Finding the good from within: teachers as role models

When asked to think back to our school days, many of us can recall at least one teacher who stands out: perhaps a teacher who made lessons different and exciting; someone who felt like more of a friend than a teacher; or for the lucky few, a real inspiration and guiding influence in helping us to truly fulfil our potential. Teachers have such a strong presence in our formative years that their potential to be positive role models really can't be overstated. In this article we pull out some of the key themes to arise from a range of qualitative and quantitative social research studies conducted by Ipsos with children and young people¹ in seeing from their perspective: what makes teachers become inspirational role models?

Show passion for what you do

It's quite obvious really. How can you expect a child to have passion for a subject if their teacher doesn't show passion in the way they teach it? Children and young people perceive `poor teaching' to be the biggest barrier to learning. Conversely `more fun / interesting lessons' is held up by children and young people as the single most important factor (and by quite some margin) that would help them do better in school. So how can teachers inspire their pupils through the way they teach? In a Scottish survey² comparing the teaching methods that teachers currently employ to those pupils would like to see embraced more widely the greatest gap lies in `being asked to copy from the board or a book' - a teaching tool that pupils frequently decry for its ineffectiveness. Similarly, `copying from the board or a book', and `listening to the teacher talking for a long time,' are the two most common learning activities across England and Wales³.

"When we're forced to write down stuff and just sit there while she talks and you just fall asleep near enough and you're like - can we do something interesting?" (Year 7 pupil)⁴.

Finding ways of engaging children and young people in learning through interesting, relevant teaching methods is vital in inspiring them to achieve. The aforementioned Scottish survey highlighted that teaching methods like `activities and games' and `taking trips relevant to their school work' are less common, but particularly appealing to children and young people. Teachers adapting to different learning styles is also important, with over three quarters of students agreeing that `teachers who do not understand how I learn makes it difficult for me to learn<sup>5</sup>.' Further, finding ways of empowering children and young people to learn for themselves rather than always being `taught' really enhances their sense of achievement.

Around half of pupils prefer to learn, `with friends', and `in groups⁶;' and over 85 per cent of students feel it is very or fairly important `to be allowed to be creative at school⁷.'

"In Year 7 we were doing project-based learning and when we were near the end we did a test and so did the people that weren't doing project-based learning and the tests showed that we were much more intelligent" (Year 8 pupil)⁸.

But it's more than simply making lessons lively and interesting. It's about the teacher genuinely enjoying what they do and becoming an ambassador for their subject; it's about widening the relevance of their subject beyond academic qualifications into something that has meaning outside of a learning environment. For example, research we conducted in Ireland found that children at second level tended to feel science and maths subjects weren't taught with the same passion as other subjects (such as English). As Pat O'Connor, Head of Computing Skills at the Higher Education Authority observed, "We need teachers to inspire a love of science, maths, computing. We need educators in these fields to convey the passion of the Robin Williams character in `Dead Poet's Society' to bury the stereotype of Comic Book Guy⁹." What we consistently find when we talk to children and young people about their teachers is an underlying difference between teachers who approach teaching as a job; and those who see it as their vocation. If the most a teacher can bring themselves to do is read from a textbook, how can we expect students to be inspired? If, on the other hand, a teacher is enthused enough to show passion and creativity in the way they teach, students cannot help but feed off it.

Respect me and I'll respect you

It's easy for children and young people to fall into a situation where they feel they're battling against their teacher, even to the extent of perceiving that any work they do is for the teacher rather than themselves. Ultimately this comes down to an implicitly-followed mantra that respect for our teacher needs to be earned by our teacher first treating us with respect. But what does this actually mean? We often see examples of pupils not wanting to draw attention to themselves by being good at school through fear of being bullied by their classmates. For example in a recent England and Wales survey nearly half of students agree, `fear that my friends will criticise me makes it difficult for me to learn¹⁰.' Sometimes we even find students displaying a sense of satisfaction in hiding their abilities from a disliked teacher because to perform well would be tantamount saying their teaching methods are working.

"I'm actually pretty good at maths; she (my teacher) just doesn't know that at the moment" (Year 9 pupil)¹¹.

"I didn't like maths last year because I didn't really get on with her (my teacher). Now I've got a nice teacher I find it more fun and I want to learn more" (year 9)^12.

Children and young people will often tell us that they, "Want to be treated like adults." They acknowledge their teacher as the authority and don't expect them be one of the kids; but equally a good teacher will empathise with them and remember what it's like to be their age. This can be summed up by an oft-repeated description that a good teacher is, "On my level."

"You can tell the good teachers are strict but fair - you have a good teacher-pupil relationship, like a friendship. You can have a laugh with them as well" (Year 11 pupil)¹³.

Children and young people continually test the boundaries - it's all part of discovering what's socially acceptable. Other pupils misbehaving in class is frequently mentioned as one of the key barriers to learning, and children and young people are really looking to their teacher to find an effective way of dealing with problem behaviour. We often find that pupils who are well behaved are more frustrated at the teacher who isn't finding a way of controlling disruptive behaviour than the classmates who are misbehaving. In this way not only does the teacher lose the respect of the pupils who misbehave but the others in the class too. Teachers have a near impossible task: they need to be in control of the class without being too autocratic; they need to make pupils feel as though they're being treated like adults while maintaining their authority; they need to empathise with their pupils and `be on their level' without being condescending; they need to be fair and treat everyone equally while providing sufficient support to those with differing abilities and behaviours. When a teacher gets this wrong they come to epitomise the whole problem of being a child in a world controlled by adults. When a teacher is able to get this delicate balance right, however, they become a powerful role model in representing the ideals of fairness and respect that children and young people want to believe can prevail in society.

What am I worth?

It's interesting to observe how children's dreams evolve from `fantasy' aspirations (such as, "I want to be a professional footballer"), into more realistic career options as they grow older. For example, when asked `what job would you like to do when you're older,' `sportsman/ woman' and `actor/ actress' are the two most frequently mentioned career choices¹⁴ amongst 11-16 year olds¹⁵. Teachers can play a valuable role in helping their students identify where certain subjects and skills can take them. However if you look at the various pathways that NEETs have followed into their current circumstances, there's often a consistent theme running through the things they're telling us about their lives: they can't think of anything useful that they're good at. Nothing has replaced their childhood dreams and as they progress through school, thoughts of having a job once they leave are seen purely in terms of its functional purpose of making money rather than a desirable end in itself.

"All you do when you're older is work, it's really boring" (Year 8 pupil).

"Wherever you're gonna work, you're not gonna like it...who wants to go to work - no-one." (Current NEET age 18)¹⁶.

This contrasts starkly with young people who are able to underpin their aspirations with personality traits that suggest they will be able to make a success of them. Something positive about them has stood out to the adults in their lives, and this gives them the confidence to make firm plans about their future.

"I want to be a youth worker ... they told me I was really good at taking charge of groups and stuff and I'd be really good at it" (college student)¹⁷.

The groundwork needs to start while pupils are still young and safe in their childhood fantasies. Teachers can play a positive role at this formative stage in inspiring students to feel good about themselves and recognise that they have valuable skills even if these aren't in conventional academic performance. These are the foundations that young people will be able to draw on as they grow older and have to start making firm decisions about their future.

The unstated role model

Teachers can act as role models and inspire their students in two quite different ways. Teachers who show real passion for what they do and represent the basic tenets of respect and fairness become ambassadors for their subjects and act as overt emulative role models. However, equally valuable is when teachers inspire their pupils at a much more subconscious level; those who recognise the importance of empowering children and young people to learn for themselves and who are able to tap into and develop their pupils' innate strengths. Sometimes being a positive role model and a true inspiration is about recognising that this doesn't come down to how my students feel about me; it's about how I can make them feel about themselves.

Notes:

1 Additional reference is made to TellUs3 survey data.

2 Survey of young people's views of Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Executive. A self completion questionnaire was completed in interviewer-led sessions amongst Primary 7 and Secondary 3,4,5 and special schools across Scotland. Fieldwork took place from September 22 - October 10 2005. 3700 interviews were conducted.

3 Ipsos Young People Omnibus Survey, question on behalf of Campaign for Learning. 2387 interviews were conducted amongst school children aged 11-16 in England and Wales. Self completion questionnaires were completed in 100 classroom sessions between January 11 and March 28 2008.

4 Evaluating the Every Child Matter outcomes qualitative research conducted on behalf of Kent County Council. Fourteen friendship groups were conducted across seven secondary schools in Kent between February 13 and March 6 2009, including two groups in a special school. An additional two groups were conducted amongst sixteen to nineteen year olds, including a mix of those still at school and those in adult education or vocational training.

5 Ipsos Young People Omnibus Survey, question on behalf of Campaign for Learning. 2387 interviews were conducted amongst school children aged 11-16 in England and Wales. Self completion questionnaires were completed in 100 classroom sessions between January 11 and March 28 2008.

6 Ipsos young people omnibus survey, questions on behalf of Campaign for Learning. 2387 interviews were conducted amongst school children aged 11-16 in England and Wales. Self completion questionnaires were completed in 100 classroom sessions between January 11 and March 28 2008.

7 Ipsos young people omnibus survey, questions on behalf of Creative Partnerships. 2387 interviews were conducted amongst school children aged 11-16 in England and Wales. Self completion questionnaires were completed in 100 classroom sessions between January 11 and March 28 2008.

8 Evaluating the Every Child Matter outcomes qualitative research conducted on behalf of Kent County Council. Fourteen friendship groups were conducted across seven secondary schools in Kent between February 13 and March 6 2009, including two groups in a special school. An additional two groups were conducted amongst sixteen to nineteen year olds, including a mix of those still at school and those in adult education or vocational training.

9 Research conducted on behalf of Discover Science and Engineering and the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The research was conducted in January and February 2009 and included nine discussion groups and eighteen in-depth interviews. Quotation from press release issued by HEA on May 6 2009.

10 Ipsos young people omnibus survey, questions on behalf of Campaign for Learning.

11 Evaluating the Every Child Matter outcomes qualitative research conducted on behalf of Kent County Council.

12 Evaluating the Every Child Matter outcomes qualitative research conducted on behalf of Kent County Council.

13 Evaluating the Every Child Matter outcomes qualitative research conducted on behalf of Kent County Council.

14 Teacher, police officer, and armed forces are joint third most frequently mentioned.

15 Ipsos young people omnibus survey160160questions on behalf of NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). 2,447 interviews were conducted amongst school children aged 11-16 in England and Wales. Self completion questionnaires were completed in 106 classroom sessions between January 9 and April 3 2009.

16 14-19 consultation conducted on behalf of Waltham Forest Council. Seven friendship groups were conducted across secondary schools in Kent between November 5 and 16 2009. An additional two groups were conducted with those current classified as NEET; and two groups with parents.

17 14-19 consultation conducted on behalf of Waltham Forest Council.

This article was written by Ben Page and Sally Panayiotou from Ipsos and produced for Navigate as a Special Report.