5. Read these personality evaluation profiles of different pupils and using the topical vocabulary (see above), give detailed characteristics of your own.

Smoky. “Nobody’s going to hurt me now. If they want to treat me O.K., all right, if not, all right. It’s not going to bother me any more. I don’t show any consideration for other people — not as much as I should, I guess —but if they want to be nice to me, I’ll be nice to them. Otherwise, what difference does it make?” And that is Smoky. He knows he has been hurt; but, if he can help it, he won’t be hurt again. Unfortunately, he cannot help it. He has even less faith in himself than he has in others. He continues to be dependent and unhappy, while he struggles for independence chiefly by taking a negative and defiant attitude toward society. He is known to be openly critical of teachers and other authorities. The boy has none of the accepted standards of conduct.

Shortly after Smoky entered elementary school his parents separated, and since that time he has lived with his mother in the home of her married brother. Some people say: “His aunt and uncle spoiled him.” Others say: “They always expected too much of him. They’ve thought he ought to act like a grown-up ever since he was a kid.” He failed to find in his family the kind of affection and security that he needed, and he is not a strong enough person to face the world and make an adequate adjustment without that security.

Smoky’s academic record in high school is very poor though he is above average in intelligence. His teachers recognize that he has more ability than he makes use of, but their attitude toward him is colored by the fact that he has been a behaviour problem.

Lester. Lester is a rather colourless boy, both in appearance and in personality. He is of average height, neither handsome nor unattractive. There is nothing about his behavior, either negative or positive, that serves to differentiate him to the casual observer. He is shy and passive.

Lester seems to have had considerable affection from his family but not a great deal of guidance and direction. He has a feeling of dependence upon his parents and a feeling of obligation to them.

He is an insignificant member of the school group. But he makes a definite effort to enter into activities and; wants to be friendly. His lack of success in this respect is probably because his peers find him uninteresting. He is not seriously concerned about his poor school achievement, it is not very important to him. He is concerned about his health and his appearance; his relations with the opposite sex; about family financial difficulties.

Daniel. “The best thing that could happen to me is to become important in the college or university I hope to go to,” writes Daniel at the age of sixteen.

He is an ordinary-looking boy. He is one of several children in a middle-class family. His father is a professional man and is said to be “one of the finest men in town.” The family training has been rather strict, and the boy has learned to obey his parents and to depend on them.

He is still very uneasy in the presence of girls. He has difficulty in talking to girls and he does not go out with girls much. For several years Daniel was a Boy Scout, and he spent his free time with three friends of his own age, hunting, fishing, and practising photography. When he realized that he was being left out of the developing social life of his class, Daniel did the characteristic thing. He thought the situation over carefully, and then decided to learn to dance and to make himself take part in social activities. These things he did, with surprising success. He developed his social skills and became one of the leaders of his class.

On tests of intelligence and academic achievement Daniel does extraordinarily well. He likes science and mathematics and plans to become an engineer.

Sally. Sally is a pretty girl, very graceful and quick. Her parents haven’t had much education, but they are good intelligent people. They are not active in social life, but it is a friendly family. Sally’s home environment is a permissive one. She is free to go out with boys, to go to movies, to dances, and to parties. She says: “I never was punished, and so I never was afraid of my parents like some of the kids are.” As the girl grows older she shows herself to be more and more independent of her parents. Affection for her family remains, but their authority is gradually weakening.

At school Sally takes part in everything. She and her friends are the leaders in practically all school activities. She has an excellent school record, which is in keeping with her high intelligence. But her main ambition is to make a successful marriage.

In summary, Sally is mature for her age, self-confident and unusually secure in her social relations.

Reading 2

Getting Along with Pupils (Part I)

You probably have noticed that teachers are talkative. This is not surprising, since teachers need to be communicative in order to enjoy teaching, but it is at the same time unfortunate, for teachers should listen and observe. Epictetus said two thousand years ago that man was given one tongue but two ears so that he might hear from others twice as much as he spoke. This should be the rule for teachers, who necessarily have to listen to pupils in order to know them.

In too many classrooms the teacher is the star performer, probably because he is working under the idea that since he is paid for teaching, he should do all of the work. The teacher’s relation to pupils should be one of direction, and help through a series of planned experiences that have value for the pupils.

It is the teacher’s responsibility to see to it that pupils “catch” positive, constructive feelings and thoughts that will help them in learning. Just as an interested, enthusiastic teacher has an interested, enthusiastic group of pupils, so do problem teachers have problem pupils — the emotional balance of the teacher is more important than his knowledge. Teachers must have optimistic thoughts and emotions to project, since constructive ideas and feelings provide the drive for real achievement, just as negative ideas and feelings retard the development of children.

What weakens the effectiveness of potentially effective teachers is the thought that the main function of the teacher is to discover mistakes and to stop them from the very beginning. Such teachers work in a spirit of constant, criticism; their attention is directed to the negative aspects of the child’s work. A youngster may have in a project or paper ten excellent qualities worthy of comment but the teacher gives a detailed analysis of the one or two weaknesses to be noted. A chronic attitude of faultfinding is as harmful to classroom achievement as it is to any constructive effort, and the teacher who displays it is the most pitiful victim of all.

In happy contrast is the teacher who realizes that mistakes are part of the learning process. The self-confidence of pupils must be built through recognition and development of strong qualifies, with tactful yet persistent attention to mistakes that cause trouble. The situation should be work-centered and free from personality-centered comments and comparisons. No good teacher causes a pupil to “lose face”. In such an atmosphere, pupils are then free to turn their attention to the work at hand in the security that they do not have to defend themselves from the teacher in order to save face with the class, nor do they have to worry about pleasing the teacher. The way to please the teacher is to do the work as well as possible. The teacher, in turn, plans and conducts lessons in such a way that pupils experience success, which helps to keep interest and build confidence.

In addition to responsibilities connected with subject-matter learning, teachers have a guidance function. Take, for example, the matter of health habits. The teacher should discuss health habits with his pupils: proper diet, enough time for sleep, time for recreation, plenty of outdoor exercises, etc.

We should be interested professionally in all matters, which are important to pupils. Take, for example, the matter of failure. It is hard to admit one’s own failure. Yet surely all experienced teachers know that failure, properly used, can be an instructive and constructive force in our lives. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.

The teacher who hopes to feel secure in classroom relations needs a consistent philosophy of life and a few guiding principles in classroom conduct that are clear to pupils. This matter of consistency is of the greatest importance. If a teacher is neurotic or uncertain, or has the kind of open mind which all the winds blow through, he is not the sort of person who can safely handle conflicts and tensions in others.

Certainly there can be no security for a teacher in a situation in which there is no security for the pupils, and there is no security for anyone if there are no guiding principles that all members of the group understand and to which all members obey.

Do the following exercises

1. Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right.

drive	hamper
retard	manage
faultfinding	inconsistent
secure	keeping to the same principles
consistent	nagging
handle	motivation, stimulus
open mind all winds blow through	free from anxiety