The Cool of Pedagogy

In order to be a successful teacher, he/she must relate with his/her students and form a bond with them. They must be “cool,” meaning that they can combine their teachings with personal experience and with their ability to communicate in a relaxed manner with the class. I agree with Sadie when she stated, “It’s much easier for anyone, let alone students, to recall information when presented in a comfortable casual way, rather than straight out of a textbook using the most complicated words possible”. Students are able to relate to the lesson if it is presented in an understandable manner and explained on a personal level. When the teacher adds this “coolness” into the lecture it allows the students to receive more knowledge from the material being taught. Rather than listening to boring lectures taken straight out of the book because students respond better to an eductator with whom they can relate.

On the other hand, William Deresiewicz says that teachers “need to resist the temptation to be cool, because the job of the teacher is, in a sense, to be uncool; not to model the conventional behavior that students are emulating, but to be ourselves.” I believe that teachers should be themselves because it allows them to add their own personality to their material so that it is not so straightforward and dry. I can agree with Sadie when she said that, “there would be one more adolescent in the classroom”. If a teacher does not present himself in a conventional manner he/she may lose control and become just like a student. They would turn out to be someone who resembles an ignorant and childish person who has nothing to offer to the class. If you wanted to be surrounded by these inanities, then you can go hang out at a local Starbucks. Students want their teacher to be a professional and impart knowledge, perhaps wisdom, and at the least, broaden their horizons.

There are always going to be those teachers who strictly follow the rules word for word. Most of them, in my opinion, are stubborn and inflexible, or they do not want to lose their job. Therefore, they strictly enforce the rules of teaching without humor or interest. With some experience from high school, I have observed that when teachers do not present this “cool” way of teaching, their pupils tend to become less interested in the lectures. Students lose focus because the teachers do not present the lecture with personal day-to-day examples and interactions. If the professors started acting “cool,” then maybe students would be more tuned-in and comprehend the lectures more easily.

If a teacher is too cool and laid back while teaching the material, the students tend to become lazy-minded and often do not participate efficiently in class. The teachers begin to lose the respect of their students. As a result, the pupils will revert to doing anything they can to get by with a passing grade with the least effort possible. In Sadie’s essay, she explains that “there is a huge difference, however between being cool and taken seriously, and being cool and completely disrespected.” If a teacher is cool and follows the guidelines while teaching the material and has a certain technique to inject outside information that relates to the students in some manner, he builds relationships and respect. Relating the material on a personal level advances this process.

But when a teacher slacks off while teaching their material and only is concerned with making the class fun, students begin to think it’s just a game and they can do whatever they want. At this point, the teacher is in danger of losing respect and the students feel that learning is not important. On the other hand the same can be said about “un-cool” teachers. When a teacher is “un-cool”, drones on, or puts students to sleep, he loses the students attention diminishes the value of the material. Some students will take to them because they do not have high expectations while the others will demand more. In my opinion there is a really fine line in terms of suitable behavior from authoritative educators.

During the blogging heads diavlog with William Deresiewicz and Mark Edmundson, they discussed “student evaluation.” The student evaluation is a very imperative part where administrators evaluate the teacher’s style of teaching. Deresiewicz states that “student evaluation is very important while making hiring and retention decisions for professors.” Students give their feedback on their opinion of the teachers’ lecturing method. Once this is observed by administrators, evaluations are put out showing the percentages of student approval or non-approval. Edmundson states, “if you try to be un-cool it will hurt your evaluation and it might therefore hurt in your teaching.” Basically, if you are not being “cool” while teaching your lectures in class you will suffer from a disappointing evaluation. So in order to be a thriving mediator a teacher must not only focus on teaching the material to their students but also relate it to the outside world.