RESPECT, CONSIDERATION & INTEGRITY

I am wearing a knit shirt from Oxygen, G2000 white shirt,F&H bow tie,
Memo black trousers and Xianniao eyeglasses.

I have been part of the teaching force for almost 5 years now. Two gratifying school years in elementary level and another three years in collegiate level. I would say that one of the most satisfying aspects of teaching at the college or university level may be found in the mentoring relationship that faculty members can develop with their students. It has been observed that student relationships with members of the faculty is regarded by most students as the most vital aspect of the quality of their college experience.

Being a mentor with young individuals bring forth self satisfaction to the teacher. I firmly believe that to establish a mentoring relationship a teacher must eradicate most of the boundaries/stigma between educator learner relationship, because a good learning process can only be achieve through lectures, social activities and glimpses into each other's personal lives. And yet, despite this closeness and sharing, the teacher does remain a teacher and the student a student. The teacher maintains certain evaluative responsibilities and the student continues to be dependent on the mentor's guidance and approval. Therefore respect must be the foundation of this or any other type of relationships, may it be mentoring relationship or professional relationship.

Maybe you might already asking yourself by now, whats with the sudden change of direction of our today's post? Well after spending a fun afternoon with friends (one of which is my colleague) I am sadden by his story of how some students can be a little inconsiderate & impudent. And it got me thinking...What are appropriate student & teacher boundaries? Is there a necessary limit to the verbal,  personal, or even social interaction that may be experienced between student and teacher without compromising their academic & professional responsibilities? How should one handle verbal or social overtures made by a student? What can we do, as individuals, as professionals, and as institutions to help ensure that appropriate student-teacher boundaries are maintained?

Most students nowadays believes that being frank & vocal with how & what they feel at the moment, suggests being assertive. They forget to analyze the situation, study the action they need to execute and most importantly organize the words they want/need to say. Resulting in the damage of three general positive  principles, which are central in building and maintaining harmonious relationships. These concepts are respect, consideration, and integrity. We must be reminded that there's a thin line between being outspoken and being uncouth. Some students think it’s OK to interact with teachers the same way they interact with their friends or peers. These students get into all kinds of trouble at school because of it.

It is necessary that we both respect the boundaries needed to exist between a student and a teacher, because there are load of things a student can do at home that he can’t do in school. The maintenance of healthy boundaries is not only something that teachers need to do in their own relationships with students. We also need to prepare ourselves to monitor our personal boundaries & other people's boundaries. We can help  our students develop this awareness by exploring this issue as a part of their training and by modeling appropriate professional behavior in our own relationships with them. Finally, we can help develop institutional guidelines and policies that reflect a commitment to the maintenance of appropriate student-teacher boundaries.

Relationship might be the most complicated subject to teach, yet it is the most rewarding topic on Earth. Develop a relationship to produce intellectual sparks and lightning—and fan those flames for the benefit of yourself, classmates, the instructor and all whom you will eventually meet along your journey.