Does a teacher believing a student is smarter actually make the student perform better?
Believing that one student is smarter than the rest of the learners can create a hostile classroom environment. It can lead to a few students feeling left out and even harm their motivation and self-esteem. Teachers have to incorporate an approach that each student is different in their way, but a biased mindset can have detrimental effects on the learners.
However, believing that each student has potential and employing different teaching strategies to succeed can have overarching effects.
The point is that a teacher plays a significant role in ensuring the proper development of the student, and here is how their belief can impact the learners:
Positive outlook towards the students
Intelligence is malleable and can be instilled in any student with the right education framework. But if the instructor has a biased opinion of the students and treats them as per their intelligence level, that can be worrisome.
It is important to note that the teachers will have to sideline their perceptions and expectations from students. Combining an incremental approach by the teacher can transform the way learners acquire information and even prompt them to perform better in studies.
Remember, the school and teaching faculty are responsible for embracing a positive outlook towards the students. Schools have to assess the instructors against a set of criteria to adopt such an attitude. So, if the teachers can work with learners, they can motivate them and inculcate a sense of self-improvement.
Equal treatment
In some schools, teachers can treat the learners differently based on race, gender, socio-economic status, or academic record.
But that case is non-existent in international schools in Dubai. International schools have teachers and students from different countries of origin, religions, races, and gender. More importantly, the school advocates a global connectedness approach. That leaves no room for compromise as even the teachers have adopted a globalised approach to teaching which sidelines any deconstructive prejudices.
Further, teachers must add practices like attitude before knowledge and the right ambience for learning. These steps help ensure that the teachers are looking after each student’s development, which enables the learners to do better.
Individual learning plan
Praising is an excellent thing to boost the student’s confidence and helps the teachers establish a perfect learning environment. It is ideal for high achievers along with the students that require more attention.
Devising a lesson plan that caters to each student’s retention level and needs help keep each learner in line. The idea is to recognise that each student’s learning capacity is different.
The fact is that ‘smartness’ can be instilled among the students. For instance, classroom-based learning may not be ideal for a student. But, when the learner is introduced to practical or project-based learning, they do phenomenal work. So, by merely tweaking the lessons improves the performance of the students.
Similarly, with the help of an individual learning plan, teachers can pay attention to the high achieving students. Instructors can encourage them to join STEM-labs, value-added programmes, or after school programmes. All such factors can help nourish the students ahead of the curve and bolster their performance to an unprecedented level.