The Skillful Teacher

A Final Thought
Although it is reasonable for us to strive to be credible and authen-
tic in equal measure, it is unreasonable for us to expect ourselves
ever to attain some sort of perfect balance between these two fea-
tures. In stressing credibility we will likely reassure some students
with our expertise, experience, rationale, and conviction and intim-
idate others who find these qualities initially overwhelming. In
stressing authenticity we will probably decrease the anxieties of stu-
dents who are fearful of teachers’ arbitrary exercise of authority but
raise concerns amongst those who feel they are not going to learn
What Students Value in Teachers
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HE
S
KILLFUL
T
EACHER
anything worthwhile. So, while it is important to pay attention to
these two clusters of characteristics, you have to realize that you will
never be a perfect embodiment of them for all the students with
whom you deal. Using various classroom research instruments, such
as those discussed in the previous chapter, will help you chart your
course in this regard and stop you from veering too wildly in one
direction or the other. As with so many matters in my own teach-
ing, it is the Critical Incident Questionnaire that I depend on to
provide me with the information I need to check out the degree
to which students see me as embodying aspects of these two char-
acteristics. Without regular anonymous data from students, it is
extremely difficult to judge how far they see these two important
elements as present in your teaching.
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5
I
n this chapter I shift the focus from teaching to learning, as I
explore students’ emotional responses to the experience of being
in college. In Critical Incident Questionnaires, and in research on
how students experience college (Astin, 1997; Baxter Magolda,
1992; Evans, Forney, and Guido-Di Brito, 1998; King and Kitch-
ener, 1994; Marton, Hounsell, and Entwistle, 1997; Pascarella and 
Terenzini, 1991; Perry, 1999; Weinstein, Palmer, and Hanson,
1995), learning is rarely spoken of in an emotionally denuded way.
Developing understanding, assimilating knowledge, acquiring skills,
exploring new perspectives, and thinking critically are activities
that prompt strong feelings. This holds true across racial and gen-
der differences as is evident in studies of African American, 
Hispanic, and Asian students (Treisman, 1992; Steele, 1995;
Cross, Strauss, and Fhagen-Smith, 1999; Gardella, Candales, and
Ricardo-Rivera, 2005), as well as work done on women’s ways of
knowing (Belenkey, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule, 1986; 
Goldberger, Tarule, Clinchy, and Belenky, 1996). Students talk
about the exhilaration of intellectual stimulation, the anxiety of
personal change, the pleasurable rush of self-confidence that comes
from successful learning and the shame of public humiliation that
accompanies what they see as failure.
When students use the jargon of intellectual development to
describe their learning journey, they nearly always imbue it with