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The Learning Experience & Listening

and Roberta L. Nutt point out, "Few studies have examined the quality of the teacher-child relationship . . . and much needs to be learned about the way it may affect developmental and academic outcomes for normal and at-risk children." Teaching is not merely the act of imparting specific knowledge. It is a complex process that also includes communicating values, sharing ideas, and molding responses. As Goldwater and Nutt write, "Teachers' family background and interpersonal skills play a part in the academic success of their students."

Teachers are trained professionals - who also happen to be human beings, with individual ranges of experience, backgrounds, and personalities. Trying to ignore this humanity, rather than embracing it, can result in disaster. Instead, just as each student should be treated as an individual, at a particular stage of development and with particular needs and abilities, so too should teachers look at their individual strengths and humanity as assets in the educational process, rather than obstacles to be overcome. This is not to say that teachers should revel in their idiosyncrasies but instead that they should begin by acknowledging their individuality and then seeking ways to capitalize on these personal strengths.

Students negotiate more than the intended, formal curriculum of subject-matter expectations when they learn in classrooms. They also navigate the often unintended (and unattended) informal curriculum of "things that matter" other than mastery of assigned subjects: Am I a good friend? an honest student? Students more or less learn this informal curriculum; the nature of their learning has important consequences for students themselves and those with whom they interact. Negotiating the informal curriculum affects not only academic performance (and, thus, attainment of formal curriculum goals) but also students' general disposition and coping strategies.

In fact, mastering m...

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The Learning Experience & Listening. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:24, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1701264.html