John Fanshawe is a proponent of Ryans (1960) and Kleinfeld (1972) and as early as 1976 argued that the personal characteristics of effective teachers of Aboriginal adolescents are likely to include:
being warm and supportive
making realistic demands of students (high expectations)
acting in a responsible, businesslike and systematic manner
being stimulating, imaginative and original
Fanshawe’s research focussed on the warmth and demandingness dimensions and is based on Kleinfeld’s (1972) Alaskan findings that effective teachers of Canadian Aboriginal students are characterised by personal warmth and active ‘demandingness’.
By remaining an individual, with all an individual’s inherent traits, even if a particular lesson hasn’t gone that well, the teacher doesn’t project disappointment onto the students. Students need to see the teacher as an individual: someone who is grumpy sometimes, who can be strict, but also can be happy.
Students demand a relationship. They don’t want a teacher to be a “buddy”, but someone who is warm and sharing of themselves. While teachers of today may have been used to teachers in a particular role, rather than a human being, it is more important to develop a relationship that engenders respect, remembering that as soon as you meet someone you have started a relationship.
Successful educational outcomes for Indigenous students
Achieving successful educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Adapted from Fanshawe 1999.
References
Fanshawe, J 1989, ‘Personal characteristics of effective teachers of adolescent Aborigines’, The Aboriginal Child at School, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 35–48.
Purdie, N, Tripcony, P, Boulton-Lewis, G, Fanshawe, J & Gunstone, A 2000, Positive Self–Identity for Indigenous Students and its Relationship to School Outcomes, Queensland University of Technology, viewed 29 August 2016, <http://www.ieprojects.org.au/docs/learningcommunities/PSI_synth%20%20Positive%20self%20Identity%20Article.pdf>.
Kleinfeld, J 1972, Effective Teachers of Indian and Eskimo High School Students, Institute of Social, Economic, and Government Research, Alaska University, Fairbanks.
Ryans, D 1960, Characteristics of Teachers, American Council on Education,Washington, pp. 416.
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John Fanshawe is a proponent of Ryans (1960) and Kleinfeld (1972) and as early as 1976 argued that the personal characteristics of effective teachers of Aboriginal adolescents are likely to include:
By remaining an individual, with all an individual’s inherent traits, even if a particular lesson hasn’t gone that well, the teacher doesn’t project disappointment onto the students. Students need to see the teacher as an individual: someone who is grumpy sometimes, who can be strict, but also can be happy.
Students demand a relationship. They don’t want a teacher to be a “buddy”, but someone who is warm and sharing of themselves. While teachers of today may have been used to teachers in a particular role, rather than a human being, it is more important to develop a relationship that engenders respect, remembering that as soon as you meet someone you have started a relationship.
Successful educational outcomes for Indigenous students
Achieving successful educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Adapted from Fanshawe 1999.
References
Fanshawe, J 1989, ‘Personal characteristics of effective teachers of adolescent Aborigines’, The Aboriginal Child at School, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 35–48.
Purdie, N, Tripcony, P, Boulton-Lewis, G, Fanshawe, J & Gunstone, A 2000, Positive Self–Identity for Indigenous Students and its Relationship to School Outcomes, Queensland University of Technology, viewed 29 August 2016, <http://www.ieprojects.org.au/docs/learningcommunities/PSI_synth%20%20Positive%20self%20Identity%20Article.pdf>.
Kleinfeld, J 1972, Effective Teachers of Indian and Eskimo High School Students, Institute of Social, Economic, and Government Research, Alaska University, Fairbanks.
Ryans, D 1960, Characteristics of Teachers, American Council on Education,Washington, pp. 416.