Teacher Expectations

Nearly all schools hold high expectations for all students. In reality, however, what is professed is not always practiced. Although some schools and teachers maintain uniformly high expectations for all students, others have "great expectations."

Below are educators/psychologists who express their idea and feelings in regard to expectations by the teacher:

The expectations teachers have for their students and the assumptions they make about their potential have a tangible effect on student achievement. Research "clearly establishes that teacher expectations do play a significant role in determining how well and how much students learn" - Jerry Bamberg

Students tend to internalize the beliefs teachers have about their ability. Generally, they "rise or fall to the level of expectation of their teachers.... When teachers believe in students, students believe in themselves. When those you respect think you can, YOU think you can" -James Raffini.

Conversely, when students are viewed as lacking in ability or motivation and are not expected to make significant progress, they tend to adopt this perception of themselves. Regrettably, some students, particularly those from certain social, economic, or ethnic groups, discover that their teachers consider them "incapable of handling demanding work" -Peggy Gonder.

Teachers' expectations for students-whether high or low-can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is, students tend to give to teachers as much or as little as teachers expect of them.
A characteristic shared by most highly effective teachers is their adherence to uniformly high expectations. They "refuse to alter their attitudes or expectations for their students-regardless of the students' race or ethnicity, life experiences and interests, and family wealth or stability"
-Barbara J. Omotani and Les Omotani.

All of these thoughts are true and can be found in schools from different districts. I personally agree with James Raffini's quote: "When teachers believe in students, students believe in themselves"....how true! as educators we need to be aware of how we come across to our students and keep in mind they have feelings too and people who love them, like their parents, so being demanding or harsh is never good.