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Average Child | Twenty Ways to Encourage Students | Thirty Skills to Foster Affective Growth | Six Essential Concepts | Fourteen Attitudes |
Average Child
I don't cause teachers trouble,
My grades have been okay.
I listen in my The classes,
And I'm in school every day.
My teachers think I'm average,
My parents think so too.
I wish I didn't know that,
'Cause there's lots I'd like to do.
I'd like to build a rocket,
I have a book that tells you how.
Or start a stamp collection,
Well, no use trying now.
'Cause since I found out I'm average,
I'm just smart enough to see,
To know there's nothing special,
That I should expect of me.
I'm part of that majority,
The hump part of the bell.
Who spends his life unnoticed,
In my "only average" shell.
Anonymous
Twenty Ways to Encourage Students
The feeling of inferiority, which all people experience in one form or another, must be overcome if we are to function well. Encourage others when they do not expect it.
Work for improvement, not perfection.
Small gains also show growth. If any progress is noted, there is less chance of discouragement.
Commend effort.
One's effort is often more significant than one's results. Separate the deed from the doer.
One may reject the student's actions without rejecting the student: "I like you, but sometimes I don't like what you do."
Build on strengths.
A misbehaving learner has the power to defeat the adult. Give him/her credit for this.
Show your faith in the student.
"I'm sure that you can solve this problem, but if you need any help, call me."
Mistakes should not be viewed as failures.
Take the stigma away from failure. Failure usually indicates lack of skill. One's worth is not dependent on success. "So you make a mistake; now, what can you learn from it?"
Failure and defeat will only encourage special effort when there remains hope of eventual success.
Failure and defeat will not encourage a deeply discouraged child who has lost all hope of succeeding.
Stimulate and lead the learner, but do not try to push him ahead.
Let him move at his own speed.
Genuine happiness comes from self-sufficiency.
Everyone needs to feel competent and autonomous.
Integrate the learner into the group.
Everyone wants to contribute and belong.
Stimulating competition usually does not encourage learners.
Those who see hope of winning may put forth extra effort, but the stress is on winning rather than on cooperation and contribution. The less competitive one is, the better one is able to withstand competition.
Praise is not the same as encouragement.
Praise may have an encouraging effect on some students, but it often discourages and causes anxiety and fear. Some students become dependent on praise and will perform only for recognition in ever-increasing amounts. Success, accompanied by special praise for the result, "may" make the student fear, "I can never do it again!"
Success is a by-product.
Preoccupation with the obligation to succeed is intimidating, and the resulting fear and anxiety often contribute to failure. If one functions with the emphasis on what contributions he or she may make or how he or she may cooperate with others, success usually results.
Help the student to develop the courage to be imperfect.
Learn from mistakes and take them in stride.
Give responsibility and significance to everyone.
Giving opportunities to be responsible to a student who is discouraged may make it worthwhile for him to cooperate.
Solicit the help of other students to help a discouraged student find his place in useful ways.
To feel useful and helpful is important to everyone.
Remember that discouragement is contagious.
A discouraged student tends to discourage his teacher.
Avoid trying to mend one's own threatened ego by discouraging others or by looking down on them.
"Don't blow out the other person's candle so yours will shine brighter."
Overcome your own pessimism and develop an optimistic approach to life.
Optimism is contagious. It not only encourage you, but those around you.
Thirty Skills to Foster Affective Growth
The following "Thirty Skills" were identified as being essential to foster students' affective growth:
- Having general teacher/learner communication skills;
- Using reflective listening;
- Using "I" messages;
- Using problem-solving and decision-making techniques;
- Helping learners to increase their own ability to make decisions;
- Increasing learners' involvement with making rules in the classroom;
- Using effective discipline methods;
- Using nonpunitive discipline methods;
- Using classroom activities designed to increase learner's self-esteem;
- Increasing learner's acceptance of other children and adults;
- Helping learners accept themselves, their families, and their own cultures;
- Helping learners to increase self-control;
- Increasing cooperation and cooperative work among learners in the
classroom
- Helping learners to learn acceptable outlets for strong emotions;
- Structuring learners' work so as to ensure an adequate amount of success;
- Integrating cognitive and affective learning goals;
- Having general group discussion and group leadership skills;
- Having a general skill in at least one method of counseling;
- Having skill in crisis counseling and intervention;
- Using creative writing for affective development;
- Using children's literature as a resource for affective development;
- Using role playing in the classroom;
- Establishing trust between the teacher and the learner;
- Knowing teacher's own self-awareness;
- Having ability to deal with teacher's own emotions as they arise in the classroom;
- Having skill at the deliberate modeling of acceptable behavior;
- Having awareness of own philosophy of education as a daily guide; and
- Having the ability to laugh at one's self and one's dilemmas.
Six Essential Concepts
To encourage affective growth the following six concepts are considered essential:
- Understanding the special needs and psychological development of adolescents;
- Having knowledge of the typical emotional problems of normal development;
- Having knowledge of the development and self-esteem in children and adolescents;
- Understanding the interactions among school experiences, scholastic progress, and self-esteem;
- Understanding the positive and negative effects of praise on emotional growth; and
- Understanding emotional, academic, and intellectual readiness factors.
Fourteen Attitudes
The importance of teacher attitude has been stressed by many researchers. The power of teachers' expectations to bring about a self-fulfilling prophesy is a classic focus topic in most education courses. From a list of twenty-five attitudes the following as essential:
- Preference for long-term goals as well as immediate gains;
- Belief that teachers can and should have an impact on the development
of emotional well-being of their learners;
- Belief that the teacher/learner relationship should be one of mutual trust;
- Belief that facilitating the development of emotional well-being should be a part of the school's objectives;
- Belief that affective learning are at least as important as cognitive
learning;
- Attitude of great respect for the confidentiality of a learner's personal communication;
- Belief that children should be treated differently according to their individual needs;
- Commitment to avoidance of unnecessary failure;
- Decreased accent on rigid grading systems;
- Willingness to genuinely listen to learner's ideas and feelings;
- Attitude of positive expectation;
- Acceptance of learners as unique, worthy and diverse
- Acceptance that no teacher can help all learners; and
- Commitment to own emotional growth, self-worth and self-confidence.
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1999. Rosemary A. Thompson, Ed.D., LPC, NCC, all rights reserved.
1999. Nina W. Brown, Ed. D, LPC, NCC, all rights reserved.
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