PORTFOLIO
Resources for Relational Learning
I have included the article "Relationships, Learning, and Development: A Student Perspective" in my digital portfolio because it presents a student perspective of their relationships with their teachers. (To access the article click on the photo on the left and click on 'Go to Link'). Reading a first person account from a student about what they appreciate about their teachers is very insightful. Further, listening to this perspective is important when formulating my educational philosophy.
In the article many of the students stated that they like best when a teacher takes the role of a mentor or a friend. In addition, the paper offered some ways to achieve this relationship:
Teachers do not need to make enormous efforts to reach out to students; rather, small, symbolic gestures show students that teachers recognize their individuality and assume their potential for meaningful contribution. (Bernstein Yamashiro, & Noam, 2013, p. 31).
What often begins as a classroom interaction over curriculum can blossom into a more personal mentoring relatinoship that ccan engender students academic achievement and personal succes.
(Bernstein-Yamashiro, & Noam, 2013, p. 28).
 Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., Cohen, S., Giampapa, F., Leoni, L., Sandhu, P., & Sastri, P. (2005). Affirming identity in multilingual classrooms. Educational Leadership: The Whole Child, 63(1), 38-43. |
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 Bernstein-Yamashiro, B., Noam, G.G. (2013). Teacher-student relationships: Towards Personalized Education. New Directions for Youth Development, 137, 27-44. |
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 Friedrich, A., Flunger, B., Nagengast, B., Jonkmann, K., & Trautwein, U. (2015). Pygmalion effects in the classroom: Teacher expectancy effects on students’ math achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 1–12. |
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I have included the article "Pygmalion Effects in the Classroom: Teacher Expectancy Effects on Students' Math Achievement" because it emphasizes how a teacher's expectations can either push a student to grow, even past the boundaries they had set for themselves, or hold a student back from achieving their potential. To access this article click on the picture above and click 'Go to Link'.
A teacher’s perspective of a certain student, or beliefs about what that student can achieve affects the quality of their instructional methods for that student. Further, students can often read what somebody believes they are capable of. Therefore, if a teacher expects them to be unsuccessful, this can lead to them having a lower self-esteem and self-efficacy, leading to less involvement, engagement and academic success.
This self-fulfilling prophecy is known as the Pygmalion Effect. As future teachers we need to be aware of how our own perspectives are shaping our students academic success.
I have included the article, "Affirming Identity in Multilingual Classrooms" because it speaks to the immense diversity that teachers will experience in their classrooms. (To access this article, click on the picture above and click 'Go to Link'). In this article, a young girl from an ethnic minority feels as though her classmates disapprove of her cultural clothing. However, she feels affirmed in her identity when her teachers compliment how she dresses and ask her questions about her culture and religion.
The authors emphasize the importance of utilizing English Language Learners' "cultural knowledge and language abilities to engage them academically in the classroom. They also argue that English Language Learners' will engage in learning to the extent that they feel affirmed in their identities.
This engages an important educational concept: beginning with and building off of students' prior knowledge and experiences.
A class activity that helps to affirm the identities of English Language Learners is creating multilingual storybooks. For more information about this project, see projects under the English Specialization tab.
In her TEDtalk titled "Every Kid Needs a Champion Rita Pierson stresses "the value and importance of human connection. Relationships."
Partially because I identify with the accommodator (emotional and people-oriented learner) teacher relationships were always important to me. That's not to say that teacher relationships are not important in fostering all students' learning, I was just very impacted by teachers who took the time to affirm me.
For example, in Grade 11 I had a teacher who read my creative short stories, met with me early in the morning to discuss them and encouraged me to keep writing. I am very thankful that he invested in me and I think he would be proud to know that I am now an English major studying to become a teacher.
Rita Pierson. (2014, October, 6). Rita Pierson. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/1zspu4lsk8Y