2 Ways to show students we believe in them
Introduction — What does “Care” really mean?
“Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
— A popular quote for teachers
So what does “Care” really mean?
Does it mean showing concerns for the students? And does it mean helping them as much as we can?
In 2019, I had a student, “Tam”, who had a genetic disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta. It is also called the “brittle bone” disease because people with this disease fracture their bones easily.
Because of the multiple fractures that Tam had, he had to use a wheelchair to move around since primary school. He was also exempted from all Physical Education (PE) lessons.
Fast-forward to secondary school. The main concern we had for Tam was whether he could participate in physical activities. We had many discussions with the teachers and his physical therapist.
We finally decided to include him in all learning, including PE and outdoor activities. We felt that if we modified the tasks, he could learn just like anyone else.
When Tam was in secondary four, I did an interview with Tam. It was part of a mini research to understand what students with physical disabilities feel about PE lessons.
During the interview, I asked many questions, such as “What was his favourite PE lesson?” and “What does he hope teachers do?” Listening to his answers, I could not help but think there was only one common theme: “Please believe in me!”
For example, when I asked him about his favourite PE lesson, he replied, “The time my PE teacher asked me to find a way to learn the skill which others were learning.” And when I asked him what made PE lessons fun, he replied, “When teachers gave me the autonomy.”
At the end of the interview, I asked him what he wished to tell all PE teachers. As expected, he replied, “I hope all PE teachers trust the students. And I hope all PE teachers believe we can learn like anyone else.”
We always think students want us to care for them. But do we know what “care” really means?
To support Tam, we created a buddy system and modified all activities for him. From our perspective, we were showing care. But from his perspective, he felt he could not do anything by himself. And even when he believed he could, nobody seemed to believe so.
That is why he was overjoyed whenever teachers treated him like everyone else. He finally felt somebody really cared about what he really needed.
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, students want the learning environment to be safe. They want to feel part of a community. And that they are capable individuals who can learn independently.
If we truly “care” about the students, we must ask ourselves if we are creating a learning environment that fulfils these needs. I am not only talking about students with physical disabilities. I am talking about ALL students.
Therefore, when we plan our lessons, we must ask ourselves: “Do our tasks make them feel that nobody would judge them?” and “Do our tasks make them feel capable of learning it?”
Do our tasks make students feel nobody is judging them?
Imagine this: You are tasked to organise a three-day camp for the secondary three students. This is your fourth year organising such a camp. Based on your experience, you have many ideas for making the camp more impactful.
You strongly felt that students could be given more autonomy. And secondary three students were more than ready to take the lead. As such, you decided to empower students by giving them various roles and responsibilities.
For instance, you wanted the students to decide on a packing list, plan groupings, and do the briefing. You also wanted them to take turns leading small groups in activities and nightly reflections.
When your HOD knew about your plan, he was supportive. However, he started asking you many questions.
“Would you be checking their packing list?” “Would you be working with the leaders on how to brief?” and “Would you brief the group leaders on how to lead?” were two of the many questions he asked.
Over the next two days, your HOD asked you even more questions. Every time you had an idea, you were worried about being judged by him. The more you thought about it, the less confident you became.
After one week, you were overwhelmed by all the questions. You decided that it was less stressful to do everything by yourself. To the HOD, he merely wanted to help you to make it a success. But to you, you felt he did not trust you.
Similarly, in the classroom, we may want to help the students. We may give feedback when we see them not performing to expectations. We may also give them many suggestions before they start the activities.
To us, we want to help students see their blind spots. But these can create more anxiety for the students! Students with anxiety CANNOT LEARN. They are cognitively overloaded and can never process any learning.
Think about the time we were nervous in a competition. We made fundamental mistakes that we would never have made during training. Each time we made a mistake, we felt our coaches would be disappointed with us.
Then, we made even more mistakes!
If we want to empower students, EMPOWER the students. Trust them. Make them know we believe in them. They will make a lot of mistakes. But that is how we learn. Embrace them, and soon, they will do a good job.
We want the students to know we believe in them, no matter where they are at. And we want them to know if they continue to try, they will see results.
As they got used to doing things by themselves, they will start to believe they can. Then they will become intrinsically motivated. They know if they practice again, the results will be better.
Do our tasks make them feel capable of being good at it?
Let’s do a reflection:
What are the sports you have learned before but dislike? Why do you not like the sport? Think deeper about your answer to the second question. Keep asking why until you find the root of the problem.
I do not like football. I disliked it because I did not like using my feet to play any sport.
Asking myself deeper…
I dislike using my feet to play any sport because it is uncomfortable.
I find it uncomfortable because I am not used to it.
I am not used to it because I did not play much.
Finally, I did not play much because I always failed during practice.
Nobody likes it when they do something and they fail all the time. For instance, the students who do not like running are those who were always the last few. And the students who do not like volleyball are those who cannot return the pass.
Our students are just like anyone else. They hate the sport if they kept seeing failures. Who are the ones who always ask to be excused from the lesson? I am sure they are the ones who hardly touched the ball during the game.
We knew if they had a growth mindset, they will work harder. We knew if the students continued to practice, they would find it easier. But many of our students do not know they can!
That is why it is so important that we develop our students’ growth mindsets (and self-beliefs). To do that, we have to make the task achievable for everyone and ensure students do not always see failures.
When we assess, we do not assess whether the students are achieving the learning outcome. Instead, we assess whether the students are seeing more success.
For example, when we ask our students to play a 2v2 possession game, observe to see if every student is able to play. If it is too difficult, stop the game. Then, ask them to discuss how to make the game more playable (or fair).
In skills practice, develop a team talk routine. Ask the team to discuss how they can modify the tasks to achieve more success.
Sometimes, we worried the students would not discuss. Even when they discuss, we worried the students would modify the tasks until they are so easy to do. We worried they would not learn anything when the tasks are so easy.
Trust them!
If the tasks they modified are so easy, let it be! During discussions, students are developing their metacognitive skills. As they continue to talk about it, they will make better modifications.
Conclusion
You will know how some teachers can motivate their students if you have taught for many years. When we ask the students why they like the teachers so much, most of them would say the teachers “care” for them.
However, when we look at these teachers’ lessons, we do not see them helping the students every minute and second. And we do not see them talking to the students with “tender loving care”.
To understand what “care” means, we must understand what students want. As a student, I constantly felt stressed about learning. I worried that I would make mistakes, and I worried that my teachers and friends would look down on me.
The teachers who “care” do everything they can to make me feel competent. They empowered me and trusted me to get the job done. They would not micro-manage me or ask me many questions “to help me.”
Our students want to learn. And they can learn. The caveat is that they must believe they can learn. Therefore, in every lesson and in every task, we have to show the students we believe in them!
