Two decades ago a college class room would have a handful of students who would rebel against teachers. These students had a framework of operation. They would be as soft as breeze in a knowledgeable teacher's class and as violent as a storm in a un-knowledgeable teacher's class. Outside the class room they were polite to the knowledgeable teacher and bullied the un-knowledgeable teacher.
Today there has been a paradigm shift in the frame work of the students because of the knowledge exposure. Students are no more worried about gaining knowledge from the teacher. The brilliant student has read much better books/internet sites and is bored in the class room. The average/below average student needs no 'explanations', rather he wants 'notes' to pass.
The current rebel categories:
1. A teacher has to be interestingly knowledgeable; have excellent communication skills; have a proper quantity of rhetoric skills. Otherwise the brilliant student becomes a rebel.
2. A teacher has to be capable of explaining the most difficult concepts in a simple manner; give simple illustrations; give simple, memorisable notes. Otherwise, the average/below average student becomes a rebel.
All said and done, a teacher plays a very significant role in creating/removing rebels. A rebel once created tries to practice the style in every class.
How do we tackle these class-created rebels?
The brilliant rebels
1. Illustrations carrying a variety of emotions: Every teacher has to train himself in collecting illustration to explain concepts. Each concept can be explained each time with a different illustration. Each time the subject is revised the teacher can change the illustration. These illustrations can be drawn from the popular culture/serious philosophy. That is, the illustrations must alternate in emotions. they should be humorous at times, sarcastic at times, ethical at times etc. The emotions should vary. The lecture should be so interesting that the brilliant student must feel that the internet notes are boring.
2. High quality notes: The brilliant student needs challenges. therefor the notes prepared must be complex, complete in knowledge.
3. Extra reading assignments: The teacher has to make these students realise their intellectual potential. They have to be reminded again and again that this god-given potential has to be cultivated by reading. Also they have to be taught the ethics of contributing to society. There is a need to be humble and hardworking. Intelligence will not be of any use if it is not backed up with hard work. Biographies of great leaders/scientists will be handy and the teacher can quickly talk about anecdotes in a minute. Names of books have to be given in every class to this group. Relentlessly the teacher has to monitor their reading, keep asking them to come to the front of the class to talk about what they have read.
4. Building rapport: The teacher has to remember that intelligent minds are easily bored. So he should never lose his eye contact with these students. Books can be discussed other than the prescribed ones everyday. It is smart to keep these students mentally closer to the teacher.
The average rebels
1. Simple notes: The teacher can prepare remedial notes. Give these notes in the beginning of the semester itself. So that they can keep studying everyday. For a student who is not comfortable with English, this practice will be a great service. Because memorizing the points takes time.
2. Checking illustrations: The teacher has to make sure the illustrations do not hurt the weak students. They have to be treated just as the brilliant ones are treated.
3. Simple assignments: The teacher can give assignments that are picture oriented rather than concept oriented. The best thing to do is to give broad options for the entire class: PPTs, E-Mails, hand written, Charts, Printed, minimum one page to maximum 10 pages etc. Each category assignments have to be applauded only if they have the expected quality. It is better to be strict in evaluation. The students will gradually 'rise' to the teacher's expectation. It might take even a full semester to reach this point. Out of 50 students who are average, of 5 students do well, it is great success for the teacher.
4. Rapport: Most of the times the teacher divides the class into two groups: studying and not-studying. This paves way for building rebels. The studying group becomes 'over-confident' and the not-studying group become 'demotivated.' A rapport can be built with the average students by giving them responsibilities. Initially they will not perform as they might not trust this new 'attitude' in a teacher. The teacher has to keep on trying and one by one these students will come around. This is made possible by making the class understand that different kind of 'intelligences' exist: academic, sports, fine-arts, organisational, leadership, financial etc. It must be made very clear that all students are equal no matter what their background, marks, personality and class performance. This will eliminate rebel behaviour in the average students. It will build their self-esteem and confidence. Most of the times rebels are students who need sincere attention.
To remove rebellious behaviour from the class room the teacher needs the following:
1. Knowledge with the latest updates
2. Thorough preparation
3. Respect for the teaching profession
4. Respect for students
5. Well defined goals for the class. Ex: All should pass, Every one should speak English, Should get the sports cup, should get the fine arts cup, at least one University rank etc.
6. An awareness of the limitations of knowledge, the drawbacks of intelligence as a tool, the imperfectness of human knowledge systems etc.
7. Ability to apply concepts to real life situations
8. Faith in life
Today there has been a paradigm shift in the frame work of the students because of the knowledge exposure. Students are no more worried about gaining knowledge from the teacher. The brilliant student has read much better books/internet sites and is bored in the class room. The average/below average student needs no 'explanations', rather he wants 'notes' to pass.
The current rebel categories:
1. A teacher has to be interestingly knowledgeable; have excellent communication skills; have a proper quantity of rhetoric skills. Otherwise the brilliant student becomes a rebel.
2. A teacher has to be capable of explaining the most difficult concepts in a simple manner; give simple illustrations; give simple, memorisable notes. Otherwise, the average/below average student becomes a rebel.
All said and done, a teacher plays a very significant role in creating/removing rebels. A rebel once created tries to practice the style in every class.
How do we tackle these class-created rebels?
The brilliant rebels
1. Illustrations carrying a variety of emotions: Every teacher has to train himself in collecting illustration to explain concepts. Each concept can be explained each time with a different illustration. Each time the subject is revised the teacher can change the illustration. These illustrations can be drawn from the popular culture/serious philosophy. That is, the illustrations must alternate in emotions. they should be humorous at times, sarcastic at times, ethical at times etc. The emotions should vary. The lecture should be so interesting that the brilliant student must feel that the internet notes are boring.
2. High quality notes: The brilliant student needs challenges. therefor the notes prepared must be complex, complete in knowledge.
3. Extra reading assignments: The teacher has to make these students realise their intellectual potential. They have to be reminded again and again that this god-given potential has to be cultivated by reading. Also they have to be taught the ethics of contributing to society. There is a need to be humble and hardworking. Intelligence will not be of any use if it is not backed up with hard work. Biographies of great leaders/scientists will be handy and the teacher can quickly talk about anecdotes in a minute. Names of books have to be given in every class to this group. Relentlessly the teacher has to monitor their reading, keep asking them to come to the front of the class to talk about what they have read.
4. Building rapport: The teacher has to remember that intelligent minds are easily bored. So he should never lose his eye contact with these students. Books can be discussed other than the prescribed ones everyday. It is smart to keep these students mentally closer to the teacher.
The average rebels
1. Simple notes: The teacher can prepare remedial notes. Give these notes in the beginning of the semester itself. So that they can keep studying everyday. For a student who is not comfortable with English, this practice will be a great service. Because memorizing the points takes time.
2. Checking illustrations: The teacher has to make sure the illustrations do not hurt the weak students. They have to be treated just as the brilliant ones are treated.
3. Simple assignments: The teacher can give assignments that are picture oriented rather than concept oriented. The best thing to do is to give broad options for the entire class: PPTs, E-Mails, hand written, Charts, Printed, minimum one page to maximum 10 pages etc. Each category assignments have to be applauded only if they have the expected quality. It is better to be strict in evaluation. The students will gradually 'rise' to the teacher's expectation. It might take even a full semester to reach this point. Out of 50 students who are average, of 5 students do well, it is great success for the teacher.
4. Rapport: Most of the times the teacher divides the class into two groups: studying and not-studying. This paves way for building rebels. The studying group becomes 'over-confident' and the not-studying group become 'demotivated.' A rapport can be built with the average students by giving them responsibilities. Initially they will not perform as they might not trust this new 'attitude' in a teacher. The teacher has to keep on trying and one by one these students will come around. This is made possible by making the class understand that different kind of 'intelligences' exist: academic, sports, fine-arts, organisational, leadership, financial etc. It must be made very clear that all students are equal no matter what their background, marks, personality and class performance. This will eliminate rebel behaviour in the average students. It will build their self-esteem and confidence. Most of the times rebels are students who need sincere attention.
To remove rebellious behaviour from the class room the teacher needs the following:
1. Knowledge with the latest updates
2. Thorough preparation
3. Respect for the teaching profession
4. Respect for students
5. Well defined goals for the class. Ex: All should pass, Every one should speak English, Should get the sports cup, should get the fine arts cup, at least one University rank etc.
6. An awareness of the limitations of knowledge, the drawbacks of intelligence as a tool, the imperfectness of human knowledge systems etc.
7. Ability to apply concepts to real life situations
8. Faith in life
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