Reflecting on Expertise and Power in the Classroom

This is a passage from course readings this week. 

"There are both negative and positive aspects to motivation.  Learners might know that a particular course will help get them promoted and will be keen on completely it, others may know that a particular instructor is not open to new ideas and thoughts and might not participate because of it.  They might also have had a bad experience.  This means that as an instructor you must ensure that you create an open environment that promotes positive reinforcement. " 


I highlighted the part that hit me like a ton of bricks and made me reflect.


How might I practice positive reinforcement in my classroom? 

Verbally. And right away is important.

It is important to make sure you acknowledge, validate and highlight the good, the accurate, the strong. It tells them "I see you". This helps meet their need for esteem. Be careful in wording feedback in a constructive way. I find this need to be non-hierarchical. Learners adults same as the instructor is an adult. The instructor offers a perspective sourced from their own learning, experience and expertise. Think along the line of "what I would like to add onto that is.." rather than "Well actually I need to correct you on that." It is more important to nurture correcting over being correct in a classroom. This takes humility as an instructor and taking on a mindset that what is being offered is just a different perspective but also explaining the reason behind this different perspective. Sharing its basis on previous learning, experience and accumulated expertise. 

How feedback is communicated to learners is important too. Like how the bow can really change the overall receptions of a wrapped gift. Relate but be careful not to make it personal. It must not be instructor as an expert versus student who is not and doesn't know as much and must be corrected. Even though the difference might be true (or evidence for it to be believed to be true), it must never come across that way. If there is intent to use power imbalance or it comes off that way, the instructor has just stopped applying adult learning principles. Instead, phrase it as: why they point of view concerns me or it reminds me of when I..., my own past experience, etc. Humility and valuing  relationship is the ribbon that makes or breaks the gift wrapping. Take learners through the process of that led you to that different perspective.

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