In my little experience as a teacher I could notice the crucial importance of gaining the confidence and respect of students in a classroom. The teacher of any area of knowledge must be skilled and have a consistent knowledge and abilities, but, may be these competences are not enough to create a propitious atmosphere that favors an effective process of learning. There are theories and researches that study the factors that influence competence and performance in language teaching, most of them are distant from our local culture and reality and usually ignore the affective dimension of the relationship between teachers and learners. The main goal here is to relate experiences of a young teacher who succeeded in creating a favorable teaching environment through positive relationships with students.
According to Richards (2012), “effective teachers use different strategies to develop sense of community among the learners [...] to create a warm and friendly classroom atmosphere because children also have social needs in the classroom.” Many theorists speak about that topic and how this friendly environment can favor the teaching and learning process. But we must not forget this factor, commonly called rapport, depends on the cultural and social characteristics of a community. In some cultures it is inadmissible for a teacher to have a friendly relationship with the students, while in others this behavior is more acceptable. In a country like Brazil, it may possibly be even more complicated to develop rapport due to its marked cultural diversity. Apparently it seems easy to develop this type of relationship in the country's classrooms, because it is easy to think of the Brazilian people from their reputation of being a cheerful, affectionate and welcoming people, in fact it is easier to build rapport in Brazil than in Japan, But there is an important point in this process that must be observed: the balance between sympathy and professionalism, it may be difficult, even for experienced teachers.
I had some positive and negative experiences in trying to develop a more friendly relationship with my student groups, when I was a computer instructor in a social project, the environment was not as an ordinary school and could not be compared to a language classroom, but teacher-student relationship were similar to a normal classroom. I was not an experienced teacher, but I knew I could only teach effectively in a supportive environment, but I did not know how to create it. At first I tried many strategies, including being inflexible and punishing any bad behavior in a hard way, including kicking students out of the classroom or depriving them of recreation. But I began to realize these attitudes were not working well, the students preferred not to come to classes, because they did not want to face my hard rules.
The practice allowed me to observe the students had social and affective needs that need attention, so I began to change my teacher's attitude and I began to talk, smile and play more with the students, when one of them had made a mess or disrespected me, Instead of punishing them I would warn them and talk individually, try to show they had broken a rule and that this was wrong. In this process I learned two extremely powerful attitudes that the teacher can have to conquer his students, the first is the habit of praising whenever necessary, when the student completes a task, when they demonstrate good attitudes, etc. It may seem simple, but when we are talking about students from peri-urban communities, usually from broken families (often raised only by their mother or father, or by others), affective insecurity is predominant among them, so a simple compliment can make significant difference for these students.
Secondly, I developed the habit of asking for forgiveness whenever I exaggerated being too picky or when I made a mistake. For many teachers this may seem like a great absurdity, but the best way to teach this attitude to students is by example. Once I was teaching students how to format texts using editors on the computer, a certain student was not in a position to understand, maybe because he was the youngest in the class, ignoring this, I strongly demanded he complete the task, that student's reaction was Unpredictable, he was furious and left crying from the room. When I realized my mistake of being insensitive to the student's problems, I decided I should apologize. Later I called him privately and apologized for my attitude, saying that I was ignorant and that I would not do that anymore. From this, this student began to respect me and talk to me with confidence. It was difficult to put aside my authority as superior, lowering my pride to say those words, but the positive effect of this attitude is worth it.
Another important attitude that I realized to be effective in building a good Rapport is to develop bonds of friendship among students through group work or peers. This implies the teacher is a good mediator in the face of common classroom conflicts, it is about making students aware 's abilities and weaknesses, and teaching them to accept this.
Over time I realized I had a favorable environment for teaching, and that this depended on the respect and friendship I was developing with the students. Everything becomes easier when this type of relationship is built, although this demands many teacher's willingness and effort. Building this involvement can be a difficult task for beginning teachers, as this type of rapport is common to experienced teachers, as Aultman says:
“Experienced teachers tended to change their approaches to developing involvement and changed the parameters of various interaction boundaries as they gained confidence in their teaching role. The confidence gained through experience allowed them to more easily make decisions in this complicated negotiation process and develop their own balance between a sense of professionalism and a useful level of involvement.”AULTMAN (2009, p. 645).
The author mentions the greatest difficulty of this type of approach: "the balance between a sense of professionalism and a useful level of involvement". In developing this closer relationship the teacher needs to make it clear that there is a limit to his involvement with students. It is necessary, sometimes to alternate between the "friend teacher" and the "tough teacher", this alternation of roles can be effective to maintain a professional posture.
Otherwise, some students may confuse the role of the teacher and become emotionally dependent. I have a case that well illustrates this type of affective confusion. A 7-year-old student, who used to be shy and had difficulty learning, his behavior changed gradually because I always watched him closely and praised him as he progressed. Until this stage everything was perfect, until the moment the little boy started calling me "father", I warned him that I was his teacher and not his father. Later I learned from the director of the project that this little boy had lost his father in a car accident when he was 4, I was obviously shocked, I was scared to be tough on this student and somehow hurt his feelings but I try to keep the professional posture, I called the boy's mother and explained the situation and together we explained to him that he should not call the teacher as his father. This was a delicate situation that demonstrates the kinds of problems that can occur when developing this more humanist approach. Only experience can prepare the teacher to maintain this balance.
In the course of time the teacher is approaching an ideal situation, "At their best, teacher-student student relationships can be" trustful ... involves a minimum of control, are cooperative, and are conducted in a reciprocal, interactive manner " (Tiberius and Billson, 1991, p.82).
I have tried to demonstrate through my own experience as a teacher it is possible to create an environment favorable to teaching, and that this ability to create a sense of community and friendship comes through experience and improves over time. “The students are neither your colleagues nor your inferiors, they are your students. They occupy a space where you can shape the learning environment with both structure and humanity.” SMITH (2013).
References:
Burns A, Richards JC (eds) (2012) The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and Practice in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press
Aultman, L. P., Williams-Johnson, M. R., & Schutz, P. A. (2009). Boundary dilemmas in teacher–student relationships: Struggling with “the line”. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 636-646.
Tiberius, R. (1993). The why of teacher/student relationships. Essays on Teaching Excellence – Professional & Organizational Development Network, 5(8). Retrieved July 20, 2012, from http://www.podnetwork.org/publications/teachingexcellence/93-94/V5,%20N8%20Tiberius.pdf
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