When you think back to your school years, you will probably be able to identify at least one teacher who played a big role in who you became or what you do for a living. A good student-teacher relationship could’ve even improved your marks!
The teachers that had an influence on your live were most probably strict, had high expectations of you and showed a genuine interest and believe in you. I remember the teacher who refused to accept that my marks drop when I went through a tough time, the one who taught me how to question and critically review what I believe/hear/read and the one who treated me like her own child and took the time to listen to me.
I honestly believed and felt that they loved and accepted me, opening me up for their influence and advice.
In the early school years, children still need a lot of motherly nurturing and the majority of teachers in this phase are female. Research shows that as a female teacher, young children can find a lot of comfort in your presence seeing you as a substitute mom when they are at school.
In middle and high school there is a more even split between female and male teachers, with both genders being important role models for their students. Children learn life skills, manners, thinking skills, social skills, emotional intelligence, self-worth and how to treat other’s from teachers. Not because their parents don’t try to teach them this, but because when they are young they believe that their teachers knows everything and when they are going through their teenage years, they are sometimes more open to outside influences. When their parent’s is absent or uninterested in their lives, their teachers are the adults they see every day that can buffer the effect of absent parents.
What do you do to be a teacher with influence or how did a teacher influence you?
