"Role-ing with the Punches"

(Courtesy of Bored Teachers)

“Má, te amo, en serio. Pero… You already wear so many hats, and now because of this quarantine you have to be my teacher and counselor, too--even though you didn’t go to college, no offense! I know you’re doing your best to adjust and help me too, but this right here… ¿E’ segura?”

When I started teaching over 10 years ago, I was told this profession would test if I was truly about that parenting life. After a decade in (from early childhood education to secondary education; in classrooms, studios, and offices), I can attest that teaching definitely gives you a crash course in parenthood. In most cases, not only do we become secondary parents to our students, but the older and more experienced faculty and staff become bonus parents to us younger teachers--legit, at every institution I worked at I always found someone to call “Mom/Mama ____”. On that, many teacher-parents take on roles outside of the home and the school (e.g.: church ministry leaders, sports coaches, store managers, real estate brokers). So if you became a teacher-parent--or had to learn from one--during this quarantine and need insight on how to succeed the next time, here’s something to consider...

Based on the famous Situational Leadership® Model by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, educator Gerald Grow translated those business management principles to an educational setting, called the SSDL Model®. (When you consider that compulsory education is intended to prepare children for the workforce, it is easier to see the strong relationship between business, education, and social psychology.) There are four stages of self-directed learning that must be matched with the appropriate teaching role for effective learning to take place. (NOTE: The six teacher roles stated are for teacher-student interactions when receiving content and completing tasks; four of them are paired to meet the varied needs of the two lower levels.)

• ⇒ Stage 1: The dependent learner best learns from a disciplinarian/coach teacher. As this student requires learning the content at an introductory level, the teacher must drill the content detailedly and encourage the student to see the completion of essential tasks.
• ⇒ Stage 2:  The interested learner best learns from a lecturer/model teacher. As this student is an experienced beginner with the content, the teacher is needed for more thorough explanations of the content and demonstrating how to execute higher level tasks.
• ⇒ Stage 3: The involved learner best learns from a facilitator teacher. As this intermediate level student can now participate in educating themselves on the content, the teacher helps develop strategies for the learner to become confident, self-sufficient, and collaborative.
• ⇒ Stage 4: The self-directed learner best learns from a counselor. As this advanced student is in full control of their learning and well-versed with the content, the teacher becomes a compass when setting and accomplishing goals, called upon for fine-tuning and reaffirming.

Hopefully, you can find yourself in these different stages as a teacher or student--since learning is situational--and move accordingly. If nothing more, I hope you have gained a new appreciation for the teachers in your life, especially the ones who took on that role since your birth.

Follow Brandon Avery on social media!!

- Twitter: @nblvblbavery

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- Blogspot: unbelievablebavery.blogspot.com

"ISSA Situation... Not a Disposition"

(Courtesy of sites.google.com)

“It’s just his thing to be late. Yeah, it may be heavy traffic coming from her side of town; and it’s true, he usually gets here early when roads are clearer. That said, we know he just can’t manage his time well. Me though, it’s a situation when I run late! You know what I mean?”

In February Grammy award-winning (YAHS!!) singer-songwriter Jojo had an interview with Lewis Howes discussing her history in the music business, particularly the 7-year lawsuit with Blackground Records. When Howes asked her to share her biggest lesson during her teenage years in the industry, Jojo stated, “You can’t take things personally. Everybody’s going to do what’s best for them… No one’s a villain in their own mind.” That hit me HARD. I was reminded of how people consider harsh--possibly harmful to others--decisions they make as survival tactics based on the given situation; rarely will you hear someone judging themselves according to their decisions. Yet, think about how many times you have readily categorized other people from the couple of actions you observed. No no no, I am not calling you “judgemental”, but what I am saying is...

As personality perception is a huge factor of social interactions, a key subject of social psychology is attribution. The Attribution Theory refers to how we understand the cause of events and behaviors to be driven by two things: by situation (the current setting and details of the environment) and by disposition (a person’s/group’s traits or a places’ history). In 1977, social psychology experts Teresa Amabile, Julia L. Steinmetz, and Lee Ross conducted a study that sheds light on what we now know as the Fundamental Attribution Error, a tendency to attribute the causes of behavior to disposition rather than situation. In the experiment people were asked to observe an interaction between a quizmaster and a contestant (both randomly chosen) where the quizmaster asked the contestant trivia questions without regard to the contestant’s knowledge pool. The observers, rather than recognizing the roles played as only such, assumed the person playing the quizmaster was a smarter person. This also explains what is called the actor-observer bias, in that we will judge actions by one’s disposition when we lack access to situational information. The word “error” comes into play as this bias prevents full, more truthful explanations of events and behaviors from being given or received. This error becomes the Ultimate Attribution Error when we apply a disposition of an individual to a group that individual belongs to (a.k.a. stereotypes).

Since watching that interview--among other recent ones Jojo has done as promo for her new album Good to Know (shameless plug, 🙃🍀)--I have considered how I perceive others’ intentions in their actions.  Like why a guy I’m interested in may have issues with communicating during this pandemic, or why we see characters other than the Charmed sisters being the heroes of episodes in the reboot (another shameless plug, 😎✨). When we turn off our autopilot and look at situations in their entirety, we not only begin to truly learn the world, but we in turn subtly require the world to return the favor and view us in the same way.

Follow Brandon Avery on social media!!

- Twitter: @nblvblbavery

- Instagram: @nblvblbavery

- Blogspot: unbelievablebavery.blogspot.com