#wfe3
As I look back through what seems like ages upon ages ago of learning with quite a number of teachers I sat, listened, and studied under — there are very few who has made a real impact on me as a learner. A standout would be my junior high school teacher in Statistics. See, any subject that dealt with numbers were anathema to me. I ran away from these like one ran away from any flesh-eating dinosaur, should there be any around. I hated numbers and any manipulation of them, period. I harboured this from the primary grades, because I could never seem to wrap my head around how they work and my exams as well as grades in this subject never seem to catch up with those that I had for English, or Communication Arts for example. I was actually an above average student for most of my time in school, but somehow Maths and numbers were always a struggle for me. Statistics though was an exception. And I know why! It was because of this teacher — Ms. W., as I will call her. She made a huge difference in how I saw numbers because of the way she taught it. And it impacted me big-time so that not only did I do well in her class, but it influenced my decision to pursue Psychology as my undergrad degree. There were a number of other factors why I took that course, but for sure, one of the major deciding factors was Ms. W’s teaching of statistics — which changed my mind about numbers and how capable I was in handling them.
As I reflect on why she was so effective in helping me understand not only statistics, but myself as a learner — so that I realised I was not wholly to blame for my disdain for anything to do with numbers, it became clear that there were mainly 2 things. One, she knew the subject well — so she knew how to frame and sequence the lessons well in order to build a solid foundation starting from the simplest to the more complex concepts. A good teacher does not move on to a more difficult topic or concept until the foundational ones have been fully grasped. Otherwise, just changing the problem around a bit, an average student may not be able to apply memorised formulas anymore since there was no real understanding of the principles involved. This converges with what Prof. Alex Moore said, who was interviewed for this Week 3 of the course- he mentioned that every time he was asked how to be a better teacher, he would advise teachers to work on their communication skills instead of their charisma. If you can communicate well as a teacher then whatever you teach would be better understood by students.
Two, and more importantly, Ms. W had good relationships with her students. Unlike other teachers who would not even bother to return your greeting, Ms. W. was always pleasant, greeted you back and showed concern for how you were doing in your studies, especially with her subject. Again, this characteristic was mentioned by Prof. Moore, who wrote “The Good Teacher” (2004). He said that teachers must cultivate a sense of empathy with their students and that he has learned over many years of teaching that teachers have emotions too and it must be acknowledged. He mentioned how quite embarrassed he was to have told his student-teachers before to leave their “emotional baggage” outside of the classroom. I quite agree that teachers are humans too, so it does not make sense to say that they must not have any emotions at all whilst teaching. To balance though, there are intense emotions that must be checked and are better not displayed in the classroom as it may be disruptive — such as extreme anger or intense fears.
It is in the aspect of empathy though that I must say Ms. W, my stats teacher did so well. She connected with us, her students so much so that I have current evidence that many, if not all of us, appreciated her as a teacher. She is now on social media too, and I can see from posts of more recent students that she has only grown better as a teacher. My classmates and I still keep in touch with her and consider ourselves blessed to have had her especially for such a subject as Stats.
