Mutual Respect

Mutual Respect

Traditionally, questions regarding the basis for teaching relationships have been answered in terms of authority. The concept of authority as it applies to the classroom has two faces. One side of this concept is authority; where the teacher has always been the authoritarian, the disciplinarian, and the dispenser of rewards and punishments. The other face of authority concerns the teacher as the authoritative source of knowledge, the information-giver, and the arbiter of right and wrong answers.

When I was a young student in Korea, most of my teachers of were authoritarians. The students showed extreme respect for their teachers. For example, students couldn't talk back when their teachers scolded them. I am sure it was the vertical relationship where students were to respect the superiority and authority of the teacher. They were the source of learning tasks, the directions, and the answers.

However, authority as the basis for a teacher-student relationship in either of these senses is increasingly being questioned. The relationship between teachers and students in the classroom should be a positive and effective alternative upon which a constructive relationship can be based.

The definition of relationship in the 'New World Dictionary' states that the quality or state of being related, connection. This is the first definition. The core of this relationship is 'trust and respect' for the individual, together with the prior self-knowledge and view of the other necessary for helping a relationship. Where the goals of education are clear in the mind of the teacher, and where the basis for a teaching relationship is mutual trust and respect rather than authority, the search for a comfortable and produc...

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This is my personal perspective, but some student's behaviors are inordinate. They aren't concerned with their responsibility at all. Last semester, I saw a student go against her teacher because of the grade she received. The grading is the teacher's sphere, not the student's. If she had a question, she should've asked quietly and politely.

The relationship is not one sided, but consists of both sides. At California State University Northridge, I seldom see a teacher's misbehavior, but see students misbehave. For developing the relationship between teachers and students, the students should know the difference between freedom and discourteousness. The definition of freedom is that the state or quality of being free, a being able to itself to choose or determine action freely. They should know that all actions or choices are to follow responsibility.