How to Support Your Students.
Before I dive into my thoughts and ideas on supporting students, I feel it is important to say that support starts from the acknowledgement of who we are as a species, as humans, as a society, as a culture and as individuals. And with that, it is important to recognise that our students come from diverse and beautifully crafted cultures and that it is the meeting of minds and consideration of the differences and how they make us as humans whole, that truly matters.
This concept of “meeting our students where they are” doesn’t only mean in terms of their academic skillset, it also means recognising their diversity, both culturally and ethnically. And, in recognising these understand that every student has their own way of communicating with you. You have to be willing to listen, interpret and acknowledge their communicatory skills.
What does “support” mean?
Lexico.com lists the word support with approx. five variations of meaning (with one having subsets with a bit more nuanced meanings). It’s listed as a verb. And some of the meanings listed are:
Bear all or part of the weight of; hold up.
Give assistance to, especially financially.
Give approval, comfort, or encouragement to.
Be actively interested in and concerned for the success of (a particular sports team)
Endure; tolerate.
I chose these because they are the closest to what I am referring to as student support. I don’t believe the first one is doable from a educator perspective without some more explanation of evaluation of what is being represented here. And, well, while giving assistance works—even if you were to remove the “financial” bit, it’s still lacking.
Now it’s between 2.2 or 3. And, for me, 3. sounds so cold. As educators we don’t want to endure or tolerate our students. If that is happening then it is time to do some deep self reflection on why be a teacher.
So, let’s look at 2.2:
Be actively interested in and concerned for the success of (a particular sports team)…and let’s go a bit further and remove the example Lexico.com gave “(a particular sports team)”.
Now it reads: Be actively interested in and concerned for the success of…
This sounds like what support means to me as an educator. When someone asks me, what does it mean to support students, I can confidently say it’s my ability and willingness to show active interest and concern for the success of my students under my tutelage.
Student-Teacher relationship.
Be actively interested in and concerned for the success of…
This presents a unique opportunity for me as an educator to create lasting relationships with my students built on trust and respect—which goes both ways.
Like any human, students want five things:
To be seen
To be heard
(No the two aren’t synonymous. Both are required)
To be respected
To be given autonomy
To be shown empathy and compassion
There’s a great book I believe every educator (and educational administrator) should read: I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz.
Schwartz states “when our students struggle in school, we need to find the root of the problem, and to do this the first step is often asking an empathetic question. Think of a child who arrives late to school. Greeting them with disappointment, hostility, or sarcasm makes the child feel they are the problem” (p.67).
