Blog # 26--Teachers Need Self-Confidence

Blog #26 –Teachers Need Self-Confidence, by Jack Tuttle http://dreamtime3.wix.com/jacktuttlebook

My fifth grade teacher was a decent enough chap, intelligent and dedicated. But he was frail, soft-spoken and submissive. He didn’t have the personality type that commands respect. That didn’t matter much to me since I was motivated to learn and did whatever was required to get good grades. But a couple other kids in the class had personal problems with him.

One student, we will call him John, resented authority figures. He was a bully, probably secondary to a fear of inferiority. He wasn’t big or strong, but he was dominant and ready to pick a fight with whoever prevented him from getting his way. I knew John well; he was also in my Boy Scout patrol. He was a classic underachiever who had to be prodded to accomplish anything.

One day, John got into a disagreement with our teacher on the playground. John had no respect for the teacher, and he showed it by beating him up. Literally. He and a couple buddies then went on a spree of antagonistic behavior. For instance, they caught one student, tied him up with a rope and dumped him in an adjacent field. When the carnage had ended, John faced a series of punishments but still lacked respect for the teacher.

Teachers who are confident and direct enough to facilitate learning give energy to their students. Unfortunately, not all teachers can face strong-minded students on equal terms. Regardless of their book knowledge, they will have problems if they do not gain the respect of their students.

One might assume it is the student’s responsibility to submit to all teachers, and life-long learners agree. In reality, not all students can follow followers. Teachers need to treat all students with respect, but overcoming their fear of dominant students is a problem for some. Dominant personality types may not submit to a submissive teacher just because it is expected. If there is no mutual respect, there is no progress.

My mother was a teacher who treated all students with respect. In contrast with my fifth grade teacher, students used to come to our home to thank her for helping them prepare for advanced classes and life in general. My wife Mary Jane is retired from full-time teaching, but she still substitutes regularly at a school with a large minority population. They call her almost daily because both teachers and students like having her there.

A number of people have expressed dismay at her decision to work at that school. Some parents have moved their children to small, rural towns to escape minorities, as have some teachers. But those who look students in the eye, treating them as equals while insisting on better effort, are most likely to create respect and gain compliance with the widest variety of personality types. They are essential to quality education.

The fictional Klingons in the Star Trek movies and television shows were dominant personality types. To get along with them, others needed to accept them the way they were instead of trying to change them. Treating Klingons with respect required more direct action toward them, including threat postures and occasional physical attacks. But if the Klingons knew they were being treated fairly, they returned the favor. Their behavior became more relaxed and trusting when treated as they wished to be treated.

Some submissive people don’t understand dominant people, and vice versa. Dominant people don’t attack those who respect them. Once acceptance and trust are established, there is no longer any need to prove dominance since there is no survival threat. Distrust and fear-induced misperceptions are prime reasons why dominant people appear threatening to submissive types. In that sense, indirect people help create behaviors in direct people that secondarily cause fear and distrust.

Not all people can be good teachers. Most if not all teachers are knowledgeable of their subject matter. They may pass all statistical analyses, “proving” they are competent to be retained as teachers. But a real test for teacher competence must include an ability to interact with all types of students without fear.

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