Experiences

Relationship between teachers and pupils

P.L

Romania

Lower Secondary School

Biology

Teaching in class

Direct

I think it is easier if it is you who have the first lessons with the children and they are a sort of beginners in your field. You teach them to make the first steps. It is more difficult when you receive them from other schools from different backgrounds. They might have developed some blockages or inhibitions due to certain learning experiences. They already have a certain negative attitude towards your subject. The general atmosphere of the class counts a lot: how comfortable the other pupils feel, how encouraging you are as teacher, how tolerant the other children and you are with mistakes, how patient everybody is with the rest of the group etc. Learning depends on the quality of the relationship established between teachers and pupils. Doing experiments in class helps lot because they engage everybody body and soul; they are accessible and handy; they start with concrete facts; they stimulate learning by doing and learning through one’s senses. They help pupils make connections between different fields and transfer knowledge. I remember how difficult such concepts as opaque, transparent or translucid were for my students. We needed to do the experiment with several objects placed in front of their eyes and everything became very easy.