Every now and again when we discuss a relevant issue in
class, I am tempted to share with my students one of my essays from my blog, but stop myself on time. Although it is a public medium, and I am
always delighted when people read my
posts, when it comes to my students I’d rather keep my privacy and prefer that
they do not know that I write a blog.
In one of the earlier articles devoted to the subject of
privacy, the sociologist Alan P. Bates provides a helpful definition of the
term: "a person’s feeling that others should be excluded from something
which is of concern to him, and also recognition that others have a right to do
this” (1964: 429).
Bates’ definition expresses the way I feel about
teacher/students relationship -- my personal life and my political views are
“of no concern" to my students . When I went back to teaching, a week
after my husband's passing I did not tell my class anything. I felt that such
information was actually a burden on my
students, and chose to focus on teaching
them English reading.
Along the same line, earlier this semester one of my
students wrote to say that the reason he did not attend any of the classes was
that his mother was seriously ill and he needed to be by her bedside. My
response was to offer help without any questions, I felt that this was my student’s private concern.
It would have been different if that student had come to
talk to me in person about his mother, in that case I would have naturally
inquired about her health. When I meet students in my office they frequently
tell me about their lives and I give advice
from my personal experience.
But in class we
convene for a reason and our social interaction should be purposeful and
limited. Thus when I offer personal anecdotes they are either connected to the reading material or are
meant to emphasize the significance of
English.
As a certain degree of deliberate intimacy is conducive to
learning, I have to balance between maintaining good feeling in class and promoting serious work. I find that as a
teacher my interaction with the students
is much more guarded than any other social or professional contact. It involves measuring my words, having to
question myself constantly whether what I am about to say would actually
promote learning.
Since my students do not like to read in English (they
usually are not great readers in any language) and they are not curious enough
to look me up on Google, so far my blog has remained unknown to them. If one
day a student tells me that she read some of my posts, I would be thrilled and
forget all about my privacy. When that happens it would be a proof
that the student has become comfortable in English and started to to
explore. This could count as a real
succes.
Meanwhile I am still
waiting.
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