Yesterday, I watched the movie The Stanford Prison Experiment at The Lyric and I was mesmerized
and hence today I watched it again. The movie absorbed me not only because it
was a nicely made movie which captures the essence of the experiment which was
conducted 34 years ago but also because it teaches so much about human nature,
how our behaviors impact others, and what kind of responsibilities we have in
order to ensure that our behavior does not harm others’ well-being. Given that I
myself am an educator, and teach the first year engineering classes at Virginia
Tech, it made me think of my position as an authority and how my comments,
remarks, and attitude toward them in and outside the class might affect my students.
Given the fact that students see the instructors as an
authority figure in class, especially in the undergraduate classes, I think I carry
with me an immense amount of power when I enter a classroom to teach. I have
the power to not only shape their learning but also direct how they see the
world and see themselves in it. I can provide a learning environment which increases
their confidence in their own self by validating their capacities to learn and by
situating learning in their experiences. Such a learning environment will lead
to a development of intellectual power, reflective judgement, self-confidence
and integrity in my students. At the same time, by portraying learning as
shared among their peers, I can teach them to value others’ cultures and
viewpoints.
I do not only have the responsibility to ensure that the
students develop self-confidence and respect for others through my teaching but
also have the duty to ensure that I do not do anything which psychologically
hurts them and hinders their development as a citizen who is capable of taking ethical actions for the common good. This becomes even more
important while teaching the first year college students. The first year is the
initial step for the college students to understand the world. This is the
first time when they are away from their parents and actually live their lives on
their own. They start to interact with the world without an immediate safeguard
from their parents. At the same time, it is a time when they start thinking
about their majors and career paths. This is the period when they beginning their
journeys to find an identity of their own. With all of this happening to them
at the same time, it leaves them in a very delicate and psychologically fragile
state of mind. In such a case, any insensitive or inappropriate comment from an
instructor about their abilities to succeed might have a huge impact on the
students. This in turn can adversely impact their development as effective
citizens.
While I realize that I carry a huge responsibility on my
shoulders while teaching and interacting with the first year students, I believe
that the responsibility which educators carry while interacting with students
at any grade level is equally huge. I just hope that we, the educators, keep on
doing our work with utmost honesty and student interest in mind.
