Recently, there has been a workshop about establishing relationships of mutual respect between teachers and students that helps teachers understand their students’ personal background and academic preparation. Hearing this has me thinking about the relationships I have had with teachers and how we navigate classes and relationships with teachers in college in general.
I think it is really important that the university encourages strong teacher -student relationships because it is beneficial to students’ learning experience and overall wellbeing in college. As a student, if I feel like my teacher does not care anything about me as a person or my learning experience, then I am a lot less likely to seek out academic or personal help from them even if I need it. For many students, teachers are the only people they know to turn to for academic help.
College is a time of hard transitions or a completely new environment for many students, and often times students do not feel that they have anyone to confide in or are unaware of the resources offered to them at the university for mental health or academic help. Teachers are often times the bridge connecting students to where they need to go, and that is why it is important to establish a respectful relationship between students and teachers.
During my time at ETSU, I have had mostly positive experiences with the teachers I have had. However, I think everyone has had at least one teacher during college that clearly did not care about anything but teaching the material and did not care about students in anyway except as a number of a test score or a letter grade. We get it, there is a lot of material to cover and not a lot of time for idle chatting or getting to know each other. However, I think teachers can still show respect and concern for students even in a very large or busy class.
Just taking one minute at the end of a lecture to encourage students to ask questions, reach out or attend office hours if they need anything can make a big impact. Even an email after class is way better than saying nothing at all. A lot of times, it is fear of the professor being unapproachable that holds students back from asking for help, and giving simple reminders like this can help break down that wall and make teachers seem more approachable.
It is important for teachers to respect their students; however, we should also remember as students that we need to respect our teachers. Especially now, with all the changes they have had to adapt to due to COVID-19, it is important to thank them and show them our respect for what they do. If teachers and students respect and care for each other, then getting through tough times this semester will be that much easier.
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