Creating and Upholding Student Expectations

 Creating and Upholding Student Expectations

Student expectations

Many of us have the conviction that we are in control of our own destiny and most of us know that hard work and effort is the key to success!  With this in mind, teachers can promote developing a growth vs. a fixed mindset within their students.

 There are students who believe they are no good at learning a new skill, however, a teacher can change this fixed mindset to a growth mindset by showing them that learning a new skill comes with practise. Learning new skills is an important aspect of student accomplishment to reach their full potential.  Thomas. A. (nd). Point out that society perceives education as a well-intentioned objective, with the aim of creating well-rounded students that reach their full potential. Their research poses the question “What do we know about school experience that brings out the best in students?”

'The answer: High expectations. Academic and behavioral. No excuses, no exceptions'.

Firstly, when looking at academic expectations,  it is important for students to comprehend the information and content they learnt in class.  This can be done through questioning to check for understanding. Students should be praised or given words of encouragement when they work well, this can be done through using words such as ‘you’re a superstar’.  Bell, L. (2007) would like us to consider that we should aim to create a culture of high expectations for all students and supports this idea of giving power names to students such as ‘Superstar’.

Secondly, students should be encouraged to participate and cooperate in group work to learn and experience new challenges. Often, some of our students prefer not to participate in groups, for whatever the reason. My teacher’s strategy is usually to remind the student that their opinion is usually of high quality and that would add value to their group project. This idea is also supported by Bell, L. (2007) and states that teachers should brag about their students and the little things they do well.

Finally, Tasks & Activities are given to our students to enrich their knowledge of the content and for them to practise new skills learnt. Students are required to complete these tasks and activities at home and submit it to the teacher as requested.  At times, there are those who tend to make excuses as to why they did not complete the work.  Teachers try to avoid students from handing in incomplete work as it causes unnecessary issues. They remind the student of the rules about completion of the work, and at times are given an extension to ensure the work is completed, further stating that they expected better of the student or expected this sort of incomplete work from someone else but not from them.

Bell, L. (2007) would like to draw our attention to the fact that teachers should always have high expectations of their students and never accept excuses for not having their work done timeously. Helpful statements such as “I understand. It’s just that I expect better than this from you’ , or  ‘Don’t come in here without my work because you are better than that’  or, ‘From somebody else, maybe, but not from you’, and ‘Please don’t let me down again. You are better than that’.  

Driving pupils to overcome hurdles can be tiring at times. Some teachers even reason that ‘pushing students damages their fragile self-esteem or cultural identity’ (Thomas. A. (nd). However, we as teachers should never accept less than and assume that's the best the students can do. All the above methods aim to encourage student motivation and promote a positive classroom environment.

Bell, L. (2007). Creating a culture of high expectations for all students. Retrieved from https://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/bell/bell003.shtml

• This blog by Larry Bell, a well-known educational speaker, provides some best practices for creating a positive classroom culture in regards to supporting students.

Spiegel, A. (2012). Teacher’s expectations can influence how students perform. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/09/18/161159263/teachers-expectations-can-influence-how-students-perform

• This article connects a modern-day classroom to Rosenthal’s study and provides some reflective teacher questions.
• Hit the ‘play’ button in the top right corner to hear a further explanation of the article as it was discussed on NPR radio.

Hill, J. (n.d.). The power of high expectations: Closing the gap in your classroom. Retrieved from http://teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/DCA_Ch2_2011.pdf

• This document provides varied perspectives on holding students to high academic standards and how those expectations can affect students.