In reading Richard Lyon's excellent book "Success Strategies for Adjunct Faculty", I was struck by a passage he wrote about the factors impacting student success and satisfaction:"Another commonly cited factor, teacher's knowledge of subject, was found in another major study to be the ninth most important dimension in both student achievement and student satisfaction ratings. Among more significant factors were teacher's clarity, stimulation of interest, openness to opinions, and sensitivity to class progress -- each largely functions of emotional intelligence." (Lyons 17).
Juxtapose that with the following research finding from Vincent Tinto, a Syracuse University professor and expert on retention:
"The frequency and quality of contact with faculty, staff, and other students is an important independent predictor of student persistence. This is true for large and small, rural and urban, public and private, and 2-and 4-year colleges and universities. It is true for women as well as men, students of color and anglo students, and part-time and full-time students. Simply put, involvement matters, and at no point does it matter more than during the first year of college when student attachments are so tenuous and the pull of the institution so weak." (Tinto, p. 3).
If you accept these ideas, in tandem they seem to suggest that we cannot run a successful classroom on the lights of our subject matter expertise, alone. There is a true human element in the learning process. Making a human connection with the students requires us to come out from behind the podium, step away from the Power Point presentation, and get to know and empathize with our students.
Maybe in preparation for my next business law course, I’ll have to read Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence” in addition to brushing up on torts and contracts
I’d be curious to know, do your experiences bear out the premises of those quotes?
References:
Lyons, Richard E., Success Strategies for Adjunct Faculty (2004)
Tinto, Vincent, Taking Student Retention Seriously (2006)
1 comment:
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand your own emotions and those of people around you. Emotional intelligence is sometimes referred to as emotional quotient or emotional literacy. Individuals with emotion intelligence are able to relate to others with compassion and empathy, have well-developed social skills and use this emotional awareness to direct their actions and behaviour.
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