) have identified some general attributes of teachers that contribute to their success in socializing students. These attributes include:
*SOCIAL ATTRACTIVENESS, based on a cheerful disposition, friendliness, emotional maturity, sincerity, and other qualities that indicate good mental health and personal adjustment;
*EGO STRENGTH, exhibited in self-confidence that allows teachers to be calm in a crisis, listen actively without being defensive, avoid win-lose conflicts, and maintain a problem-solving orientation;
*REALISTIC PERCEPTIONS OF SELF AND STUDENTS, without letting perceptions become clouded by romanticism, guilt, hostility, or anxiety;
*ENJOYMENT OF STUDENTS, while maintaining their identity as an adult, a teacher, and an authority figure; being friendly but not overly familiar; and being comfortable with the group without becoming a group member;
*CLARITY ABOUT TEACHER ROLES and comfort in playing them, which enables teachers to explain coherently to students what they expect;
*PATIENCE AND DETERMINATION in working with students who persist in testing limits;
*ACCEPTANCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL, though not necessarily of all of his or her behavior, and making this attitude clear to students; and
*THE ABILITY TO STATE AND ACT ON FIRM BUT FLEXIBLE LIMITS based on clear expectations, keeping rules to a minimum and liberalizing them as students become more independent and responsible over time.
Developing these personal qualities and using research-based principles for managing the classroom will set the stage for student socialization and will go a long way toward minimizing the need for disciplinary interventions. (2)
Teachers that make the effort to teach children all of these skills are fully rewarded by the children as well as the community.
Works Cited:
(1) “Ability of Teachers to Profoundly Impact Lives of Individual Children.” 13
November 2007.
.
(2) “Enhancing Students’ Socialization: Key Elements. ERIC Digest. Brophy, Jere.
(1996). 13 November 2007..
