Roundtable 7: Trust Me, I’m a Teacher! A Discussion of Trust in the Classroom
Janina Tosic (University of Applied Sciences Ruhr West, Germany)
The past year of teaching virtually has led me to believe strongly in the power of trust. This round table will focus on the value of trust as a driver in teaching. Why is trust important? What does it mean for us as teachers and for our students? Can we be trusting leaders on the one hand and approachable humans on the other? How is trust build and what destroys it? Story-telling components are used to illustrate these aspects and spur the discussion among participants. The idea is to give room for reflection and exchange to learn from each other.
Chat Transcript
00:26:33 Alexandra Lehmann: I think it’s two different Things: my students trust me. AND they (or some of them) still cheat. Because they want good grades for their exam and diploma. That’s not the same for them – they can trust me, I can trust them, and still they will cheat…
00:27:53 Alexandra Lehmann: I would like to have a class in which I won’t have to grade them…
00:29:09 Noela Haughton: I think instructional design and support or hinder the idea of trust.
00:29:21 Noela Haughton: can support or hinder..
00:34:13 Birgit Pitscheider: Plus manage class dynamics
00:34:33 Alexandra Lehmann: it sort of reminds me of my ph.d. thesis about correctional officers. they are being distinguished into 3 different groups by the offenders: the nice ones, the not-nice ones, and the fair ones. Only the fair ones were accepted and could be sure that in case of emergency one of the offenders would press the alarm button for them…
00:43:45 Alexandra Lehmann: @ Elizabeth: exactly!!! :oDDD
00:44:20 Birgit Pitscheider: Thank you for your honesty, Elizabeth!
00:44:31 Noela Haughton: Yes – over-sharing is always something we should be mindful of. We need to “read the room”.
00:45:02 Lucie Viktorová: @Noela: Which is quite difficult if you can’t see the people in it 🙂
00:46:22 Noela Haughton: Lucie: true. The signals are not as clear but they are there.
00:48:31 Noela Haughton: Fadia: I agree. Trust – like most things – is conditional. hence, we need to be clear about rules that app participants – teachers and students – understand and agree to. Its a dynamic situation.
00:49:27 Birgit Pitscheider: Diane, our new invest manager 🙂
00:50:17 Alexandra Lehmann: But I’m so tired of impression management… I had to do that for so long, working with the police as a psychologist…
00:52:05 Lucie Viktorová: @Alexandara: That is, indeed, tiresome. It’s actually my reason for being authentic – because I’m too lazy to watch everything I say. And yet, I still have to keep an eye on that, because some wording might really not be the best in some settings.
00:53:02 Elizabeth Black: Alexandra – interesting parallels in terms of mutual scrutiny.
00:53:23 Noela Haughton: Totally agree about authenticity – helps to set a positive tone for trust
00:53:44 Alexandra Lehmann: @ Lucie: Yes, agree on that. But different from the Police (where they had to LIKE me to accept me), at University students don’t have to like me. It helps for the learning, but they can still learn even if they don’t like me. And just knowing that helps a lot personally.
00:54:55 Lucie Viktorová: @Alexandra: Great point – another one I’m struggling with (trying to rather be the “fair” than the “nice” one 🙂 )
00:55:12 Janina Tosic: https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_l6Io0QI=/
00:59:20 Noela Haughton: Michael: totally agree. At the end of the day, faculty is in charge and accountable.
01:02:20 Karlheinz Rathgeb-Weber: @Janina: I really appreciate the way you have shared your Concept of trust with us – being authentic and trusting towards us!
01:05:35 Noela Haughton: Thank you everyone! Cheers!
01:05:45 Elke Kitzelmann: thank you very much
01:05:51 Alexandra Lehmann: thanks, Janina, thanks everybody! see you tomorrow!
