Souza Tomlinson Mindset and Approaching

Souza Tomlinson

Mindset and Approaching the Classroom

There are few things that are likely to impact the relationship between students and teacher as significantly as will the mindset of the latter. Indeed, this is often a determinant of the mindset of the former. In my experience, a teacher with a rigid, authoritarian and inflexible mindset will create an atmosphere poorly suited to the goals of learning. This is especially so where differentiation is called for.

Reflecting on a high school history instructor who engaged his students with the mindset described above, I can recall that the product of his assumptions and expectations was a classroom devoid of joy or curiosity. And his attitude was felt on a number of levels. First and foremost, he did little to cultivate in-class discussion. In spite of the relatively colorful and sometimes compelling nature of our history, the teacher seemed to take very little interest in the capacity for history to invoke a diversity of perspectives. Instead, he seemed relatively annoyed when a lecture was interrupted by a raised hand and an inquiry. Equally as troubling, he seemed to view his role as a disciplinarian as being of equal or greater importance than his role as a provider of knowledge. He frequently scolded students for chewing gum and taking unnecessarily long bathroom breaks. Quite to the point, he clearly reveled in embarrassing and subordinating his students.

This created an atmosphere in which a general resentment and distaste for the teacher made students less likely to complete homework or, when doing so, less likely to extend any effort beyond the bare minimum. Likewise as students began to experience different levels of proficiency in his class, those in need of help found the teacher simply too intimidating and unpleasant to approach for additional help. It was clear that the teacher's mindset was guided by a sharp hierarchy and that he was particularly sensitive to any violation of that hierarchy. He tolerated only minimal conversational interaction with students and clearly preferred the comfort of lecturing without the risk of being challenged.

Another level on which his mindset would come to define the student experience was the degree to which it eroded any possible passion for the material. From the student's perspective, the non-participatory classroom environment and the standoffish demeanor of the educator himself had fostered a feeling of acceptance for academic laziness. While the teacher worked so hard to present himself as a disciplinarian, he drew his course material directly from the text book and his exams demonstrated little to no creative thought. His approach to the material asked for nothing more than rote memorization to the extent that studying could be conducted without ever engaged in critical reflection. Students viewed this as the teacher's disinterest in the subject matter and they would respond in kind.