By their very nature, people are social creatures. The goal of education should be to encourage students to develop into respectful citizens of the world who have an adept understanding of and empathy for the complexities of human nature. It is fundamental to facilitate this advancement of society through cultivating a positive environment of support, compassion and care.  In an educational context, genuine caring exists when a teacher implements both structure and sympathy to meet his or her students’ needs.

 

          As a Secondary English teacher with experience in English Language Arts for grades nine through eleven, my mission is to give students opportunities to cherish the gifts of the English Language and connect them to their social realities. I aim for students to understand the connections between texts, readers and social functions. I provide students with opportunities to justify and clarify their own interpretations as well as to extend their responses to others and larger social contexts.

 

          There is no greater way a teacher can show care for his or her students than by providing students with thoughtful and detailed lessons designed to meet the needs of his or her students. I connect the individual student to the material through the inclusion of contemporary examples, student involvement, differentiated instruction and a variety of media texts. In my experience, lessons that contain contemporary examples resonate more fully to students than information which appears “outdated.” For example, in terms of teaching The Great Gatsby, I enriched the text by providing both a substantial social context for when the novel was written as well as an exploration of the more universal, contemporary ideals of masculinity and prosperity in the media. Students were able to bridge the gap of understanding through being provided with the opportunity to participate. Their learning went from concrete and personal to critical and analytical because they initially found their learning interesting, valuable and relevant. As mentioned, I tend to promote the deconstruction of alternative texts in the classroom. In a grade nine class, we went over a short story that dealt with ageism. I incorporated different advertisements from magazines, the internet and television which highlighted a societal fear of aging. Students were able to apply the concerns of the story with the larger anxieties towards age in society itself. 

 

          In order to further encourage an environment of genuine caring, my lesson plans typically allow for students to work together in pairs or groups. In order to function in society, students will need to be able to collaborate with others in a respectful and efficient manner.  I provide students with a structure of how the tasks can be divided equally to ensure cooperation and completion of tasks. Students are encouraged to draw from discussions with peers to extend, reshape or clarify their own responses.  Whether in a classroom, an extra-curricular activity or on a sports team, my goal is to provide a Quality Curriculum (Glasser) which ensures that the material is relevant, interesting and applicable to the students’ experiences. 

 

          Another important element of providing an environment of genuine caring is to cultivate a more overt model of support for my students. I start each class at the door of my classroom so that I can personally greet each student who walks into my door. Every day at lunch and after school, I provide times for walk-in visits for students who need support academically, emotionally or socially. I affirm my open-door policy and uphold a positive model of connecting habits. I specifically adjust my language in regards to feedback and classroom discussion to reinforce a positive learning environment. For example: Throughout each year, I keep a list of all of my students. Based on their assignments I will write down their strengths and their challenges. When consulting each student one-on-one, I make sure to start with their strengths and build on them. In order to establish positive relationship with my students, I invested in their interests. I got involved in different extra curricular activities and attended sports games, theatre productions and community service events. The clear show of support allowed for students to see the reciprocal relationship of caring that supersedes the classroom and continues on. 

 

          In addition, I uphold a non-confrontational style of classroom management, in which I use body language over linguistics. I find that using proximity, facial expressions, or unobtrusive tactics work far more effectively than direct confrontation with discipline. I am able to promote a more positive learning environment of caring by modeling my respect for my students regardless of discipline issues. I encourage connecting habits of teaching in which I support, listen and trust my students instead of viewing myself as the authoritative upholder of knowledge. I respect my students’ opinions and take their ideas into account when constructing future lessons. Throughout my teaching I allow students to comment on my teaching practices. They appreciate being given the opportunity to comment on what they liked, what they would change, and how I was as an instructor. In my grade nine English class, I listened to their suggestions and put in place more opportunities for hands-on activities. In the next Fahrenheit 451 Unit Plan, I had the students work on character development and plot structure through Facebook. Their attention and hard work revealed that they appreciated that their opinions were respected and taken into consideration. 

 

           When students are provided with an environment of positivity, support and care, they are able to replicate classroom culture and apply it to the macrocosm. By providing students with a quality curriculum, which allows them to discuss, collaborate, voice their opinions and relate issues to the larger society,  they grow to be respectful and insightful citizens of the world. As a teacher, I aim to model and promote an environment that provides the structure and the sympathy that allows for each student to develop academically, socially and emotionally. I aim to encourage each student to see the gifts of the English language and to apply his or her reflections to the larger society.