Faith to face: every student can succeed | Dr. Abir Abed | TEDxWeizmannInstitute

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
Dr. Abir Abed’s presentation’s title is “Faith to face: every student can succeed”. She asserts that passionate teachers have great influence on their students. This influence will be greater if they truly believe that students want to succeed and can succeed. She will talk about three guidelines that she knows give good results, and that she practices every time she teaches.

I have a confession to make.

But first, I want you to make
a little confession to me.

How many of you are doing
what you really love in life?

Just raise your hand please.

(Audience giggles)

OK, thank you.

My confession is this:

In my worst dream,
I didn't imagine being a teacher.

Yet, I am doing
what I love in life: I teach.

My name is Abir, Dr. Abir Abed.

I would like to tell you my story
and how this dramatic change occurred.

25 years ago I graduated from the Chemical
Engineering Faculty in the Technion,

Israel Institute of Technology.

I started searching for a job.
No suitable job was found.

So, as a result of lack of choices,

I started teaching at Al Galil
highschool in Nazareth,

because I wanted to make a living,
and because I had no other choice.

Now I have to tell you
about my special Al Galil highschool.

Al Galil highschool is the only
non-selective school in Nazareth,

the biggest Arab city in North of Israel.

It's a mixed Arab highschool.
Most of its students are girls.

The vast majority are
medium academic achievers

and they arrive from families
with low socio-economic status.

So, I would like you to come back with me
25 years ago to my first day in school.

Deep inside I was very nervous.

I had the feeling
that I shouldn't be there.

And the first thought that crossed my mind
while entering the school yard was,

"give up and go home."

My first lesson was one big trauma.

I walked into the classroom;

instead of introducing myself
and get to know the students

I stood near the blackboard,
behind the teacher's desk

as if it would protect me
from student's staring eyes,

I hold the paper of notes in one hand
and the white chalk in the other

and I began teaching
in a low trembling voice.

It was a one-person show.
I felt terrible and tried to fake it.

But it took the students
just a few minutes

to figure out my inconvenience

and the whole class
turned into one big mess.

I felt helpless.
I simply didn't know what to do.

At the end of the day,
I was very depressed, very exhausted,

and I knew that I had two choices,
and that I have to make a decision.

The first and easiest one is just to quit.

I don't want to be a teacher,
I never wanted, that's it. Period.

The second one was
to accept the challenge and stay.

As you can figure out,
the second one was made.

I decided to choose
a different story for my life

and for my students' lives.

I decided to be a teacher.

I decided to be a chemistry teacher.

I decided to be the chemistry teacher.

One may wonder, "Why? Why did you stay?"

Well, I believe it relates to the way
I was raised by my parents.

I was born to a poor family.

My dad was a baker,
and my mom was a housekeeper.

And one salary was expected
to support ten persons.

We were six brothers and two sisters.

But despite all financial difficulties,

my parents always encouraged us
to learn and get higher education.

My father used to say:

"Higher education will assure you
a respectful life with a good salary."

So, when I faced those students
in the class, despite the whole mess,

I found myself identifying with them.

I am familiar with the place
they come from.

So, I could understand
why they act the way they do.

Why should they listen to a stranger
speaking a strange language?

Chemistry language.

The result was clear to me.

Students will choose the easiest way,

they will give up learning,
paving the way out of school.

I was a parent myself at that time.

And I thought to myself,
"I don't want my own kids

to have such an experience
that may lead them to think,

just to think, to give up learning."

And I felt a great responsibility.
I perceived it as my own mission.

I believe that we are all
driven according to our beliefs,

and I believe from the bottom of my heart
that every student wants to succeed,

and every student can succeed,

and I knew I was ready
to do my best so they can succeed.

But how?

How do you encourage students
to participate and engage?

At that time, I really didn't know
how to do that as I do today.

Therefore, I knew that I have
to get my teaching certificate.

After that I continued
and got my Master degree,

as well as my PhD
in science teaching and technology.

And after 25 years
of experience and learning,

I've come up with three guidelines
which I know they give good results,

therefore, I practice every time I teach.

The first one is:

Students learn best when they are
in control of their learning.

Real learning requires doing,
not only listening or observing.

As Confucius said,

"Tell me, and I will forget,
show me, and I may remember;

involve me, and I will understand."

We have all been students
listening to lectures.

We have watched slides
or videos and wondered

how could we recall it
in some future exam?

So, I would suggest to involve
your students in the learning process

so they won't have to recall
knowledge but construct it.

This requires shifting the focus
from the teacher to the student,

and the best way to do that is team work.

Two heads are better than one.

Students will be involved
in generating questions,

in discussing,
and in arriving at conclusions.

Involvement within team work
makes learning meaningful

and prepares students to necessary skills
needed in future work.

Such as, good interpersonal
communication skills.

Yet, what do we find in almost
every public school and university?

Teachers start talking, talking,
and keep talking while students listen.

We call this lecture.

Are you familiar with saying such as:
"If you don't listen you won't learn?

And I shall repeat it so those
who didn't understand, please listen"?

I'm sure you are.

Well, these sayings
educate students to be passive.

And I remind, to achieve
real learning and real involvement

students mustn't be talked down to
but mainly listened to,

so they could express themselves
freely and without fear.

So, the second guideline is:
teachers should listen to their students.

Teachers should listen,
and students should speak.

"Listen" is one of the essential
key words for good teaching.

Once students realize that their ideas
and their questions are legitimate

and listened to, they tend
to invest themselves in learning.

The third guideline is:

make your lesson authentic
and relevant to students' lives.

Instead of telling them what are we going
to learn today, tell them why.

Why it's important that we learn it?

For example, I can open a lesson saying:

"Today we are going to learn about the
electrons configuration in the orbitals

and what happens when light
interacts with material."

Will this make you feel
that you really want to know

how electrons configure in the orbitals?

Do you even understand what it means?

Who cares?

An inspiring teacher
will start the same lesson asking:

"Do you know what gives fireworks
their characteristic colors?

And what gives fruit and vegetables
their characteristic colors?

Why cucumber is green? Why tomato is red?"

Totally different, right?

"Now, do you want to know the answers?

So, you have to learn about the electrons
configuration in the orbitals, etc."

Learning is at its best
when it occurs in an authentic context.

Good teaching is about having
chemistry with your students.

It's about being human, believing in
students' capability to succeed

and being professional at all times.

How exciting it is when a former student
tells you "that chemistry turned out to be

an interesting subject for me
after I almost hated it.

My reluctance turned into curiosity
and my fears of failing into challenge."

And another one says, that her dream,
her dream is to become a chemistry teacher

and to teach the same way you do.

Results talk for themselves.

My students are among the top decile
in terms of achievement

in matriculation examination
set by the government

and taken at the end of the highschool.

I had so many classes that were too
crowded and too problematic that I cried.

I wondered, how am I going to lead
them in ten months to excel

the final exam set by the government?

And it was difficult.

If I hadn't the passion to teach and
hadn't the faith, failure was guaranteed.

Passionate teachers have
great influence on their students.

This influence will be greater
if they truly believe

that every student wants to succeed,
and every student can succeed.

As a chemistry teacher, I love formulas.

So, I wrote here the formula
for guaranteed success.

S is equal to P times B squared.

S stands for success,
P stands for passion for teaching,

and B stands for believe;
you've got to believe in two things.

Students want to succeed,
and students can succeed.

And if all of us believe in our kids'
capability to succeed, they will.

You know why?

Because we tend to get what we expect.

Good teaching is as much about
passion as it is about reason.

I believe that every student has
the right to get the best teacher ever.

I want my own kids to be taught
by such a teacher. Don't you?

So, we all need to listen more
to our students, our kids,

provide them a warm, supportive
environment and doing it with love.

Believe me, they will appreciate it

and reciprocate by
participating and respecting.

Inspiring teachers teach,

not because they need to make a living
and have no other choice

but because they choose to do it with
great love everyday they arrive to class.

Thank you.

(Applause)