Running head: TEACHING PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS 1

Teaching Performance Expectations

George Miller

National University

Becoming a Teacher

ITL 600

Terry Shorey

September 14, 2019

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This was a great week for collaboration. My partner and I communicated on several

occasions regarding teaching philosophies, expectations, and what shapes them. We all have our

own unique experiences that we bring to the table. Our biases, cultures, and points-of-reference

shape who we are, thus influence our teaching styles and philosophies. The prism that we see the

world through formulates how we prepare for and handle situations. Not all biases are bad, but

we need to know they are there and allow ourselves to be open to other opinions and points-of-

reference. Sometimes students will come to me and complain about another instructor. They

may feel another instructor is not a good instructor. I inform them that all instructors have to

adhere to a curriculum, and that their complaint is not with the substance of the course, but rather

the style of teaching the instructor is using, and that they will have to adjust to his style because

the content is being delivered. That is where biases can play a role. Some students are more

adept to one style of teaching over another, primarily because of their experiences and points-of-

reference.

According to Sorhagen, teachers can have a major impact on student outcomes.

Oftentimes, when teachers challenge students and believe that the students can rise to the

challenge. Students meet the teacher’s expectations. This was especially true for students with

poorer social economic backgrounds (Sorhagen, 2013).

Schools that had a diverse teaching faculty also saw improvement in student outcomes.

The improved efficacy may be due to the diversity in cultures and variety of points-of-reference

students were expose to via teacher diversity (Ferguson, 2003).

My personal teaching style is more of a coaching style, whereas my partner who is a

retired Navy chief is more of an authoritarian. He is a little gruffer with his delivery of course

content and students will either sink or swim. He informs them from day one that forty to fifty
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percent of them will not finish the course. While I may not always agree with his style of

delivery, he does adhere to the curriculum verbatim. I am more of an advocate for differentiated

instruction because not all learners process information the same and if we are concrete in our

thinking and delivery, we may shortchange the student’s learning experience. As stated in my

introduction, students do not care how much we know until they know how much we care. It is

our responsibility to do our due diligence and deliver the curriculum in such a way that the

students can digest, process, and apply the new information. Not all educators are good teachers,

because it takes a lot of effort on the educator’s part to be a good teacher. This is where the new

TPEs can play a role in improving academia for all. I also like how user friendly they are. One

can build and base evaluations on the new TPE’s desired outcomes. We have always had

benchmarks, student learning objectives, and student outcomes, but the new TPEs have went

along way in simplifying the process.

My partner and I elaborated on our philosophies and although she may come from a

different generation, she still adheres to older traditional values. This is where culture and point-

of-reference has an influence. A director once told me that previous generations had better time

management skills than the current one. The way he explained it was that if previous generations

were supposed to be somewhere at 8am. They would be there at 7:45am, whereas the current

generation thinks they are on time if they are pulling into the parking lot at 8am. Teaching is not

just curriculum being disseminated. An educator’s point-of-reference, experiences, culture, and

even biases can oftentimes enrich the learning process. Teachers that can share firsthand

experiences from an industry experience can inform students on the difference between textbook

best practice and real-world best practice. Oftentimes, there is a great chasm between the two.
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Students can tell the difference between educators that our just theory based and those that have

really experienced what they are teaching.

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References

NS Sorhagen Journal of Education Psychology 2013 -teacher expectations affect outcomes

RF Ferguson ---expectations and efficacy of diverse teachers Urban Education 2003