As we open the doors to the new academic year, that very first meeting with your new learners offers you the chance to set high and clear expectations.
Our learners will live up (or down!) to our expectations. A plethora of research indicates that learner achievement is strongly affected by what the teacher expects. The first and most famous experiment is known as the Pygmalion effect. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson conducted research in the 1960s which revealed that when teachers expected an enhanced performance from their students, their students’ performance was indeed enhanced. The opposite of the Pygmalion Effect is the Golem Effect – if we expect our students to perform badly, chances are they will.
The effect of high expectations is most pronounced at the start of the academic year. This is because students tend to start a new journey with an open mind about how they will fare – and they are looking for guidance on what it is possible for them to achieve. It is our collective responsibility to make sure they hear a positive voice – full of belief and conviction that they can succeed. Moreover, it will help them to develop high expectations of themselves, and if they believe in themselves they are more likely to succeed.
Timperley and Phillips (2003) report that teachers’ expectations for student achievement become their goals for the students and shape their daily classroom decisions and actions.
Robert Marzano (2007) found that when we have high expectations of students we act differently. We call on them more often, wait longer for their answers, and give them more opportunities to succeed. For more on the Art and Science of high expectations for students, read here
How can we set high expectations in our classrooms?
Here are a few suggestions…
Convey confidence in your learners. Let them know that you believe in them and speak positively about learners to other staff.
Develop rapport with learners – greeting our learners with a smile and a hello, is very simple, but extremely effective tool. Make connections with your learners; take time to learn about their personal lives and interests
Language is an exceedingly powerful tool. Whether we communicate orally, or in written form, the way we express ourselves will affect whether our message is received positively or negatively
Give opportunities for all learners to contribute
Ask your learners to set their own class expectations. Have these displayed in classrooms
Doug Lemov (2015) shares further suggestions in his book, Teach Like a Champion.
Lemov suggests that teachers who have high expectations use simple positive language to express their appreciation of what a learner has done and to express their expectation that he or she will now complete the task. For example: “You’re almost there. Can you find the last piece?”
Lemov says that teachers who have high expectations “Stretch it”. In other words, a sequence of learning does not end with a right answer; these teachers reward right answers with follow-up questions that extend knowledge and test for reliability.
In this together
It is important to remember ‘we are all in this together’. Therefore, as a collective, we are tasked with making sure high expectations are met. With that in mind you might consider these questions:
What do high expectations look like in my class?
What do high expectations look like around the campus?
What do high expectations look like when teachers and learners talk?
Finally, for high expectations to have impact and value, learners need to know what they are and why they exist. The Big Welcome week is the perfect opportunity to do this. However, just doing this during the early stages won’t automatically make us world beaters.
Ensure high expectations are a relentless routine.
Dusek, J. B., & Gail, J. (1983). The bases of teacher expectations: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(3), 327–346.
Lemov, Doug, 1967-. (2015). Teach like a champion 2.0 : 62 techniques that put students on the path to college. San Francisco :Jossey-Bass,
Rosenthal, R. & Jacobson, L. Urban Rev (1968) 3: 16. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02322211