The Teaching Persona: Let’s get weird.

Drew Campbell
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

Teachers rarely talk about this with each other, and I’m having difficulty finding a proper way to describe the role of a teacher’s persona in the classroom. But allow me to take a stab at it. As I’ve said before, I think a teacher’s persona (the actual human presence of the teacher) is an underrated element in what makes for effective teaching.

Let me put it this way: The more a teacher’s personality is integrated into the activities of the classroom, the better the class will be. This means that the class will be as idiosyncratic and distinct as the teacher is. And the more distinct, the better. This does not mean abandoning best practices or common techniques. It also doesn’t mean creating a classroom-sized cult of personality. It does mean that teaching and learning are human endeavors, and while any community can adapt and change over time, a group of people doesn’t share a brain or soul. All learning happens on an individual level. A class of students never learns anything. And here’s the thing about human endeavors: they are messy and weird.

Several years ago, a couple of my fellow English teachers and I decided to take a professional day and go observe some teachers at the elite boys school across town. The two of them were alums and thought it would be enlightening to see some of their old legendary teachers at work. My colleague Chris and I went to watch Yogi teach a couple of classes. Yogi (They call him Yogi) has a decades-long reputation of being an amazing teacher. Yogi was a friend (I call him Kemmer), but I had never watched him teach. As we sat in the back of Yogi’s class, I was instantly enamored with his off-kilter, almost goofy style of relating to his students. He was wise, funny, and engaging. He snorted when he laughed. He wrote wildly on the board. He took students’ comments really seriously. He would pause after a student’s remark and literally say “wow…” and mean it. He was teaching with all of his heart, and it was working.

I wrote a quick note and slid it over for Chris to read. It said “Get weirder.” I didn’t come away from that day of observations with any new techniques or classroom management strategies. I learned something a little larger that. Teaching is, first and foremost, a relational pursuit.

Lord, forgive me when I forget this.

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