Recently I was addressing a large group of teachers. Just as I was building up to my main point, a teacher in the audience raised her hand. Although this is unusual, especially with large groups in this format, I paused and called on her. She asked, “Do you mind if we grade papers or read the newspaper while you are speaking?”
The question caught me off guard, and I reacted honestly. “I don’t mind if you grade papers or read the newspaper during my presentation,” I said. “I don’t mind at all—as long as you are comfortable with students doing whatever they want to do in your class while you are teaching.”
A ripple of laughter spread through the room, and I paused for a long moment. Then I asked the audience, “How many of you have heard that great teachers have high expectations for students?” Of course, almost everyone raised a hand.
Setting aside the thread of my presentation for a moment, I invited them to consider this statement more closely—and I invite you now to do the same.
Are High Expectations Important?
Many people believe, and I agree, that great teachers have high expectations for students. However, let’s focus on the question: What is the variable? True, the best teachers have high expectations for students. But is this a difference that separates great teachers from the rest?
Even the worst teachers have high expectations for students. They expect students to be engaged no matter how irrelevant the material is. They expect students to pay attention no matter how boring and repetitious their classes are. They expect students to be well behaved no matter how the teacher treats them. Now, those are high expectations.
The variable is not what teachers expect of students. Many teachers of all skill levels have high expectations for students. The variable—and what really matters—is what teachers expect of themselves. Great teachers have high expectations for students but even higher expectations for themselves. Poor teachers have high expectations for students but much lower expectations for themselves. Not only that, they have unrealistically high expectations for everyone else as well. They expect the principal to be perfect, every parent to be flawless, and every one of their peers to hold them in incredibly high regard.
I turned back to the teacher whose question had sparked this discussion. “As a presenter,” I said, “I feel a responsibility to engage the audience. I believe that what I am saying is important, and of course I want my audience to give me their full attention. But it’s my job to gain, and to keep, their attention. If I’m not doing that, I need to change my approach.”
Just like in the classroom, we must always work to engage the students. If the students are not focused, great teachers ask what they themselves can do differently.
Before I returned to my presentation, I posed a challenge to the teachers in the room. “It’s easy to have high expectations for the students in your classrooms,” I said. “The challenge is to focus on your own performance. Strive to be a great teacher; set even higher expectations for yourself.”
Great teachers have high expectations for students, but have even higher expectations for themselves.