“A Teacher’s Reach”
Ute Winston: My Mentor, My Moirae
By Dr. Elizabeth Hendrix

AMAZING INDIVIDUALS

During our journeys of becoming and of transformation, at times, we have amazing individuals who make us rethink our destinies, goals, and purposes. Those individuals (like the “moirae” who control our fates in mythology) weave and even influence our missions and visions in life (not only at the individual level but also at the citizen and change-agent levels). Ute Winston was my mentor, my “moirae,” because she was instrumental in changing the course of my life and my destiny (even with regard to my thinking and epistemology).

When I was a freshman and sophomore undergraduate student, I was so much like a piece of drift wood. I would float through my courses, and any swift change in the wind (such as peer pressure) would redirect my path that day or week. I skipped a lot of classes, and I did not apply myself. I could not find my passion, my voice, or my purpose. I went to school (at that point in time) really to please my mother who never went to college, and to me, no one seemed concerned about me or what good I could do for the world. I was having trouble with the transition from high school to the university level.

A TEACHERLEADER'S EFFECT ON STUDENT SUCCESS

However, during these first (and most difficult) years for me, Ute Winston was my English professor at The University of AL. With first glance, students might notice that she walked with a limp, had beautiful, red hair, and had a German accent, but I never knew about the threads of her lived experiences and her destiny until a couple of years later. Since she liked students to ask questions, one day in an office visit, I asked her some questions—wanting to get to know her better. As a young student, I could not put all of the details together well then. I did not think about her age, her accent, and her limp in a holistic way, but she shared with me that she was a Holocaust survivor. Apparently, she was a child during the Holocaust, and this experience affected her vision and mission—especially with regard to teaching.

When I would use biased or offensive language without any forethought or real understanding of it either, she would correct me and dig deeper with me. For example, in one essay, I used the expression “dog eat dog world,” and Ute could not stand that phrase. However, she wanted me to be a reflective, critical thinker, and she asked me to delve into the origins of that expression and remember the horrors of that image historically. When I wrote that expression, there was no depth in it. It was a phrase that my mother used at times, and I was not considering the history or the negative connotations of it either. I was not thinking about the meaning and multiple meanings that it had, but Ute was. She awakened a multiple consciousness in me.

EMPATHY AND INSPIRATION

During my first two years at the university level, Ute was the only professor who tried to understand why I was missing her classes and who tried to help me. I loved her classes because the discussions always were deep, and she used a lot of Socratic questioning—really leaving us with more questions than we could ever answer. In addition, her classes were challenging to me—as well as her expectations. For the first time, I was struggling to make “As” with my work, and I thought that I wanted to die when I looked at how much reading we had for homework in each class. She worked with me as best she could though, and my writing (in particular) began to improve slowly.

INFLUENCE

One day, after I skipped about a week of classes, Ute had the class continue the discussions, and she pulled me out into the hall at the beginning of class. She inquired about my attendance, weaving this theme into other questions about my own goals and purposes and into questions about my needs as a student in her class. Genuinely, she was concerned about me, my well-being, and my life. In reality, she was relationship building with her interest and advice to me. At the time, she began encouraging me to have focus and to find my voice, and she even posited that I should take some time off and come back when I really knew what I wanted to do and why I was in school. She wanted me to articulate my goals and my purposes for life (which is pretty deep for a freshman).

At home, my mother could not believe this advice to me! She was outraged, but Ute was right. In January of 1993, my father, Lawrence Thomson Hendrix, passed away, and I took Ute’s advice. I left school for a reflective period, which I so badly needed at the time, and I began to care for my disabled mother who was blind in one eye after she had a stroke and who needed help with her errands and with everyday activities such as bathing. While I cared for her and dealt with the loss of my father, I thought a lot about Ute’s classes and her influence, and I truly began to rethink what I wanted to do with my life and why I wanted to obtain a degree in higher education. As a freshman, I started as a political science major—mainly because of the people around me then and because I thought that I might become a lawyer one day; however, after much reflection and thought, (and after the new thread that Ute was weaving for me) I changed my major to a double major in English and dance. I was much happier, much more driven, and definitely much more focused.

When I returned (for yet another transition), Ute guided me; she served as my advisor, and she spent hours with me—trying to help me get accepted into a summer program at Harvard University. I had to write an essay to get into a “Dance History/Writing for Dance” class, and I started with a 12-page draft. At the time, I thought the longer, the better for my papers, and I also thought that—with all of the work involved in longer papers—the more value that they had. I was so naïve then. However, Ute made me cut the paper down to two pages and only include the best parts. She also made me rethink what good writing was, and she looked out for my best interests. In addition to spending hours with me (with my horrible first drafts of that essay), she wrote a recommendation letter and sent it in for me. At the time, I had no idea what a good recommendation letter looked like, and I had no idea that those letters weave your fate literally in some ways. However, on the first day of class in my Harvard Summer School writing class, I learned about the significance and weight that recommendation letters have. My professor mentioned receiving her letter for me, and she even remarked that she had high expectations for me and for my work there. I left the class day—biting my nails and hoping that I would not disappoint my new professor and new peers but mostly hoping that I would never disappoint Ute.

DEVELOPING OTHERS

Ute was a role model and mentor for me, but in reality, she really changed the course of my destiny. She was my “moirae,” and she created opportunities and influenced my life’s path and purpose. For Ute, giving back was much more than just giving back to one student or one institution; it was giving back in order to build a better world. Now, I hope that my students see the part of Ute in me that changed me and shaped me, and I hope that they see that I am trying to make the world a better place in which to live with them. Ute acted as a change agent in my life, and I hope that I am change agent too. Although she passed away last spring, I will never forget her or her impact on my life. She made a difference in the lives of everyone who came in contact with her. Ute pierced your soul with her words, kindness, and inspiration.

Teacher in a Lab Coat - Richard Porr, Ph.D.

Scenarios:

Kim is in her second year of teaching but it feels like the first year all over again. “I haven’t learned anything,” she often laments to herself as she plods toward her car at the end of days that seem endless and fruitless. She knows what is not working but can’t figure out how to get a handle on how to make things better for her and her students. She can’t see how to apply the strategies and theories she learned in her degree work to these kids right before her every day.

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Jason—Coach Lunden to his PE classes—gets thrown off balance every day. Not by any lack of physical prowess on his part but because his students always seem to know how to take advantage of every unanticipated situation in order to take away his control of the class or to make him look like an idiot. Just today, as he was going over the rules of a new game that he thought the students would love, a senior boy turned his words against him and made them into an off-color joke. Jason was afraid to open his email for fear he might find a message from one of the girls’ parents. Teaching is just not as easy as he thought it would be.

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Do you ever think of yourself as a scientist? That’s what every good teacher is. First, you are expected to be an intellectual worker. Don’t agree? Look at the standardized test results your students are expected to get and to which you are held accountable.

If you can believe the reports concerning our students’ academic progress as compared to those of other countries, we are losing ground and are in danger of losing our lead as an economic power. “But I teach Physical Education,” you say. How about the problem of obesity in children and the rising cost of health care that is reaching down into very early ages? Better don the lab coat and begin to figure this out.

Many situations that can occur in the classroom can be thought through ahead of time and avoided or turned to your advantage.

A TEACHER SCIENTIST
In both examples above, our teachers have not been able to figure out what is going on or how to fix it. They have tools at their disposal—standards, strategies, curriculum resources, and theories—but they have not learned a process for analyzing what is happening and for making improvements. Fortunately for Kim and Jason, there is already a well-honed way of proceeding when we are faced with the unknown. It’s called the scientific method and it has been a part of Western thinking for so long we are in danger of taking it for granted and not embracing its power. The simple process of Observing, Hypothesizing, Experimenting, Verifying and Adjusting is exactly what our teachers need to help them make a difference in their students’ learning and behavior.

OBSERVING
Because you care about your students and their learning, you are a self-taught observer. You study students. You listen to what they say. You eavesdrop on their conversations and read body language. You look for the effect you and the curriculum is having on their learning.

HYPOTHESIZING
When you see something you think could be better—like daily—you develop a hypothesis about what is happening. In fact, those thoughts ride you throughout your drive home and throughout the evening, pursing you on into the time you should be sleeping and resting up for the next day. Finally, you devise an experiment. What if I . . . ? What would happen if . . . ?

EXPERIMENTING
And the next class period, you run your little experiment. It’s something we don’t talk about, but we experiment on people, little people and teenage-type people. And we do it every day. We have to if we are going to help them succeed and have a positive impact upon student learning.

VERIFYING AND ADJUSTING
So, we run our experiment and again observe the results. We measure those results, even if informally. Did students stay on task better? Were they more connected to the learning (I could say excited for elementary and middle school but perhaps just less bored for secondary). Did they ask relevant questions and follow up questions? Did they smile more? Did they get along with each other better? Oh, we have an entire toolbox of measurement instruments for we measure all the different parameters of being human and alive. Based upon our analysis, we adjust our hypothesis and our experiment (our teaching) and run through the process again.

THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS
So what I’m suggesting is kind of like Einstein’s thought experiments. Some cause and effect experiments can be run in your mind without having to risk possible unintended consequences in the classrooms. I remember the first time I thought this way. As I reviewed the next day’s geometry lesson, I noticed that one of the similarity theorems was Angle-Side-Side. As I made my abbreviated teacher notes for the class, I jotted down SSS for Side-Side-Side and then started to abbreviate Angle-Side-Side. It was apparent that I would be making an ASS of myself the next day in class if I abbreviated the theorem in the order it was written out in the book. When I got to that part in class, I PRECLUDED the off color comments by stating, “And in this class, we will call the next theorem Side-Side-Angle and abbreviate it SSA. Is that clear? (with a big smile)” They laughed, I kept control and moved on.

I remember another time when I had trouble remembering how to spell parallelogram. I don’t know why but I would get confused every time I tried to write it on the board. I knew the next day would be no different so I planned for it. Although I often asked students to help me with the spelling, I felt I needed to do something different this time. When I got to the point in my lesson when I needed to write “parallelogram,” I write the P and stopped. I turned to the class and said, “As you know, I’ve had a lot of trouble spelling parallelogram correctly. I think I’ll abbreviate.” That said, I turned and boldly slapped down a period after the P and kept on teaching. I’m sure this looked extemporaneous—but it was planned.

A GOOD TOOL

One terrific thinking tool you can use to better understand a problem you are wrestling with is the SEE-I tool from the work of Richard Paul. You probably understand the problem well enough to proceed with more observations and with an experiment if you can do the following:

S - State the problem. If you can't put the problem in to word, you don't understand it well enough to proceed toward a solution.

E - Elaborate. Attempt to talk or write more about the problem. Begin your sentence with, "In other words . . . "

E - Example. Come up with an example of the problem (or of the solution). Begin your sentence with, "For example . . ."

I - Illustrate. Come up with a metaphor that captures the essence of the problem. Begin this sentence with "It's like . . . "

HOW ALL OF THIS RELATES TO THE SCENARIO
Teaching is complex work. Kim and Jason need a plan, a way of figuring out what is going on, ways to proceed that stand a good chance of solving the problems, and ways to analyze whether or not their ideas worked. It is the scientific method and it works.

The Abandoned Train Car - Richard Porr, Ph.D.

This TeacherLeader article focuses on the following disposition:

D. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

3. Developing others. Teacher leaders who are adept at cultivating students and colleagues show a genuine interest in those they are helping along, understanding their goals, strengths, and weaknesses. Such teacher leaders can give timely and constructive feedback and are natural mentors or coaches

The train car above has tremendous potential but has been sidelined on an abandoned spur. It cannot move itself to the main line and on down the tracks to its intended destination. It needs an engine! However, if the engine were to pull up beside it on the main set of tracks, the ABANDONED CAR still could not go anywhere since it is on an abandoned spur and must be moved to the main line. No, the only way this car will get to its destination is if a locomotive backs onto the spur, connects with the ABANDONED CAR’s coupling, and pulls it out onto the main line and on down the tracks. If the locomotive engineer disdains the ABANDONED BOXCAR and doesn’t wish to go to the trouble of backing onto the spur and hooking up with it, the boxcar will remain off the main track and will go nowhere.

No amount of anger on the part of the locomotive engineer or cursing of all of the reasons why the car found itself on the spur will solve this problem. Only backing down the spur, hooking up, and pulling the ABANDONED CAR out of the spur will work. If the car is seen as valuable, the engineer will do precisely that and hook it up to the entire train so all the cars will reach their destination.

So it is with all the students we are responsible for leading. If we value each one, if we accept responsibility to move each student farther down the track of learning and success, we will meet them where they are. We will connect with them, with their lived experiences and ways of thinking and looking at the world, and pull them onto the main line.

As a teacher leader who takes responsibility for student learning, study each student in your classes. Learn how to connect with each one and, if any are on abandoned spurs, pull them to the main line in your classroom where students are learning and are a part of a healthy school environment.

The Application:

Meet students where they are to take them where you want them to go.

P.S.: this works well with adults also!

The Master Switch

This TeacherLeader article focuses on the following two dispositions:

B. Self-Management Domain:

4. Achievement.Teacher leaders with strength in achievement have high personal standards that drive them to constantly seek performance improvements—both for themselves and for their students. They are pragmatic, setting measurable but challenging goals, and are able to calculate risk so that their goals are worthy but attainable. A hallmark of achievement is in continually learning—and teaching— ways to do better.

5. Initiative. Teacher leaders who have a sense of efficacy—that they have what it takes to control their own destiny—excel ininitiative. They seize opportunities—or create them— rather than simply waiting. Such a teacher leader does not hesitate to cut through red tape, or even bend the rules, when necessary to create better possibilities for the future.

The Passive Student
How long have you been going to school? Fourteen years? Fifteen? More? There’s little doubt that you’ve spent a significant portion of your life in school. I’d bet you have been enriched in many ways because of your school experiences. You’ve gained knowledge, skills, and appreciations you could not have easily acquired any other way. You’ve been exposed to role models, many of whom impacted you in a very positive way. You discovered things about yourself and others that were critical for your success as an adult. However, you may have also picked up a very bad habit.

If you’ve allowed yourself, no matter how unintentionally, to fall into the role of a passive student, then your master switch is set to the “OFF” position. Here’s how students talk when the switch is in the “OFF” position:

“Do we have to?”

“Will this be on the test?”

“Will this be graded?”

“What if I don’t get it all done?”

“It’s too haaaaaarrrdddd!”

The Student Teacher

But now you find yourself (or will very soon) in the unique position of being BETWEEN student and teacher. In fact, maybe you’ve noticed that your capstone experience is called STUDENT TEACHER!

You might start with the master switch in the “OFF” position, but you can rest assured that by the end, during student teaching (and actually during Junior Experience), the switch has to be flipped to the “ON” position.

Switched OFF or Switched ON!

Take a look at the switch again:

The switch above is in the “OFF” position. Borrowing language from the dispositions at the beginning of this article, the “OFF” position is:

“NOT seeking performance improvements—both for themselves and for their students” (NOT Achievement), and

“NOT seizing opportunities—or creating them— but rather simply waiting” (NOT initiative)

Cooperating Teachers and University Supervisors are master electricians who can quickly tell which way your switch is thrown.

Is it “ON” and you are thinking and working hard to improve your own performance and that of your students? Is it “ON” and you are aggressively looking for opportunities for student learning? Do you CREATE teachable moments through your curriculum, creative teaching strategies, knowing each of your students, and deep and consistent reflection about teaching and learning? Is your goal to master your professional knowledge, skills and dispostions? Or is your switch “OFF,” waiting for perfect conditions for everything to work out all right—somehow. Are you blaming your Cooperating Teacher, the school, the kids, the weather, and who knows what? Are you trying to do the minimum required to get by and get certified? If so, your switch is probably set to “OFF.”

Good News!

Good news! You are the one who determines which position the switch is in. You can flip it to on and . . .

BECOME A TEACHER LEADER—ONE WHO TAKES
RESPONSIBILITY FOR STUDENT LEARNING.

Free to Focus on Students

Western Teacher Candidates take responsibility for student learning through mastery of content knowledge, pedagogy, professional behaviors and positive teacher dispositions, with additional focus upon issues of diversity. The following article focuses on two important dispositions.

Please read through the following two dispositions and allow me to connect them in a unique way:

A. SELF-AWARENESS

2. Accurate self-assessment. Teacher leaders with high self-awareness
typically know their limitations and strengths, and exhibit a sense of humor
about them. They exhibit a gracefulness in learning where they need to improve,
and welcome constructive criticism and feedback. Accurate self-assessment allows
a teacher leader to know when to ask for help and where to focus in cultivating new teacher leadership strengths.

B. SELF-MANAGEMENT

6. Optimism. A teacher leader who is optimistic can “roll with the punches,” seeing an opportunity rather than a threat in a setback. Such teacher leaders see others positively, expecting the best of them. And their "glass half-full" outlook leads them to expect changes in the future will be for the better.

FOCUS

• The common thread that runs through these two dispositions is that of FOCUS.


• Accurate Self-awareness and Optimism can only occur where there is a focus on students and on their learning rather than upon one’s self. When we think everything is about us, we misinterpret constructive criticism and feedback as negative and are unable to see opportunities but only see threats. This deadly FOCUS ON SELF has been the cause for many misadventures in field experiences (i.e., failures).

IN OR OUT OF THE CELL

• FOCUS ON SELF to the exclusion of student learning is a kind of prison cell.


• There are two ways of seeing and being—outside of the prison cell or inside.


• When you’re in the prison cell, you see things differently than when you’re outside of it.


• When you’re in the prison cell, you behave differently than when you’re outside

HOW YOU GET IN

• The prison cell has two signs: one on the outside and one on the inside.


• When one is on the outside looking in, the sign reads “SELF.” At that point we can either turn away or enter the cell.

WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK OUT

Once inside the cell, the only sign we can read as we look outward is one that reads “BLAME.” We tend to see everyone through the distortion of blame and cannot recognize our own shortcomings and areas that need improvement. Consequently, we reinforce the bars. We make them stronger by blaming others and focusing only on our pitiful condition. As we look through the bars, everything becomes twisted and distorted.

PRISON BARS DISTORT

Through the bars, we see others and situations differently than if we were free of the cell.

• One of the most serious consequences of being in the cell is that of being cut off from helpful resources. We believe others are “out to get us” and therefore, are unable to accept their help. Because we see them as our enemy, we act differently toward them and push them away. Their response to this rejection reinforces our distorted belief they are against us. What a trap!

HOW TO GET OUT OF PRISON

• If there is a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, it is that of assuming responsibility. When we focus on others (in our case, students and how they are learning), we turn our attention to what we can do, what part we can play in making things better for students. When we accept that others are trying to help, to contribute to our maturity, we connect with others outside of the cell and are magically released from prison.

WHERE ARE YOU?

• We all trip up and put in some time behind the bars. The important thing is to be aware of when we’ve chosen to worry about and focus on ourselves to the exclusion of the students we’ve chosen to be responsible for (within the context of our teacher responsibilities).


• When we realize we’ve entered the cell, we can immediately take responsibility and deny the distortion caused by the bars and walk right out. Sometimes that’s hard to do. It’s easier and it feels better to retreat to the comfort of the cell. It initially might feel good to blame others and to not face the more difficult choice to mature into an effective, adult professional.


• In the long run, the real joy and passion comes from BECOMING a TEACHER LEADER by TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR STUDENT LEARNING and living outside of the cell.

Dispositions and Buffalo Nickels

Our Conceptual Framework

Western Teacher Education defines teacher leadership in the classroom as "Taking Responsibility for Student Learning." Specifically, our teacher candidates take responsibility for student learning by mastering subject content and pedagogical skills as evaluated by the 12 Teacher Education Standards, by documenting positive Dispositions and by demonstrating Professional Behaviors. This mix of knowledge, skills, dispositions and professional behaviors equips our teacher candidates to take responsibility for the learning of all of their students.

Perhaps the most challenging is dispositions

A disposition can be defined as follows: (courtesy of The Free Dictionary [online])

dis·po·si·tion (dsp-zshn) n. 1. One's usual mood; temperament: a sweet disposition. 2. a. A habitual inclination; a tendency: a disposition to disagree.

A teacher may have the content knowledge, skills and professional behaviors one needs to support student learning, but not be disposed to do so.

For example, my tenth grade geometry teacher knew the subject but was not disposed to get up out of his chair and teach. Other teachers we had in high school went the extra mile to ensure our growth intellectually and socially. They inspired us to do better, showed us new possibilities and equipped us to succeed. They not only possessed the knowledge and skills to help us learn, they were also disposed to motivate and push us until we succeeded.

In this Blog and in future ones, we'll further explore the concept of a disposition and look at applications of positive teacher dispositions as elaborated by the Western Teacher Dispositions.

A Disposition is Not a Behavior

Notice that a disposition is not a behavior; a disposition informs a behavior. For example, being on time is a professional behavior that is very important for teachers to exhibit consistently. This behavior of being on time is not a disposition. However, it may be informed by a disposition.

Suppose a teacher is always on time because he or she arrives early in order to be there for those students who daily get dropped off early and need adult attention. This could be from the disposition C. SOCIAL AWARENESS, 1. Empathy. Another teacher may be on time daily because he or she arrives early in order to collaborate with colleagues for student success. The behavior of being on time may come from a disposition of D. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT, 6. Teamwork and collaboration. However, another teacher may demonstrate the same professional behavior of being on time (or arriving early) simply because he or she wants a parking space close to the door in order to beat the students out of the lot at the end of the school day. Hmmm . . . Same behavior but a different disposition than the kind we're wanting to encourage.

Can a positive disposition be learned or improved?

I certainly think so. The first step is to think deeply about what a disposition is and to read and understand each disposition in the four domains of the Western Teacher Education Dispositions. There's a lot there, but if you wish to work on the area that most directly contributes to your success or failure in Junior Experience, Student Teaching or in your first year of teaching you'll give a lot of attention to the topic of dispositions.

Students, Cooperating Teachers and College Supervisors will bend over backwards to help you if you demonstrate you are disposed to care for students and focus on their success. They will forgive you for deficits in your knowledge and skills and help you get better. But if they become convinced you are not disposed to help their students succeed, they will give you little mercy because you have not earned it. Please don't ignore this area of dispositions.

Let's look now at an application. We'll use the metaphor of a Buffalo Nickel to demonstrate an approach or tendency of looking at students in a particular way (a disposition).

The Buffalo Nickel

Are you old enough to remember when the BUFFALO NICKEL was in circulation? Or maybe you've seen them in display cases at a coin shop or in a friend's collection. They fascinated me as a kid, the picture of a proud Native American on the obverse and a mighty buffalo on the reverse. How easy it was to examine one side, then flip the coin over and look at the other side.

I seriously doubt if you have a BUFFALO NICKEL in your pocket, so look at the two sides of the coin in the picture below: Each image is related and connected to the other, but each is distinct from the other. After all, the Native American depicted on the nickel was a human, a member of a class of the most successful naturalists of all time. In fact, one of the adjectives sometimes used to describe Native Americans such as the one depicted is "noble." The buffalo however, is a beast, not self-aware like the Native American. In fact, the buffalo was the prey of the Native Americans and was used to provide everything from food to clothing to utensils.

On a single BUFFALO NICKEL we find these related but different symbols residing as two sides of the same coin. The truth captured by this metaphor applies to you and to everyone you meet. It's so easy to see only one side of anyone with whom we come in contact. We tend to quickly categorize people into one slot or another and fail to see the complexity that makes up each individual. We see only one side of the coin. When eventually---and inevitably---the other side of the coin appears, we are surprised and may react inappropriately.

We may feel we've been betrayed when the coin flips and we see the other side. However, like the BUFFALO NICKEL, everyone has both assets and liabilities. They have talents, disposition, and skills that are wonderful and are easily appreciated. Moreover, with each asset comes the companion, connected liability.

Assets and Liabilities are Connected

Do you like the way that student is quiet and respectful, never contributing to problems in the classroom? The other side of the coin may be that the student is passive or feels helpless in the face of learning challenges. It’s unethical to accept the quiet, cooperative behavior and not delve deeper to see if there is another side to this student that needs to be encouraged or developed so they may be successful academically.

How about the student who is always interrupting, always trying to get you off topic and flustered. Could it be that the same student is one of the more intellectually gifted students in your class but is bored? If you classify that student’s behavior as bad (or, more politely, as disruptive) you may overlook positive attributes that need to be recognized and nurtured. In fact, if you find and nurture the other side of the coin, the disagreeable behaviors may disappear.

Like the aggressive way in which that student volunteers and takes charge of projects in the classroom? They may also be demanding and not easily accept your explanation of things. It's unfair to accept the obverse without realizing you also get the other side of the coin. They cannot be separated from each other.

How This Relates to Dispositions

Teachers who put forth the effort to think deeply about their students so as to promote learning and success are practicing one or more positive teacher dispositions. One that comes to mind is D. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT, 3. Developing others:

Teacher leaders who are adept at cultivating students and colleagues show a genuine interest in those they are helping along, understanding their goals, strengths, and weaknesses. Such teacher leaders can give timely and constructive feedback and are natural mentors or coaches.

Please aspire to being a Teacher Leader in the classroom: make the effort to take responsibility for your students’ learning.

“Each asset is balanced by a related liability. You cannot ethically accept one without the other."

Copyright 2005 Richard H. Porr, Ph.D.

Priming for Success

QUESTION: Is it possible for teacher leaders to prime their students for success?

John Bargh, an New York University professor and psychologist created a group of experiments called “priming experiments.” He was especially interested in “The link between stereotype activation and then behaving in line with the content of that stereotype.”

Unconscious Effect

In one experiment subjects were asked to construct sentences from jumbled words like the groups below:

him was worried she always

from are Florida oranges temperature

shoes give repair old the

us bingo sing play let

Scattered throughout the groupings were words related to aging such as “worried,” “Florida,” “old,” and “bingo.” The researcher discovered that the subjects left the room and walked down the hall more slowly than when they arrived. They had been unconsciously affected by “priming” that caused them to act as if they were old.

Aggression versus Patience

In a second priming experiment, one group of subjects worked their way through a scramble test that included words related to aggressive behavior while another group of subjects worked with words related to tolerance and patience. Both groups of subjects were then asked to walk down the hall to talk with an administrator. Unbeknownst to the subjects, the administrator was scripted to be busy with another activity that left the subject waiting for 10 minutes or until the subject interrupted. The group “primed” for aggression interrupted after about five minutes while 82% of the group “primed” for patience never interrupted during the entire 10 minutes---and these were New Yorkers!

A Smarter Frame of Mind

In a third priming experiment conducted by Dutch researchers, two groups of students were asked to answer Trivial Pursuit questions. The only difference between the two groups was that one was given the direction and time to “think like a professor” before being asked the questions. The “professor” group answered 55.6% correctly while the non-primed group answered 42.6% correctly. The more successful subjects were not more focused, not more prepared, or more serious, they were simply in a smarter frame of mind. Thinking like a teacher, this difference looks like more than a letter grade difference! Wouldn’t you like to prime your students so they are in a smarter frame of mind?

Minority Achievement

Psychologist Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson applied the priming concept to a shocking experiment involving black college students and questions from the Graduate Record Examination used for entrance into graduate school. The mere act of having to identify their race on pretest questions primed the target group of students with such negative stereotypes of African American students and academic achievement that they got only half as many questions correct as the control group. When asked afterwards, the lower performing, “primed” students were not aware of anything that affected their performance. Furthermore, when asked if the race question bothered them, they typically responded that they didn’t think they were smart enough to be in higher education.

A Personal Story

During my first year teaching, I was saddled with the “Freshman Class from Hell.” Although I tried many different approaches to affect both their academic and social progress, I was convinced by the Christmas break that one strategy was having no effect. Every day I would arrive early and place a motivating quotation on the blackboard, high up in the right had corner. I never referred to it and, surprisingly I thought, none of them ever mentioned it either. When I came back the first day from the Christmas break, I didn’t bother putting up a quote. It was a lot of work to find the quotes, decide which ones couldn’t be twisted into a sexual connotation, and then to keep track of which ones I had used so I wouldn’t repeat them. So … I quit.

From the moment the first freshman entered the classroom until the bell rang when they returned to class that first day after Christmas, they were in an uproar. “Hey, where did the quote go?” “Why isn’t there that thing up on the board?” I don’t really know what effect the quotes had on them but they had been carefully chosen to be uplifting. They addressed issues of greatness, positive character, and possibilities. I gladly returned to my practice of posting daily quotes with the confidence that they were being read and meant something to the students. Was I priming them? Probably.

The material above is drawn from Malcolm Gladwell’s insightful book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

Other thoughts about planning and success

Welcome Western Teacher Candidates

This Blog is dedicated to the support of the concepts represented by Missouri Western State University's Teacher Education Conceptual Framework - Becoming a Teacher Leader: Taking Responsibility for Student Learning.

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