CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

As families are more and more fractured by social, economic and internal problems
schools and the educational system generally speaking is more under the looking glass.
Teachers are expected to meet the demands of the parents and children and, on the other
hand, students are required to rise up to their families and teachers’ demands. Is teaching
about the transmission of knowledge from teacher to student, or is it about creating
conditions in which students learn for themselves? The sharp decline of the Romanian
school system is thought to be mainly the teacher’s fault without analyzing the wider
picture: the family, the students the teachers and the complex relationship among them.
Taken all these into consideration, I have chosen to have another look on teachers,
learners and the elements that make them blend in a such a way that makes them
successful for everyone involved.

1.1 Purpose of the study

The aim of this paper is to offer a detailed approach on the strenuous relationship
between teachers and students and find the best solutions for the different problems that
arise. I started from the question of how we design and deliver education and whether it
was fit for purpose. There have been several reforms on the English school curriculum
and they have been focused on developing competencies and language functions rather
than simply assimilating some vocabulary and grammar notions. But teaching depends
not only on how well prepared methodologically a teacher is but also on how flexible,
sensitive, communicative and willing to connect he/she is. More than that, teaching relies
entirely on how well the teacher-student relationship is built and on how much the
teacher is willing to discover about his students. Therefore, I believe that education needs
to be transformed not only reformed in order to reach its purpose and we should start with
the people involved in the process not only with the paperwork.

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1.2 Motivation of the study

When I entered the state educational system, 20 years ago, I had in mind two different
types of teaching models : the domineering one , in which students were seen only as
mere observers that had to play their role exactly as the teacher wanted and the
democratic one in which students had a part to play and liberty to act. What I liked as a
student in the first type was the discipline and order that dominated the classroom,
whereas in the second type I liked the way I could really see myself and feel free to leave
my thoughts fly. I didn’t really know how exactly I was as a teacher until my students
started to open up and I realized that I was more like the democratic type of teacher but
with a set of rules taken from the first model , rules than enabled me to keep myself and
my students on track. Besides these, I always try to be authentic and share the problems
I had as a students with my students. Students respond to the way you respond to them.
As Scrivener very well pinpoints “whatever you find when you enter a class, part of what
you see and understand is related to what you yourself bring into the room”1

Therefore, I consider that researching into the various factors that interfere, mould and
build the teacher-student relationship is of utmost importance for any present day teacher.
More than that, looking into the strong, yet not very well looked at, connection between
teaching and psychology is something that can change the way people view teachers and
students. I truly believe that my success as a teacher comes firstly from my attempt to
build life-long skills like courage, perseverance, confidence and openness and only after
that really teaching my students the curriculum. Teaching languages is not only about
offering data about the subject matter but also developing key global competences such
as social –emotional learning, wellbeing, emotional regulation, cooperation and
collaboration. All in all, language teachers have to address not only the linguistig goals
but also the global skills I referred to earlier.

1
Scrievener,Jim. Learning Teaching (2005) ,Macmillan Books for Teachers

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1.3 Research Questions

In order to be able to investigate the relationships between teachers and students and
all the other key factors that determine those, I established a set of research questions
that acted as a guideline for my entire study.

 Who are the teachers? Who are the learners?

These RQ will help me draw a detailed description of the two main actors of the
educational system: who they are, strengths and weaknesses, how they influence each
other.

 What are the specific factors associated with teacher-student interaction?

The second question will deal with all the subsidiary factors that take part in the teaching-
learning processes like: rapport, trust, authority, cooperation, confidence, empathy,
motivation ,communication and knowledge of the subject matter.

 How do you build a sense of community in the classroom?

Starting from the points mentioned in the previous question, I will design a set of criteria
that help create a sense of community in the classroom, a place where everyone is
accepted and helped along his\her learning path, a place opened to debates and
communication.

 How can we measure that good teaching takes place?

For answering this question I will design questionnaires for my students in which they
will analyze my teaching and the atmosphere created in the classroom. They will also
analyze their learning activity .

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  Can teachers teach what is expected and succeed to keep the students “under
his\her spell”?

This last RQ deals with how can teachers create enjoyable classes and keep up with all
the issues in the curriculum. It will also look at how much families are prepared to have a
direct implication in the teaching-learning process.

1.4 Organisation of the study

The study is organized in four chapters. The first chapter , Introduction, focuses on the
purpose and the motivation of the study.The second chapter will describe the different
types of teachers and teaching styles, of learners and learning styles. It will also
investigate the important role rapport, trust and agency have in order to build a classroom
that can integrate anyone. Besides these, one cannot leave apart the impact technology
has had on both students and teachers and how everyone had to reshape himself to be
able to stay in tune. The third chapter uses the theoretical ideas presented before and
analyses the data collected from questionnaires given to students and parents, inspecting
how close the results are from the initial beliefs. The last chapter reaches the conclusion
of the study and revisits the main ideas previously stated.

1.5 Conclusion

As teaching is fundamentally about working with people, I think it is very important to

look not only at the big structures that make the system work (teachers, students,
curriculum ) but also at the psychological factors that influence it to the point that it can
destroy or revive it completely. I believe that learning and teaching is not a one way
process and the sooner we understand the subtle network that makes good teaching\
learning happening, the better for everyone.

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 CHAPTER 2

TEACHERS AND LEARNERS

2.1 Introduction

The general image over teachers and learners has been greatly distorted in recent years,
fingers being pointed to both categories whenever exam results were not as expected or
teachers were badly treated by their own students. In my opinion being a teacher must be
calling and when I think about myself I can’t also stop referring to the families behind my
students and the important role they play. Unfortunately, not many parents believe they
have a role in their children’s educational development therefore, teachers must be the
ones that involves everyone in the teaching-learning process, by taking part in teacher-
parent-student meetings, asking for their advice, counseling with the parents,pointing out
problems that may occur and reaching solutions together.

If I were to shortly characterize this relationship, I would say that a teacher can be seen
as a conductor of an orchestra (he has the scripts, he imposes the pace, he establishes a
routine), but he is also totally dependable on the orchestra and thus, he must adapt to and
respect their wishes also. Successful orchestras are those that succeed to create a flow
between themselves as if having rules but also finding the freedom to forget about them.

Taking all these into consideration, this chapter will look at the main characteristics of
teachers and students , at the things which bring them together (such as communication,
respect, cooperation, trust) but also those which are thought to be barriers in the teaching-
learning process (self-confidence, motivation, involvement)

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2.2 What’s a teacher?

Teachers have very often been metaphorically described as actors, gardeners, sculptors,
coaches, dictators, etc The variety of images through which teachers can be seen does
nothing but highlights the numerous , sometimes divergent views people have on them.

According to Wikipedia “a teacher , also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator,

is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the
practice of teaching.”

In the traditional way, teaching is seen as the jug and the mug relationship .According to
Scrivener “the teacher is the knower and has the task of passing over knowledge to the
students, and that having something explained or demonstrated to you will lead to
learning –and if it doesn’t , it is because the teacher has done his job badly or the student
is lazy or incompetent.” Sadly, many people still share this same view in Romanian
schools.

In the first years of my teaching career I discovered that I had an in-built image about
what a teacher is, created after the hours and hours of exposure to my own teachers at
work. But what I recalled the most were not activities or parts of the lessons that I was
taught. Instead, I didn’t forget the atmosphere created, the emotions I felt or the high
spirited conversations we had. So, I reckoned there was something else in a teacher,
besides simply teaching the subject. One important element is personality which Harmer
describes as being “a blend between who we really are and who we are as teachers.
Teaching is much more than just being ourselves. We have to present a professional face
to the students which we find both interesting and effective.” All these do not mean that
teachers have to act, but we have to be presentable and attractive, funny sometimes and
we must not, at any cost, bring our personal worries into the classroom.

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