This quote that I saw on Facebook stood out to me, because I’ve seen it to be true as a gymnastics coach myself. Recently, I’ve noticed that I spend a large portion of the class on teaching character. This includes emphasizing good sportsmanship, teamwork, sharing, and manners in addition to the gymnastics curriculum I am expected to teach the gymnasts. To be honest, I find that I have a much stronger relationship with my gymnasts, and this results in more trust. This relationship is KEY. Having a trusting relationship enables me to know the kids in my classes better, which leads to lessons that are tailored to their goals and needs, and to have a trusting relationship with each child. When I am helping young children learn to handstand on a 4 inch wide beam or flip backwards over a bar, trust is necessary. This trust also allows the gymnasts to learn even more gymnastics skills in their time at the gym, since they are able to learn with less feelings of fear. Fear in the gym often comes from fear of failure, fear of getting hurt, fear of not achieving something that their classmates have learned, and fear of judgement from others. The classes are definitely not always perfect, but I would say that the classes run a lot smoother once the class is supportive of one another. When everyone is comfortable in the social environment, the classes have a lot more smiles, laughs and success stories! I realize that it is my responsibility to educate a PERSON, not just an athlete.

How does this relate to literacies in the classroom? This lesson about educating a person is related to multicultural and mental health literacies for both a teacher and students. Multicultural literacy encompasses the fact that there are various cultures, races, genders, ages, and most common in this example, abilities (Hawkins, 2014). A teacher can promote a multicultural culture by being a role model. This includes demonstrating (implicitly and/or explicitly) that not everyone has to be at the same level of ability all the time, and that it is ok. In the gym, I am constantly teaching children that different people master skills at different times, and that any new skill is a reason to celebrate. We celebrate the small things as well as the big things, to promote that everyone is successful in their own way.

 By creating a supportive environment, mental health literacy can become easier to teach. Often, mental health is a touchy subject, and can be hard to talk about for teachers or students. It becomes even harder to have a conversation about mental health if students (or teachers) have the same fears as my gymnasts: fear of failure (to open up about personal situations), fear of getting hurt (bullying after disclosing information), and fear of judgement from others (particularly with stigmas). However, if the teacher is able to form a trusting relationship with their students, the students will be more likely to open and know that they are not alone. Just like my gymnasts trust me to not drop them, students who trust their teacher will feel able to disclose information without fear of a negative experience. If a teacher is able to pass on this trusting relationship to all the students in the class, and create a supportive atmosphere, mental health literacy will become even easier to approach and teach in the classroom, and instances of mental health will likely decrease.

 

 

So, in order to be a better teacher, you need to remember that school is not just a place for learning your multiplication tables or where to put commas, but it is also a place to learn how to support others and be a good person. Teachers should remember that they are not just teaching a student, but they are teaching a person with many needs, including a need for safety and security and a sense of belonging, according to Maslow’s hierarchy. When teachers are able to move beyond the curriculum and teach the person, it will become easier to teach the curriculum as well as 21^st century literacies. Overall, by teaching students how to be better people, your classroom will become better people, and the overall environment will improve! A better environment leads to better learning!

I challenge you all to give it a try! Try to connect to the one student that you can’t seem to get through to, or take advantage of a ‘teachable moment’ this week and teach students how to respect and support one another. Although positive results will take time, it is not impossible! I would love to hear your stories about how you teach people, not just students.

References:

Hawkins, K. (2014). Teaching for social justice, social responsibility and social inclusion: a

respectful pedagogy for twenty-first century early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 22(5), 723-738.