Is It Possible to Inspire Anyone?

Antonio Evaristo Morales-Pita, PhD

• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781647503987
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Consulenza nella didattica

Readable, compelling and totally persuasive, the ideas in this book have the potential to transform the ways readers approach, establish and achieve goals in a sustainable way. The book Is It Possible to Inspire Anyone? is a must read especially for young, middle-age and senior adults. Morales-Pita deciphers the conditions to inspire and to be inspired – generally speaking and especially in the classroom and at home. At the end of every chapter, there is a small "food for thought" paragraph inviting the readers – on the basis of the chapter they had just finished reading – to meditate and to prepare themselves for the following chapter. The importance of tenacity and passion to succeed in whatever undertakings they pursue becomes more evident as the readers advance in the book. This self-help memoir differs from most self-help books in that it requires the relationship of the readers not only in one issue that they are trying to cope with, but also necessarily in connections with other people. In an inspirational context, "It takes two to tango."

Second Part
Examples of Inspiration in the
Classroom and at Home

Chapter III
How to Inspire Students to
Accomplish Their Educational Goals?

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn…and change.”

– Carl Rogers

Influential Psychologist

“The things taught in schools and colleges are not an education, but the means to an education.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendental Essayist

To study is the best way to break the cycle of poverty, to expand one’s understanding of the world, and to become a better and more proficient human being. The process of learning requires two sets of agents who complement each other: instructors on one hand, and students on the other hand.

An Inspiring Educator

To be an inspiring educator is not an easy task. I had many instructors in primary, middle school, high school, universities, research institutes, and language institutes. It is not easy to determine how many of them imparted their knowledge to me, but the number of fingers on my right hand is more than enough to count those who have impacted my life: these were the truly inspiring educators. Although students should systematically study regardless of the quality of their instructors, it certainly helps to be taught by a good educator.

Based on my personal experience in classrooms both as a student and an instructor, I can enumerate the characteristics that define an inspiring educator who must be able to:

a)

attract and maintain the attention and respect of students at all times;

b)

deliver an understandable lecture in an organized manner and using both an inductive (going from the particular to the general) approach and a deductive (going from the general to the particular) approach;

c)

be knowledgeable in the subject matter and its practical application;

d)

include theoretical examples as part of the class;

e)

try to reach every student regardless of different educational backgrounds – this especially applies to freshmen;

f)

read the students’ eyes to find out whether they are following the explanations;

g)

ask questions that will directly or indirectly show that the average student is following the main points of the lecture;

h)

welcome questions as a way to interact with the students, realizing that no question is silly if it is honestly asked;

i)

care about the students and make sure that they really understand the subject matter;

j)

encourage perfect attendance by delivering interesting and useful lectures in class as well as factoring attendance into the grade for the course;

k)

develop the analytical and cognitive skills of the students;

l)

teach students to think outside the box by using innovative approaches to problems;

m)

prepare students to master theory to solve problems they will later encounter in their professional lives;

n)

recognize one’s own faults or mistakes, because students generally expect their instructors to be human beings, not infallible teaching machines who know all the answers;

o)

learning for its own sake over studying to get a grade. Make it clear to students that their main function in the class is to learn, not only to pass the course, and that if they study to learn, they will definitely pass the exams, but if they study only to pass the exams, they will soon forget what they have studied;

p)

inspire students to attempt to achieve the highest possible grades as a way to learn;

q)

be exacting, but add a human touch; demonstrate flexibility within pedagogical principles;

r)

require students to continue to study beyond the walls of the classroom;

s)

explain to students that the work of the instructor cannot substitute for the effort and hard work that students themselves must do to develop their intelligence and skill level, and that the real learning process takes place when students are able to solve the problems assigned by the instructor on their own;

t)

emphasize in the syllabus and guidelines on grading that students should follow the three phases of learning: studying the material before class, attending class as well as actively participating in class discussions, and studying the material after class;

u)

be fair, impartial, and transparent in the evaluation process, allowing students to know why they lost points and how to avoid the same mistake from occurring again.

As can be seen, it is very hard to be an inspirational educator who will be remembered and well thought of after the course is over. In a nutshell, an inspirational educator is one who holds the attention of his or her students, makes the class enjoyable and useful, instills in the students the need to do their best both in and out of the class, and emphasizes learning the subject over passing the course. It is the educator who paves the way for the making of future scientists. It is the instructor who – while engaged in research work, publishing papers, and participating in conferences and seminars – makes teaching his priority. He sees a part of himself in his or her students’ papers, theses, and dissertations.

Now I will discuss the other part of the inspirational equation, i.e., the student who is open to inspiration.

A Student Who is Able to Be Inspired

Is it easy to inspire students, helping them develop their learning skills, discipline, and respect for instructors and peers? The answer is, emphatically, no. A student is also a family member and is enrolled in several other courses during a quarter or a semester. A student may have personal and health problems, may be a procrastinator, or may turn in homework with spelling and grammatical mistakes.

The best students are usually found among those who get As and Bs in the exams and on their papers, but sometimes an inspiring educator can help transform a struggling student into an outstanding one.

The best student is that individual who goes to class to learn, gets a good grade (not necessarily an ‘A’), and is able to apply his or her knowledge to real-life problems as a professional.

What are the characteristics of students who want to be inspired and can even inspire their instructors?

Such students must:

• punctually attend at least 90% of the class sessions, only taking absences when they have a legitimate reason;
• learn the subject matter in the three required phases (before, during, and after class);
• be able to allocate their study time among all their courses, making the tougher ones a priority but giving the easier ones sufficient attention as well;
• study and reason outside the box;
• read newspapers and articles in specialized journals, listen to T.V. news broadcasts and programs intended to raise the viewer’s intellectual level, and bring interesting questions to the classroom;
• participate in class by asking and answering questions;
• deliver papers and assignments on time;
• score ≥ 80% in every exam or category on which they are graded.

The above characteristics apply to students committed to learning and most likely to be impacted by inspirational instructors. It is not often that an instructor will teach a section with more than 40% of the students who possess the aforementioned characteristics, but when this favorable scenario coincides with an inspirational instructor, the results may be exceptionally good.

During the 2008 fall quarter at DePaul University, I had an INT-150 section of students who met these conditions. Every class was like an adventure in which students and the instructor became a cohesive body solely interested in learning, contributing to the individual and collective learning process, asking interesting questions beyond the limits of the textbook, and giving top-quality presentations and papers. I still maintain contact with some of these students with whom I have also worked on joint research projects.

Unfortunately, sometimes one finds students whose only purpose is to pass a course without making the requisite effort, missing classes and assignments and consequently getting poor scores on exams. These students are very hard to inspire because their interests do not coincide with those of the instructor.

The aforementioned considerations lead us to conclude that in order to be inspired, students must:

1)

be interested in learning and not only in passing the course;

2)

understand the need to be inspired which may arise from their vocational aspirations, career orientations, or financial interests;

3)

have good study habits or be willing to improve them by following the advice of the instructor;

4)

understand that education is an investment made by students, their families, and/or governments, and that students should strive to be at the top of the class to justify the resources invested in them;

5)

accept academic challenges as opportunities for growth, not as hindrances.

Food for Thought

Invitation to meditate:

1. In your opinion, which are the main conclusions of this chapter?
2. Have you had any similar inspirational experience in a classroom?

History and literature show that parents exert a strong influence on the academic development of their children. Having gotten acquainted with the inspirational process that occurs between students and instructors, let us explore the foundations for education – the home and the parents. The next chapter is devoted to parents and their children.

Chapter IV
How to Inspire Parents to Become
Role Models in Education for Their Children?

“The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.”

– John Lubbock,

English Banker, Politician, Biologist, and Archeologist

While in Seville last summer, I was listening to a Televisión Española broadcast describing Mario Vargas Llosa’s way of writing, and heard the following line: “Every personal story is a family story.” This was one of the most succinct and clear expressions I have ever heard that refers to the powerful influence that parents and family environments exert on human beings. Whenever one reads or hears the story of a celebrity in whatever context, the family influence pops up right away as a source inspiration.

Children mimic their parents’ behaviors, especially if there is a direct correspondence between words and deeds. Parents who never smoke and advise their offspring about the harm of smoking to health would most likely foster non-smokers. Parents who are positively disposed toward education, who instill in their children the need to learn, the joy of acquiring knowledge, and the honor of being at the head of the class, who support their children’s studies, encourage and demand good academic results according to their children’s capabilities, and who support their actions with words of advice and acknowledgment of progress will become important role models in the education of their children. From observations over my 45-year career as a teacher, oftentimes good students are individuals whose parents (or at least one parent) were role models in their education.

What does it mean to become a role model in the education of a child and why is this critically important? If parents become role models in the education of their children, they will remain a source of inspiration that outlasts their own lives. Respect and admiration will strengthen the children’s love for their parents and will deter the children from unacceptable social behavior. Children will be proud to follow in their parents’ footsteps and will likely do their best not to embarrass or shame their parents by bad behavior.

To ascend on the educational ladder implies sacrifice, tenacity, and the courage to accept and to overcome challenges. Consequently, becoming role models in their children’s education will also help parents raise good citizens.

The ideal situation would be for both the father and the mother to become role models in the education for their children. If they are able to maintain a stable marriage, their influence will be even greater. Nonetheless, love between a man and a woman may last forever or be of limited duration. Although oftentimes divorce engenders acrimonious relations between t...