Teacher Roles in Humanistic Approaches

严宁莲 张晓莉

南京航空航天大学金城学院，江苏 南京 210016

Teacher Roles in Humanistic Approaches

严宁莲*张晓莉*

南京航空航天大学金城学院，江苏 南京 210016

In humanistic learning situations，learners’ feelings are regarded as playing an influential role in the learning process.To make current English learning and teaching in colleges more effective，some aspects of humanistic approaches can be incorporated into classroom teaching and college teachers should make some changes.

Humanistic approaches；Teacher roles；Learner-centred

一、Introduction

Since the proposal of humanistic approaches，they have provoked much controversy.It is doubtful whether learners can develop their intellectual and cognitive abilities while the focus is on the inner selves of the learners(Gadd，1998).Besides，being learner-centred，humanistic approaches imply a de-emphasis of the role of the teacher，which may result in students’ frustration at the lack of the teacher’s instruction.However，it cannot be denied that with the emphasis being put on English learners and their inner world，they are able to not only develop as different individuals，achieving self-esteem and self-actualization but also learn linguistic knowledge and develop cognitive skills.

二、Humanistic Learning Theory

In 1970s，many educators and teachers expressed their concerns with school education.Combs(1970)states that the reason of major failures is that teachers cannot help their students to discover ‘the personal meaning of the information’ they provide.Therefore，excitement is not involved in school education and students have a feeling of depression.Similarly，Brown(1975)，while noting that students are regarded as ‘containers’ and classroom learning is ‘dull’，indicates that in the live classroom students should be respected and treated as different individuals.Being a therapist，Rogers(1983)foregrounds three qualities of a good therapist：‘empathy’(the ability to feel with an individual)，‘prizing’(‘unconditional regard’)and ‘congruence’(the naturalness of the therapist)，which，from his point of view，are also characteristics of a good teacher.Then human learning theory stems from the work of Rogers and others.

三、Teacher Roles in Humanistic Approaches

Although it is true that in a humanistic classroom，more emphasis is on learners than on the teacher，the learner-centred view does not imply that the teacher should be freed from duties.Rather than abandoning the classroom to learners，the teacher should act appropriately and fulfill his/her responsibilities(Wright，1987).

(一)Teachers’ responsibility

In a traditional English classroom，teachers are regarded as thorough authorities，and students should do exactly what teachers ask them to do.However，this spoon-feeding teaching method is out of date.Students should learn to discover by themselves and be increasingly independent.Meanwhile，teachers’ responsibility is to facilitate students’ learning and raise their autonomy.

In the teaching process，teachers play different roles in different stages.While teaching freshmen，teachers should take more responsibilities in deciding what to teach and organizing classroom activities for two main reasons.Firstly，freshmen who have just graduated from high schools are used to the spoon-feeding teaching method.Instead of thinking what they want，they are ready to take instructions from teachers.Therefore，it is not appropriate to let them make all major decisions.Secondly，freshmen do not know each other well so it is very hard for them to achieve an agreement.However，as students’ learning progresses，teachers should share their responsibilities with students.Students are encouraged to find their own ways of learning and make their own judgments while teachers are supportive and available when students are in trouble.

(二)Respecting students’ feelings

To be more humanistic，college teachers，while teaching，should take students’ emotion into account all the time.

In many universities，it is argued whether students should be divided into different classes according to their English levels.For example，in an university，there are 120 freshmen majoring in computer and they are supposed to be divided into two groups，who will have English classes separately in two classrooms.Some teachers suggest dividing them into Class A and B according to the scores of their College Entrance Examination.One of the reasons is that the English teacher who teaches Class A can set a relatively higher goal for them and assign more challenging tasks.However，there are chances that some students in Class B will be upset by the belief that they are less successful than those students in Class A.Also，some students’ feelings will be hurt because they think that they are considered as less successful by teachers.As a result，students in Class B are less motivated to achieve success.

(三)Creating a non-threatening atmosphere

Most students feel anxious when they are asked to complete a task in English classes because they have to make themselves understood with a limited language code，which is face-threatening to them.Consequently，most students remain quiet in order to avoid failure.Therefore，what teachers should do is to create a non-threatening atmosphere and relieve students’ anxiety effectively.

Firstly，teachers’ encouragement is of great importance.Praising students for their progress helps them to build their self-confidence.Moreover，teachers can also encourage those who have not made much progress by indicating that they are expected to be successful in the near future.The belief that teachers trust them helps students to make more effort.

Secondly，teachers’ attitudes to mistakes play an important role in increasing or reducing students’ anxiety.Students are anxious in class partly because that they are afraid of making mistakes.It is critical for teachers to know that making mistakes is natural and to make their students know this fact.Students are encouraged to present themselves although they may make many mistakes.While some students expect the correction of their mistakes，it is not possible for teachers to correct all of them，which，according to me，is neither advisable because it will frustrate students.Instead，teachers can skillfully draw students’ attention to those common mistakes and correct them with unthreatening strategies.

四、CONCLUSION

Some positive aspects of humanistic approaches can be effectively incorporated into Chinese college English teaching.English teachers should respect students’ feelings and create a non-threatening atmosphere in English classes so that students are truly the centre of the learning process，which will facilitate the process of English learning.

[ References ]

[1]Brown，G.I.，Yeomans，T.and Grizzard，L.The Live Classroom[M].New York：The Viking Press，1975.

[2]Combs.A.W.Sensitivity Education：problems and promises[J].Educational Leasership，1970(28)：2235-6.

[3]Gadd，N.Towards less humanistic English teaching[J].ELT Journal，1998(3)：223-234.

[4]Rogers，C.Freedom to Learn in the ’80s[M].Columbus：Merrill，1983.

[5]Wright，T.Roles of Teachers and Learners[M].Oxford：Oxford University Press，1987.

严宁莲(1980-)，女，江苏海安人，硕士，南京航空航天大学金城学院，讲师，研究方向：英语教育，语言学；张晓莉(1983-)，女，江苏南京人，硕士，南京航空航天大学金城学院，讲师，研究方向：听力教学，ESP教学。

H319

A

1006-0049-(2017)01-0095-02