Positive and Negative Observations Five

Positive and Negative Observations

Five Positive Judgment and Observations

Apparent politeness and consideration for others.

Apparent humility

Apparent absence of preoccupation with trendiness

Apparent respect for authority

Apparent benevolence

Five Negative Judgment and Observations

Apparent impoliteness and inconsideration for others.

Apparent self-centeredness and need for attention from others

Apparent preoccupation with trendiness

Apparent lack of respect for authority

Apparent malevolence

Possible Relevance to my Responses to others as a Teacher

I recognize that some of my instinctive reactions to others based on my observations of them could potentially affect the way I respond to people in the educational environment. When I observe people who are impolite or inconsiderate to others, it annoys me and as a teacher, I imagine that I would respond by providing guidance about why politeness and consideration are important in society. Likewise, because I admire and respect people who have appropriate respect for authority and who exhibit benevolence in general, I imagine that I would also respond to instances of apparent lack of respect and inconsideration by providing guidance in that regard.

On the other hand, the issues of humility, superficial preoccupations, and the need for attention from others are issues that matter more to personal psychological development and much less to the manner in which individuals affect others in society. Therefore, whereas when it comes to issues of respect, consideration, and benevolence, I would probably feel compelled to intervene, I would probably not interfere as much with issues of personal psychological development except, perhaps, to the extent they arose within the context of established interpersonal relationships such as in the capacity of student advisor.

In many instances, there are also cultural components in the way that different groups relate to others and in the values held by those groups. I recognize that as an educator, it can be difficult, or at least a potentially sensitive matter, to make judgment and offer advice based on apparent external behaviour. Since, in many cases, the types of themes that are important to me are aspects of culturally-learned behaviors, criticizing others for aspects of those behaviors that violate objective principles could suggest to others that my judgments reflect a cultural or racial or ethnic bias. Therefore, as an educator, I realize that even purely objective criticisms must be carefully expressed so as not to communicate prejudices or ethnic perspective on my part instead of genuinely well-intentioned advice based on principles.