Notes on:
Kuhlenschmidt, S. (1999) 'Promoting Internal
Civility: Understanding Our Beliefs About Teaching
and Students'. New Directions For Teaching And
Learning, no. 77: 13—22
Dave Harris
We all need to recognize and accept our feelings,
but 'the problem is inappropriate behaviour that
occurs as a consequence of strong emotions'
(13). Intense emotions increase the risk of
problematic behaviour. In determining
intensity, very much depends on 'what you say to
yourself about an event (self statement or
belief)'(14). This implies that self
statements in verbal forms precede emotional
reactions. It also follows that people make
themselves 'angry or discouraged or
related'. Self statements intervene between
cause and reaction. Some self statements are
more likely to generate strong emotions, and they
are often 'literally illogical'. They might
be over generalisations, where one complaint
raises doubts about general competence, or they
can even be untrue [the example is saying that I
must be perfect]. Given that personal
perceptions are crucial, even statements such as
'"he made me angry", are illogical'.
Our behaviour can also influence the self
statements other individuals make. And
behaviour can be based on common assumptions
grounded in local culture, sometimes placing
particular responsibility on ourselves for the
effects on others, as when we assume that teachers
should be liked by everyone. This assumption
can lead to 'passive or overly accommodating
behaviour' which can lead to more behaviour
management problems. We should realize that
'being liked by everyone is an illogical
assumption'(15).
It is certainly possible to modify comments, to
avoid condemnation in favour of more questions and
reflective commentary. We can also manage
our own fears of being cheated overlooked or
endangered by realizing that 'you may also get
more than you deserve', and 'you learn to enjoy
what you have now. You may find that life is
about the journey. We can forgive your self
and others for what fate has contributed to
life'(16) [the exact opposite of critical
pedagogy, of course, unless this is meant to be
advice that you give students to make them more
docile?]. It is necessary to question
absolute beliefs and universal rules, since this
can lead to 'great emotion', as can rigidity which
invites a stage where 'emotions are more likely to
be driven by events beyond [our] control'.
Generally, we need to replace strong beliefs, like
those in the rules, with milder preferences.
These can lead to milder emotions, and more
effective problem solving. We should ask
ourselves what assumptions are driving strong
emotions, in self and in others, and go on to ask
how the situation could 'be evaluated more
realistically and accurately' (17).
It is also 'irrational to believe that every
student must succeed'(18), except for educational
planning and to motivate students. We must
remember that 'some students arrive at an
educational institution not willing or ready to
change or grow'. Acknowledging this might
help us increase the variety of interactions with
students—'I can journey with them rather than lead
them, at least ideally'. Despite the common
emphasis on learning to think critically, we must
realize that 'individuals have varying tolerance
for being challenged, depending on their life
experiences and abilities'.
One technique might be to offer some 'generally
applicable countering arguments to students before
returning marked papers' (19), explaining that it
might be normal to repeatedly edit papers, for
example. Teachers can also 'lead' students
in identifying irrational beliefs about writing
assignments. A worse alternative is to 'take
poor performance personally', by believing that
all students ought to strive to achieve the best
standards. This can lead to seeing student
failure as personal failure.
[Then some strange stuff about animals feeling
helpless if they cannot control their
circumstances]. It is difficult in that
responding to what some students want can upset
other students [the example is types of
assessment]. Sometimes, this can lead to
teachers realizing that they have an impossible
task, and simply repeating their preferred
patterns. Or they might 'believe that
teaching is a talent not a skill' (20)
[defensively, presumably], or believe in
particular ideologies as a solution to all
teaching problems to be applied universally.
This can produce physical deterioration, even
'depression or addictive behaviour, especially
when being evaluated' [if there is a strong
management preference?]. It is often those
who most value students and teaching who are at
most risk, because important events, if difficult,
can result in feeling helpless. Repetition
of encountering situations where we are not in
control 'is more likely to result in problems'.
We need 'realistic self-evaluation' (21) and work
towards an effective problem solving approach, not
striving for impossible perfection, but aiming at
attainable excellence. We have to remember
that our behaviours can affect the responses of
other people, for example that 'remaining calm
helps cue the person to stay calm. Moving
slowly and gently, yet firmly, encourages similar
responses from the individual'. However,
those experiencing problems may be less able to
attend and to interpret adequately, especially
being 'incapable of sorting out what to attend
to'. Here, the firm direction might be
important, such as directing 'attention explicitly
to your face', asking the other to listen, and
then giving calm direction for behaviour, the
simpler the better.
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