The importance of attention to students in education

Teacher explains how she focuses on each student

Anne-Marie Lafond, a high school French teacher, experienced a rather remarkable event when she was a student. A classmate she considered her big brother kept jokingly counting down the days. She never understood until the principal came to tell them that he had taken his own life. She then promised herself that never again would she not pay attention to others.

Even with a class of 36 students, she forces herself daily to greet each one with a smile and look them in the eye. It's an attitude that might seem trivial, but it demonstrates genuine caring.

In fact, she makes it explicit to her class from day one why she does this. In addition, she uses communication to keep her class calm when she is in lecture period. This method is less about repression and more about expressing the teacher's needs in relation to her teaching. She also instills this type of communication in her students. Finally, to help them focus during class, she does periods of mindfulness meditation.

For her, pedagogical innovation is not just about other techniques or technology in the classroom but about a more caring relationship with others that takes into account the realities of each person.

Time: 15 minutes