Types of Teachers

Types of Teachers and their Effects on Students

Lee and Marlene met in 1968 while attending college. Lee aspired to be a teacher, while Marlene wished to be a social worker. They got married in 1970. Their hope for the future was to make difference in children's lives. Lee Canter is the founder of Canter and associates, an organization that provides training in classroom discipline. Marlene and Canter collaborated in their work. They called their system of discipline ''Assertive discipline'', to help a teacher interact with students in a calm, helpful and consistent manner. Their goal is to help teachers establish classrooms where students may learn and teachers may teach effectively. Through workshops, graduate courses, and variety of published material, the Canter have brought assertive discipline to over one and half million teachers and administrators worldwide.

Canter breaks teacher behavior into three general response styles:

a- Hostile Teacher:    

views students as adversaries. Hostile teachers express their wants and feelings in ways that put down others or abuse their rights. They create a negative environment and affect the way the students feel about themselves. Students learn to hate and fear hostile teachers and schools. The teacher becomes the enemy.

b- Non-Assertive Teacher:

(Known as wishy-wishy) follows a passive approach to students' discipline. Non-Assertive teachers do not clearly express their wants and feelings. They feel frustrated and inadequate due to their inability to get their needs met in the classroom or to control kids. Teacher makes a statement like, ''for heaven's sake, please try to behave like ladies and genteel mans''. They come across as wishy-wishy, and after sometime students stop taking them seriously. Students feel frustrated, manipulated, and angry with them.

c- Assertive Teacher: 

Assertive teachers clearly and firmly express their needs to their students and work hard to build trust with the class. They help students understand which behaviors promote success and which lead to failure. Students learn to trust and respect an assertive teacher because they know the teacher is fair.

Reference:

www.unm.edu/~jbrink/595/resources/Assertive_Discipline.doc. [Online] April 4, 2017