The Power Of Encouragement

 

A simple word of timely encouragement can change the direction of a student’s life. 

It’s all too easily forgotten in our daily teaching routines. But in reality, students may forget much (if not all) of what you taught them but they will never forget true words of encouragement.

 

All teachers were once students. I remember being 15 and struggling with many of my school subjects. The one that troubled me the most was English. I loved the subject but in my 3^rd year exams, I seriously underperformed. The next thing I knew school resumed after the holidays and I found myself dropped into a lower-level class. I looked around at my peers, many of them didn’t bother bringing pens or books to school, and I was dumbfounded. Was this the level I was now stuck at? I resolved to at least give it a try at higher level, though I was slightly intimidated given my new standing. So I made my way to the higher level classroom and almost immediately was called outside the room to talk with the lead teacher. She recommended that I stay at the lower level and that her classroom was already full of students who got higher exam grades than I did. She closed the door and I resolved to give it one more shot with another higher level class down the hall. Admittedly somewhat timid, I approached the teacher’s desk and asked if I could be let into her class. She assented and let me sit at the back. I felt the hot relief and promised to seize the opportunity given to me. 

 

A few months later we had a writing assignment based on a simple prompt. It’s hard to recall exactly what I wrote about, but it was painstakingly poured over and from the heart. The day for feedback came and my essay wasn’t given back with all of the others. Instead, I was told to wait behind until the end of class. Everyone left the room and the teacher turned to me. “What you wrote moved me to tears”, she said. “It’s one of the best pieces I’ve read as a teacher and I think you have a lot of ability as a writer.” I was stunned, I’d never gotten such encouraging words. It’s no understatement to say that those 5 minutes after class on some random Thursday changed the direction of my life. It gave me a belief in myself, a belief in the way I could write, and more than anything it pushed me forward. 

 

Many times during the following years when insecurities resurfaced I returned back to that moment. It aided my belief that I could go to university and study academic subjects. I did those things and the 15-year-old wondering if he could make it into a higher level classroom won the university short story of the year, completed a BA in English and Philosophy and later became a teacher of English abroad and online.

 

I tell this story because at the heart of it was a teacher who knew when to encourage her students. Encouragement is not a nicety; it’s not the same as a “good job” or “good effort”.

Encouragement is just how it is written; it means to instil courage. It is to back someone who doesn’t fully back themselves. Encouragement is not for those who are full of themselves or talk too much. Encouragement is for the listeners... those who are willing to venture out and fail and learn from their errors. 

 

Teachers are in a prime position of authority and able to genuinely encourage deserving students. All too often students are starving for an encouraging word. Is it any wonder that sports become an all-consuming endeavour at such young ages? Because here encouragement is recurrent and obvious. It is given for effort exhausted and students will just about break their backs in pursuit of it. When you can see a student who is striving upward, despite stumbling on the way, that is a student who should be encouraged. 

 

The ancient eastern line (from Confucius) has staying power: “The man who says he can, and the man who says he cannot... are both correct.”

If students are never encouraged when they show signs of competence or work ethic there is a grave risk that they will give up. Only those in authority can pitch in and say: “You can do this... it’s difficult, and you will struggle... but you can do it, and in the end, you will be glad you did.” The alternative is weak moralizing, or even worse, underestimating the tenacity of young minds. 

 

The capacity of a young person isn’t known until it is tested. If you make things easy or give patronizing excuses, then you put a ceiling on this capacity. On the other hand, if you instil courage... if you have the foresight and intuition to recognise when a student needs a push... then you have succeeded in your job as an educator. Such timely encouragement is one of the few things with an inestimable staying power.