I’ve just begun my first week of classes with MTR: Culture and Worldviews and Classroom Leadership. The following are my reflections from our lesson and readings on setting expectations for students…

It seems intuitive that the use of words is integrally tied to the learning process. In my undergraduate career as an English major, my entire field of study was based on reading words, interpreting words, and writing words for a grade. However, it also seems funny that  something simple, letters arranged in specific combinations to signify images and ideas, has the capability to drastically impact the results of student achievement.

According to Research for Better Teaching, President John Saphier claims that teachers are the most important factor in student learning (click the link to watch the video). Perhaps this is because they control many of the words students see and hear in order to learn. The way that teachers talk to students and talk about students can determine the way that students grasp knowledge. Think about the following two examples:

“Class, this year our goal is for 95% of you to complete all of your homework assignments on time.”

“Class, this year we will settle for nothing less than 100% of you finishing 100% of your homework assignments on time.”

Note the difference? In the first example, the teacher initially sets up her classroom as an environment where it’s expected that not everyone will succeed. That teacher is setting his own bar for his students and himself (translation: I will work only hard enough to see that almost all of you succeed, but, well, I know a few of you will never finish everything on time). Despite the marginal difference in percentages, the 5% lowered expectation drastically changes the self-imposed expectations for students. The second teacher essentially puts the onus onto her students for them to finish each and every one of their homework assignments on time. She will not settle for anything less than 100% effort from 100% of the people inside the classroom.

Not only can teachers’ words to their students affect student learning, but teachers speaking about students not only demonstrates how they view their students, but furthermore, affects every interaction with them. Here’s another example of the way that words affect students:

“Most of my students come from single-parent, low income households. I know that they have enormous gaps in their education, probably don’t read much at home, and so my job will be to fill in the things that they are lacking.”

“Most of my students come from single-parent, low income households. Many of them are from immigrant families where English isn’t spoken at home. Their diverse backgrounds will cause a great variety of discussion in class. I think they’ll have a lot to teach the rest of their classmates.”

Again, note the difference? These two (fictional) teachers are speaking about the same population of students, yet the first teacher discusses her students in such a way that deems them deficient, whereas the second teacher views his students as asset-based. He sees his students as fully functioning members of the classroom, rich with diverse experiences and knowledge. In these two instances, the way that the teachers speak about their students represents the way that they view their students: the first, as lacking understanding, and the second, as full of unique gifts. These views greatly influence the beliefs that teachers have about what their students are capable of, which in turn, influences how teachers view their own position as student-impacters.

As teachers and leaders, we each need to pay special attention to the way that we speak about the students in our classrooms. Calling students “at-risk” or “deficient” can create a self-fulfilling prophecy of risky or deficient behavior. It is not acceptable for teachers to define students by what they lack or to accept low-quality on false presuppositions of their abilities.  Obviously it’s important to note the various differences between students which are in part caused by economic and social differences. However, viewing differences as deficiencies tends to color the ways teachers conceive of their students abilities and how they expect their students to perform.

Words, in spite of being small, are incredibly powerful. They have the power to shape the way a teacher views their students, which in turn, affects the ways that teachers treat their students. Furthermore, words have the power to shape the way a student sees himself–either as asset-based or deficient, as a part of the 100% or the 5% exception.

Let’s use words to build.