Gelisim News

Asst. Prof. Dr. Derya Kavgaoğlu from Istanbul Gelisim University made statements about how teachers should communicate with their students in a healthy way. Asst. Prof. Dr. Derya Kavgaoğlu said: “If the teacher has a habit of both asking and answering the question, it leaves a very depressing effect on the students. The student of a teacher who has this habit does not dare to express it even if he knows the answer to the question. Because he is sure that he will not be given the right to speak. It is also difficult to encourage the student in this situation to express what he knows. As long as the teacher continues to behave in this way, the student's negative behaviors such as not being able to express himself - not being able to express himself, silence, staying passive also reinforce.”
 
“REINFORCES CARELESS STUDENT BEHAVIOR”
 
Kavgaoğlu said: “Teachers should not ask them over and over again, assuming that students do not understand the question they ask, or thinking that the question will become clearer. This habit reinforces careless student behavior. The student is conditioned to catch the answer either cognitively or intuitively, instead of listening to the question when the question is asked. It should also be kept in mind that this habit causes a waste of time and will not be an option to assist the teacher in effective classroom management. Question repetition should be avoided except in exceptional cases, such as inadequate sound system, questions that are too complex to be understood at the first time, or if the questions are written to the student.”
 
“THE TEACHER SHOULD NOT BE IN THE CENTER OF VERBAL INTERACTION”
 
Pointing out that repeating the student's answer will lead to a waste of time, Kavgaoğlu said, “This situation also causes students to ignore their peers and think that the only source of information is teachers. Because the student is not interested in the answer given by his peer in the first place, he is conditioned to wait until the definite, clear and most correct answer comes out of the teacher's mouth. For this reason, the teacher should not get into the center of verbal interaction, but should keep the tendency to focus on the student who answers.”

“DO NOT COMPLAIN THE LONG SPEECH OF STUDENTS”
 
Kavgaoğlu expressing that “The teacher asks a question to the student, interrupts the word of the student who is trying to answer and expresses his / her own opinion on the answer completely independent of him” also added: “Even if the student whose words are interrupted by the teacher has clear and precise information, knows the answer by heart, he will be hesitant to participate in the process because he is discouraged. Teachers who are tired of students talking for a long time and who complain may be disappointing in students. Even worse, this situation also prevents students from creating an internal response mechanism and developing it gradually.”
 
“THE TEACHER SHOULD LISTEN TO THE STUDENT”
 
Stating that “the teacher should listen to the student” Kavgaoğlu added: “If the teacher cannot show the courtesy of listening, he cannot expect this habit to develop in his students. The main reason teachers fail to develop positive student behaviors in the classroom is that they remain insensitive to what students feel and their world of emotions and try to understand.”

Kavgaoğlu continued as follows:

“It is one of the frequent student complaints that the teacher always gives the same students the right to speak at in-class and out-of-class activities. “The teacher doesn't give me any say” or “the teacher has a few favorite students in the classroom, always directs his questions to them”. These situations are typical expressions of students who perceive double standards and are disappointed. Spending less time to listen to the answers of students with low academic abilities and to give them feedback shows that a climate of prejudice prevails in the classroom environment. The easiest way to test whether the teacher has these prejudices is to record the numbers of the students he has had a say in each lesson. The check result of the weekly list will also be a clear indication of whether the teacher has a tendency to always give the same students a voice.”
 
EQUAL RESPONSE RIGHT TO EACH STUDENT
 
Emphasizing that the teacher should give equal right of answer to each student in order to encourage the whole class to success, Kavgaoğlu said, “For this, if necessary, they should change the style of addressing, the way of asking questions, and express the student in a way that he / she can understand. Because the most important positive reinforcer a student can take in achieving success and focusing is that the student feels successful.”