Expectations and Success

William’s section on expectations and standards stood out for me. He said that teacher expectation is one of the most important factors in student success. He makes a generalized statement that “teachers, like all other adults respond positively to anyone who appears interested in learning but negatively to those who appear disinterested, disengaged, or antisocial”. He says this natural tendency can be damaging to students and leads to “self-fulfilling prophecy” (127). I agree with his thoughts on self-fulfilling prophecy. I think we all come with some bias whether or not we are aware of it.It’s always good to be reminded of our human tendencies but this statement sounds like an accusation against teachers.

He goes on to list all the other criteria that influence teacher expectations like cultural factors, classroom behavior, gender, and socio-economic status. He goes another step further to tell us the differences between successful teachers and unsuccessful teachers are how teachers view student’s possession of linguistic and rhetorical knowledge.

I looked at this statement through the lens of a cross-country coach. At the beginning of the season I have a training schedule that is designed for the whole team. I am usually well aware that I have more gifted runners than others. My training plan doesn’t change drastically I expect them all to run. I know the fast ones get faster but I also know the slow ones get faster. It is usually proportionate. I expect each group to make improvements. If I believed the slower kids couldn’t get better why would I coach them?

It is the same thing with teachers. They know all their kids are not on the same page and that is the challenge of being a teacher. Helping all of them to get better. Expecting that each one no matter where they start should be able to improve by implementing the proper teaching methods with expectations for everyone to make strides. So I agree with Williams that teacher expectation plays a big part in the success of students if it is coupled with good teaching methods.

The Phase method that incorporates the steps of the composing process but allows for these steps to “more or less occur simultaneously and in a recurrent manner” seems like an ideal way for a teacher to have flexibility to work with students who learn in various ways. Workshops and making writing meaningful allows the teacher to have high expectations that each student can develop and be successful according to their own unique style.

The problem I have is not with teacher expectations but with how to measure success. In cross-country it is easily measured by improved time over a certain distance. Faster and slower runners improve their times. It is measurable. The faster runners may win the race but the slower ones know they have gotten better based on their improved time. I am still not sure how to effectively measure proficiency in linguistics and rhetoric. The basis still seems to be on improved grammar, usage and punctuation.

William’s comments on the “zone of proximal development” reiterated this point to me. The meaning of zone of proximal development according to Williams is that students should be expected to perform beyond their comfort level. This is an ideological concept. It sounds good but how do measure it? I remember telling runners it is important to feel uncomfortable when they were doing sprint intervals on the track. I never could measure their comfort level. One kids threshold for pain may be different than another, there was no way to measure it other than their perceived exertion.

For developing writers, Williams said that teachers can push students ‘beyond their comfort level’ by insisting on papers that are totally free from surface errors. Isn’t that just setting the standard at correct grammar and punctuation usage? I agree that we shouldn’t lower our standards (whatever they are) for students but I’m not sure if following Williams’s ideas for setting high standards is any different than what we already do. Telling kids to work harder, be more disciplined, and don’t forget the punctuation at the end of the sentence. Those were the kind of high standards that kept me from writing for many years. I felt as though it was pointless because I could never write with perfect grammar, spelling, punctuation or usage. So I don’t think setting those standards higher is the answer to developing better writers.

I guess after all this rambling my point is teachers should have high expectations for all students. Those expectations should be based on the idea that everyone can improve with proper practice.