Would you discuss openly and directly some sensitive issue with your students, for example, those concerning some personal situations or those connected with what's happening at your school or university, for example?
This is a question of trust and understanding without which it is hard to imagine the process of education and everything that surrounds it to be beneficial and rewarding for all those involved.
Something that triggered my thoughts about this question is a number of situations from quite amusing to tragic that serve as evidence of trustworthy relations between students and teachers that I witness and have experience of on a daily basis.
An amusing situation I want to describe is that a couple of days ago we had a library training session in the building of the university we had not previously had classes in. Together with one of my peers we were rushing around campus, trying to figure out where to go (we were already about 10 minutes late) when - luck has it! - we ran in one of our teachers who learned that other students before us had had a problem finding where to go, went out to meet those who were late to give them directions! Later the same day we received an email from him saying that the next day he would be waiting for those who needed to get to the same place the next day at a room called A Common Room (this is a room in the School of Education where students can meet during breaks or after classes for whatever purpose; actually, it is used as a dining room and as study groups meeting point).
Another example is not amusing but quite common. If you have a question about something you didn't think about during the class or about something you are working on right now, for example, it is perfectly all right to send an email to the teacher and/or set an appointment with her/him to discuss it together. I've had experience of both and can only say a word of praise to the teacher for his advice and assistance.
The next example concerns everybody at the University of Leeds and has to do with the suggested proposal of a several dozen million budget cut in the next several years. Programs, students, teachers, services - everybody will be affected. So, now the university student population, the faculty and administration are going through the process of negotiating the conditions of these cuts so that their negative influence on all the involved could be minimised. To this end, last week two of the university's vice-chancellors had a meeting with the students to explain the reasons for the cuts and try to find common understanding of the situation. On their part, students are now running a campaign against the proposed measures because, without doubt, they want to receive quality education to be competitive on the job market. It has been initiated by students themselves and can affect the decision that will be made by the university.
I have more examples but I think I've made my point clear that is much of the success in education depends on the relations of those involved. Again, as in some other situations I've described the cultural factor makes a contribution to how things are done, but we can learn from each other and prosper on it, can't we?
