role of models in education

The power of role models in education: fostering integrity and respect 

• Better future , Resources
• Madrid , Spain

Virtus College, The British Sixth Form

• February 9, 2024

In education, the significance of role models is often understated. A school is not just an institution for academic learning; it’s a vibrant community where every individual, from teachers to catering workers, plays a pivotal role in shaping the environment. At the heart of this community lies a fundamental truth: everyone is a role model.

What is a role model in education?

The concept of role modelling in schools extends beyond the conventional teacher-student dynamic. It encompasses every interaction within the school premises.

Teachers, who are traditionally seen as the primary role models, carry the responsibility of punctuality and dedication to their lessons. Their commitment sets a standard for students, subtly instilling the values and life skills of time management and responsibility.

Who are the role models in a school?

Role modelling isn’t confined to the classroom. The way the whole staff interact with students, offering politeness and kindness, contributes to a nurturing and respectful atmosphere. Such interactions, though seemingly small, play a crucial role in teaching students the importance of courtesy and respect in everyday life.

Older students, too, are integral role models for their younger peers. Their attitudes, behaviours, and even their approach to learning and school life set an example. This aspect is particularly important as students often relate more closely to their peers. The way older students navigate their academic and social lives can significantly influence the attitudes and choices of younger students.

The school’s environment also extends respect and recognition to those who work behind the scenes, like cleaners and administrative staff. Teaching students to be respectful to everyone, without exception, fosters a culture of inclusivity and appreciation for all contributions, regardless of the role.

Psychological studies suggest that individuals are, to a large extent, a product of their environment and the people they spend the most time with. In the context of a school, this means that every interaction, every observed behaviour, and every expressed attitude has the potential to influence. Understanding this interconnectedness is crucial in realising that each one of us, knowingly or unknowingly, is a role model to others.

Benefits of role models in students’ education

At the core of effective role modelling lies integrity. It’s about aligning actions with words, demonstrating the values we advocate. This alignment is critical in education where young minds are constantly observing and learning from those around them:

• Influence on behaviour and attitude: Role models significantly influence the behaviour and attitudes of students. When students see positive behaviours and attitudes modelled by their teachers and peers, they are more likely to emulate these traits. This modelling can lead to a more positive school culture and better student behaviour both in and out of the classroom.
• Academic motivation and performance: Role models can inspire students to strive for academic excellence. Teachers who are passionate about their subjects can ignite a similar passion in their students, leading to enhanced engagement and performance. Additionally, seeing older students or alumni succeed can motivate younger students to work harder and aim higher.
• Development of social and emotional skills: Effective role models help students develop essential social and emotional skills such as empathy, resilience, and effective communication. By observing and interacting with role models who demonstrate these skills, students learn how to navigate social situations and build healthy relationships.
• Reinforcement of values and ethics: Role models play a vital role in reinforcing values and ethics in students. Educators who demonstrate integrity, respect, and fairness not only teach these values but also show students how to live them out in real-life situations.
• Building confidence and self-esteem: When students see role models who they can identify with overcoming challenges and achieving success, it can boost their confidence and encourage them to overcome their own obstacles.
• Encouraging lifelong learning: Role models who are lifelong learners inspire students to value education beyond the classroom. They show that learning is a continuous process and encourage curiosity and exploration.

Role models at Virtus, The British Sixth Form College

Virtus, The British Sixth Form College, stands as a testament to the importance of role modelling in education. At Virtus, every member of the community, from staff to students, is seen as a role model. The school emphasises not just academic excellence but also the development of character and integrity.

Teachers at Virtus are more than educators; they are mentors who exemplify punctuality, dedication, and a passion for their subjects. Their commitment goes beyond the syllabus, inspiring students to pursue excellence in all facets of life.

Older students at Virtus are encouraged to lead by example, understanding their influence on their younger peers. They are guided to be mindful of their actions, aware that they are setting standards for the school’s culture.

Moreover, the respect for all staff, including those who work behind the scenes, is ingrained in the ethos of Virtus. This approach nurtures an environment of mutual respect and appreciation, crucial for holistic development.

In recognising and embracing our role as influencers at Virtus, we foster a culture of integrity, respect, and continuous improvement, preparing students not just for academic success, but for life.

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Leading by Example: Role Models in Education

Imagine a world where students are inspired not just by what they are taught, but by who teaches them. A world where educators serve as beacons of inspiration, leading by example and shaping the minds and hearts of the next generation.

In this world, role models in education play a pivotal role in the growth and development of students. But what does it mean to be an effective role model? How does the presence of a role model impact a student's educational journey? And how can teachers cultivate a culture of role modeling in schools?

Step into the realm of leading by example, where the answers to these questions await.

Key Takeaways

• Role models in education provide real-life examples of success and inspiration, motivating students to achieve their goals.
• Effective role models possess qualities such as empathy, integrity, and a growth mindset, fostering trust and admiration in students.
• Role models have a significant impact on student development, influencing positive behavior, academic performance, and personal growth.
• Teachers can lead by example by maintaining professionalism in actions and appearance, creating a culture of role modeling in schools through mentor relationships and exposure to diverse role models.

Importance of Role Models in Education

Role models play a crucial role in education by providing students with real-life examples of success and inspiration. The impact they have on student motivation is immense. When students see someone who has achieved their goals and overcome obstacles, it gives them the belief that they can do the same.

Role models show students that hard work, determination, and perseverance can lead to success. This motivation can be the driving force behind a student's desire to excel in their studies and reach their full potential.

In addition to motivating students, role models also play a significant role in building self-confidence. Seeing someone they admire and respect achieve their goals can give students the confidence to believe in themselves and their abilities. Role models serve as a reminder that success is attainable and that they too can accomplish great things.

Qualities of Effective Role Models

Effective role models possess specific qualities that make them influential and inspiring figures in the lives of students. Here are some key qualities that contribute to their effectiveness:

• Empathy : Effective role models have the ability to understand and share the feelings of their students. They're compassionate and supportive, providing a safe and nurturing environment for growth and development.
• Integrity : Role models with integrity act in alignment with their values and principles. They demonstrate honesty, fairness, and ethical behavior, serving as a moral compass for their students.
• Growth mindset : Effective role models embrace a growth mindset, believing that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and perseverance. They encourage their students to embrace challenges, learn from failures, and continuously strive for improvement.

These qualities foster trust, respect, and admiration in students, making them more likely to emulate the behavior and values of their role models. By embodying these qualities, effective role models inspire and empower their students to reach their full potential.

Impact of Role Models on Student Development

Role models have a significant influence on student growth, inspiring them to adopt positive behavior and attitudes. By observing the actions and values of role models, students are motivated to strive for excellence and make responsible choices.

Moreover, role models can also play a crucial role in enhancing students' academic performance by instilling a strong work ethic and a passion for learning.

Influence on Student Growth

Teachers who serve as positive role models have a significant impact on the growth and development of their students. They've the power to influence student motivation, inspiring them to strive for excellence and reach their full potential. By setting high expectations and demonstrating a strong work ethic, role model teachers show students the importance of hard work and dedication.

They also play a crucial role in fostering personal growth by providing guidance and support. Through their actions and behaviors, these teachers teach students valuable life skills such as resilience, perseverance, and integrity. Moreover, they serve as a source of inspiration, showing students that with determination and a positive mindset, they can overcome obstacles and achieve success in their academic and personal lives.

Inspiring Positive Behavior

As students observe their teachers' behavior and actions, they're inspired to adopt positive behaviors themselves, leading to their overall development and growth.

Teachers play a crucial role in inspiring motivation and fostering self-confidence in their students. When students witness their teachers displaying positive behaviors such as kindness, respect, and perseverance, it encourages them to follow suit.

By consistently demonstrating these qualities, teachers become role models who inspire their students to strive for excellence and make positive choices.

Moreover, teachers who show belief in their students' abilities instill a sense of self-confidence in them. This confidence empowers students to believe in themselves, take risks, and overcome challenges.

Ultimately, the influence of positive role models in education goes beyond academic development, shaping students into well-rounded individuals who are motivated, confident, and equipped to succeed in life.

Enhancing Academic Performance

Students who have positive role models in their education experience enhanced academic performance and overall personal development. Role models can have a significant impact on student motivation and success. Here are three ways in which role models enhance academic performance:

• Setting high expectations : Positive role models, such as teachers or mentors, inspire and challenge students to strive for excellence. By demonstrating their own dedication and passion for learning, role models encourage students to set high expectations for themselves.
• Providing guidance and support : Role models offer guidance and support to students, helping them navigate academic challenges. Their presence and involvement in a student's education can significantly impact their academic performance.
• Involving parents : Role models also play a crucial role in engaging parents in their child's education. When parents see the positive effects of role models on their child's academic performance, they're more likely to become actively involved in their education.

Strategies for Teachers to Lead by Example

To be an effective role model in education, there are several strategies teachers can employ.

First, maintaining a professional dress code sets a positive example for students and shows them the importance of presenting oneself in a professional manner.

Additionally, demonstrating professionalism in actions, such as being punctual and organized, teaches students the value of responsibility and professionalism.

Teacher Dress Code

Teachers play a crucial role in setting a positive example through their dress code choices. By adhering to a professional dress code, teachers demonstrate their commitment to professionalism and create a respectful learning environment.

Here are three key points to consider when it comes to teacher dress code:

• Appropriate attire : Teachers should dress in a manner that's appropriate for their educational setting. This means avoiding clothing that's too casual or revealing, and opting for clothing that's clean, neat, and modest.
• Role modeling : Teachers serve as role models for their students, and their attire can influence how students perceive and behave in the classroom. Dressing professionally can inspire students to take their own appearance and behavior more seriously.
• School policies : It's important for teachers to familiarize themselves with their school's dress code policies. By following these policies, teachers not only demonstrate respect for their institution, but also contribute to a cohesive and unified school community.

Professionalism in Actions

As teachers set a positive example through their dress code choices, they also have the opportunity to lead by example in their actions, demonstrating professionalism and inspiring students to follow suit.

Professionalism in actions encompasses ethical behavior and high standards of conduct in the classroom. By maintaining a respectful and inclusive learning environment, teachers can promote ethical behavior among their students. This includes treating all students with fairness and respect, actively listening and responding to their needs, and being consistent in their disciplinary approach.

Teachers should also demonstrate punctuality and preparedness, showing students the importance of being responsible and organized. By modeling professionalism in their actions, teachers can instill these valuable traits in their students, preparing them for success in their future endeavors.

Consistent Classroom Expectations

Consistently setting clear expectations in the classroom is essential for teachers to lead by example. By establishing consistent discipline, you create a structured environment where students know what's expected of them. This consistency helps students feel secure and allows them to focus on their learning. It also promotes a positive teacher-student relationship, as students understand that you're fair and consistent in your approach.

To ensure consistent classroom expectations, consider the following strategies:

• Clearly communicate your expectations : Use clear and concise language to outline your expectations for behavior, work completion, and participation.
• Reinforce expectations regularly : Remind students of the expectations consistently and provide positive reinforcement when they meet them.
• Model the behavior you expect : Show students how to meet the expectations by consistently demonstrating them yourself.

Promoting Diversity in Role Models

Promoting diversity in role models is essential for fostering an inclusive and equitable educational environment. Inclusion in representation is key to ensuring that all students feel seen, heard, and valued. By showcasing a diverse range of role models, educators can break stereotypes and challenge societal norms. When students see people who look like them, come from similar backgrounds, or have similar experiences, they're more likely to believe that they too can achieve greatness.

By promoting diversity in role models, we can help students expand their perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of the world around them. When students are exposed to role models from different races, cultures, genders, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds, they learn to appreciate diversity and develop empathy for others. This not only prepares them for the diverse society they'll encounter outside of school, but also helps them become more well-rounded individuals.

Furthermore, promoting diversity in role models encourages students to challenge stereotypes and think critically about societal norms. When students see role models who defy expectations and succeed despite facing adversity, they're inspired to question limitations placed on them by society. This can lead to a greater sense of empowerment and motivation to overcome obstacles.

Creating a Culture of Role Modeling in Schools

By fostering a culture of role modeling in schools, students are provided with opportunities to learn from and be inspired by individuals who exemplify the qualities and values that promote success and personal growth. Creating a supportive environment where role models are celebrated and encouraged can have a profound impact on the development of students.

Encouraging mentor relationships:

Schools can actively promote mentorship programs where older students or community members are paired with younger students. These mentor relationships provide guidance, support, and a positive example for students to follow.

Showcasing diverse role models:

It's important to ensure that students are exposed to a wide range of role models from different backgrounds, cultures, and professions. This diversity helps students understand that success can come in various forms and encourages them to embrace their own unique qualities.

Recognizing and celebrating achievements:

Acknowledging and celebrating the accomplishments of both students and staff members can inspire others to strive for greatness. Recognizing role models within the school community reinforces the value of hard work, dedication, and perseverance.

In conclusion, having effective role models in education can greatly impact student development. Research shows that students who have positive role models are more likely to achieve academic success, develop strong character traits, and make positive life choices.

According to a study conducted by the University of California, students who had a role model in their lives were 52% more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. Therefore, it is crucial for teachers to lead by example and promote diversity in role models to create a culture of role modeling in schools.

The eSoft Editorial Team, a blend of experienced professionals, leaders, and academics, specializes in soft skills, leadership, management, and personal and professional development. Committed to delivering thoroughly researched, high-quality, and reliable content, they abide by strict editorial guidelines ensuring accuracy and currency. Each article crafted is not merely informative but serves as a catalyst for growth, empowering individuals and organizations. As enablers, their trusted insights shape the leaders and organizations of tomorrow.

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25 Ways Teachers Can Be Role Models

Reviewed by Jon Konen, District Superintendent

There are many reasons why students think of teachers as role models. One of the biggest reasons is the desire to become a role model for students to look up to, to learn from, and to remember for the rest of their lives. Everyone has felt the power and lasting presence of an effective teacher, who also had a bigger impact. Whether it’s learning the value of community service, discovering a love for a particular subject, or how to tap the confidence to speak in public, teachers are the ones who light the way for us in this world.

Teachers being role models is not a new concept, and has inspired students to go into this field for ages. If you are thinking about becoming a teacher, good for you! We are here to root you on and help you make the right decision. Your next step would be speaking with schools in your area. Luckily, we have relationships with schools in every state with education programs. Just use the simple search function at the top of this page, or browse the listings below.

Before we start talking about things that make us thing of educators as role models, we are well aware this list is not complete. If you have any additional ideas or inspirational stories to share, we would love to hear from you!

Here are 25 ways of the importance of teachers

1.) Be humble. There is nothing that teaches a child or young adult mature behavior like modeling it yourself. This isn’t just true when you are right. You also have to show your students what it is like to be wrong, and admit it. This is never easy, no matter how old you are. Especially when you are in front of several students who look up to you. And let’s face it, there are some students who aren’t going to feel sorry for you. But that’s life. And you have to show them that right is right, and wrong is wrong – no matter what.

2.) Encourage them to think for themselves. Treat your classroom like a group of individuals, and celebrate their diversity. Create activities and discussions that foster conversations and discovery about who they are, and how they can appreciate the differences between each other. This type of focus from time-to-time will build a stronger bond between your students. Also, an environment of trust will build, which can relax the atmosphere and help students focus more on learning. It’s also important to help students understand the way they learn, and encourage them to explore those parts of themselves as well.

3.) Perform volunteer work. Find a way to incorporate community service into one of your lessons, and discuss how you contribute to the community you live in. Ask your students to tell you ways you could perform community service as a group. Many schools will give students a certain amount of time off if they are doing an activity that falls into this category. See if you can organize a community service event with your class. For example, if you are a music teacher, you can take your class caroling at a retirement home. Or, you can have your class pick up litter on a stretch of road. There are many ways you can instill a sense of pride in giving back among your students.

4.) Show empathy. When we think of teachers as role models, we imagine sympathetic mentors who listen to their students. Sounds simple, right? All you have to do is show that you care? It may sound simple, but we have all had teachers that we didn’t connect with. Students can tell when a teacher is tuned in or tuned out, and disconnected from them. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have all had teachers who went out of their way to show they care about us, and want to see us succeed. We all have different personalities, and you should be authentic. But be mindful that your students are looking up to you as an adult with life experience they don’t have. As they try to figure out how to move into adulthood, make sure they know you’ve got their back.

5.) Point out the positive. Create a culture in your classroom that rewards kind behavior. The importance of teachers is apparent in the link between positive reinforcement and their confidence and behavior. Teach them to be constructive with their criticism, pointing out positives before negative, or suggestions for improvement. Practice with exercises that allows the students to be positive and critical towards each other. This is the kind of respect that debate class exercises can teach children – how to agree to disagree. Teaching children to get in the habit of looking for good in others is never a bad role model for behavior.

6.) Celebrate the arts. Teachers being role models by helping students appreciate the arts isn’t the first thing that comes to people’s minds. But helping children connect with their own inner children by tapping into the arts. Even if you do not teach a creative subject, you can incorporate music, discussions about art, and give students artistic assignments that reflect the curriculum they are learning. Mixing it up every once in a while will keep their minds fresh, and encourage them to look at life a little differently. Many students are obsessed with music, art, literature and other forms of creative expression. Give bonus points for students who pursue an independent art project that goes along with a teaching.

7.) Send a positive note home to their parents twice a year. Showing your students that you appreciate them in a direct way is important. But indirect forms of gratitude can be a boost to their confidence, and model positive behavior. Most parents never expect to get a note in their kid’s bag saying what a pleasure they are to have in class. So why not give your kids a boost and let mom and dad know you care? Every parent knows, we just want our kids to do well and succeed, no matter where they are in life. This will help your relations with them as well. And we have a feeling your students will appreciate any effort you make to let their parents know they’re doing alright.

8.) Fulfill your promises. Hey, remember last fall when you said you would buy the class a turtle if they earned all those stars? Well, it’s been six months since they earned em and school is almost over… Okay, don’t be that teacher. We’re all busy. Even your students. That’s why you need to follow through on your promises when you make them. We don’t want to them to think it’s okay to say one thing, and then completely disregard it. And if you fail to keep a particular promise, be honest about it. Don’t make up an excuse. And try to make up for it. Your students will see how to deal with their own shortcomings, and will respect you more for your honesty.

9.) Dress appropriately. Look, we know how young and hip you still are. No one wants to be uncool. But teachers being role models means remembering you are in a professional environment. And it’s not your job to fit in with the cool kids. It’s your job to stand at the head of the class and foster a sense of mutual respect. After all, you want to model professional behavior for your students from day one. This will help with classroom management issues. Dressing in a professional way will keep students from thinking of you in a less respectful way. This goes for cleanliness and hygiene as well. Just make sure you take your job seriously when you show up. This is not only good to model for your students, but important in the eyes of your principal and other administrators as well.

10.) Stay away from social media with students. Educators as role models on social media is a new and important topic. Do not mix on social media with your students. And be careful what you have out there on your personal accounts. We are all too familiar with the stories of teachers and other professionals doing something unprofessional and getting fired for it. Have a policy to connect with students on the channels that your school sets up for you. Remember, parents are looking at you as well, and know that you are in a role model position with their children. When you post on social media, just realize that your students’ parents could see your words as well. Just be careful.

11.) Encourage physical activity. The importance of teachers extends to the physical fitness of their students. It doesn’t matter if every student is inclined to be physically active. Encouraging physical activity is good for all groups of students. Even if you do not teach a physical education class, you can still talk about physical activities when you lecturing or performing other activities. Even weaving the topic into your lectures or conversations can help plant the seeds in students’ minds that they should look for ways to exercise.

12.) Give lectures about role models. When you are discussing a period in history, or introducing a new subject to your students, find a way to incorporate a hero story into the lesson. For instance, if you are going to talk about French history and the Hundred Years War, you would talk about the bravery of Joan of Arc. Or you could find stories about other unlikely heroes, and those who shaped history. When you do, have your students discuss ways they can be heroes in their own lives. Even if it’s just stepping up in small ways to help others or do things they didn’t think possible.

13.) Have them read Profiles in Courage. When we think of teachers as role models, we think of the classic novels and literature they shared with us. John F. Kennedy’s Nobel Prize winning book chronicles the acts of courage by several figures throughout American history. These characters were brave enough to make tough choices in hard times, putting their country before themselves, and their personal safety. Other books can be great options, such as To Kill A Mockingbird or movies like Good Will Hunting, when you want to give your kids a break, and teach them a lesson in doing the right thing. Being a good role model for kids means showing them how to point their moral compass in the right direction no matter what. The importance of teachers cannot be overstated when it comes to reading.

14.) Hold a fundraiser. Pick a local charity and tell your students you have a goal to raise a certain amount of money within a certain period of time. You will all make a game of raising the most money and giving it to a charity. It can even be a non-organized charity. Let’s say you hear about someone in your community who lost their home to a fire. You could raise the money and give them a gift card or something they may need. There are all sorts of ways you can incorporate the idea of fundraising and charity. Be sure to include all your students in the process somehow. These types of exercises can also help give them leadership and business skills.

15.) Discuss world events. Every Monday, or on some kind of schedule, spark discussions about world events. See what they know, and ask questions that make them think. Teachers being role models includes showing students how to make sense of the world, and express different ideas in a peaceful way. This can model for students how they should act when they speak with others, and how to actively listen to other points of view. Many students will not have heard about some of the events you are speaking about. Don’t let them sit back quietly. Find ways to involve them too, by asking questions that can draw them in.

16.) Have a pot luck. Every once in a while, have a meal with your students that celebrates you time together. Yes, food is another way students can see educators as role models. So have fun with this one. After all, we all love food! Tell your students that they are welcome to bring a dish from home, or you can provide a cheap set of snacks. This can be a good way to talk about cooking with your students. Many kids aren’t involved in with the cooking at their homes. Some parents teach their kids about food, but it’s probably the exception, not the norm. So, be that teacher that shows them that they can learn to cook and eat healthy foods. You can show them that good food can also be good for you!

17.) Work extracurricular activities. When your students see you working outside of the classroom to help your school function, it says you go the extra mile. It also shows that you have a strong work ethic, and you are doing a job that you’re passionate about. That is the kind of feeling you want your students to have from their careers later in life. Show them that you enjoy your job, and it will pay off in the classroom. And, if you were once a star athlete and have coaching skills, you can be a role model for the students playing sports in a similar way.

18.) Be organized and on time. You want to present yourself in a professional way as much as possible. This means more than looking the part and acting the part, it means being the part. The best way you can show your students how to execute their work is to show up on time and be ready to teach. Plus, if you have a clear vision for how you want the lesson to go, then you will be more effective in delivering your message.

19.) Practice random acts of kindness. Here’s an idea for teachers as role models: How about you put an apple on every one of your students’ desks on the first day of school? How would that be for a proactive show of appreciation from the get-go with your class. That would also put them on notice that you are the type of teacher who will surprise them from time to time. This teaches children to go out of their way to show appreciate – even if it’s just for the heck of it.

20.) Ask for input. You know that suggestion box that companies sometimes have for employees to make recommendations? These can be ideas for lectures, field trips, and other things the students think may add to the learning environment. The importance of teachers in showing students how to participate in conversations is essential to their growth. Giving them a feeling of ownership and participation in the class decisions and idea generating process will give them a sense of pride they may not have otherwise; especially if you agree to test their idea out.

21.) Apply democratic ideals to class discussions. Just because your students may not be old enough to vote, doesn’t mean they can’t get a feel for our democratic processes. Teachers being role models to show how our democracy works can be a great lesson for students. Hold votes on decisions that reflect discussions you are having on topics to see where people stand. Then encourage debate and explain to them how our system is supposed to work. No matter where your students might fall on the political spectrum, you can set a good example by engaging them with our core values.

22.) Invite guest lecturers. Find role models in the community that do good work, or perform some kind of public service. This can be small business owners, individuals, city officials, and other notable figures who can inspire the children to do good in their lives. Plus, it’s always fun for students to learn from other people than just their own teacher. Kids need lots of role models in their lives. Plus, whoever you invite will get to share a personal story from their life, or show them how they work in their profession. There are just too many reasons why this can be a great idea!

23.) Make them keep journals. You can inspire your students to understand that it helps to keep track of your thoughts as a way of organizing your goals, connecting with your feelings, and making sense of the world around you. Your students will improve on their own communication skills through their writing practice, and have a safe space to explore their thoughts, during an otherwise hectic daily routine. When you teach students to understand themselves a little better, they will start to see educators as role models.

24.) Start a class garden. Many schools have room for classes to start their own small garden. If not, check with your county office to see if there is any land available where you can make a community garden. This can teach students about growing food, and how people have to work together to sustain our standards of living.

25.) Make them give a presentation on one of their role models. Lastly, have your students think about what makes a good role model, and present their findings to the class. It can be a famous example, or anyone who inspires your student to present. Try not to create too many rules for your students to abide by. See where their minds go, and what qualities they associate with the term.

In what ways do you think you can be a role model to your students?

There must be a million ways teachers can be stand-up role models for their students. Surely, you have a few bouncing around in your head, right? If so, share them with us on social media. Or, leave a comment below.

If you’re ready to learn more about making an impact in students’ lives as a teacher, just use our directory of schools to find out more about programs near you. All you have to do is choose your state to narrow your options.

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Teacher Role Models: How to Help Students Who Need It Most

Being a teacher is the best job in the world but also very difficult. Each day brings new challenges, and each year brings new students. Getting to be a role model for these students has always been something I don’t take lightly.

I teach at a district where students don’t always have the best role models at home, and the eight hours they spend with me each day means so much. Teaching students how to treat others and how to react in situations and conflict is something I try and do each and every day.

There will always be students who don’t like school, and the last thing they want to do is sit there and learn. It is our job as educators to show them that learning is fun, and it can take you to amazing places in your future. Showing students how important education is can be hard when they don’t have those role models in their lives outside of school.

Lastly, as an educator I try and teach my students to be leaders.

Being a Role Model for Students in Need

While teachers are role models for all their students, it can be most important for those who have a rough home life. For the past two years, I’ve worked in districts that have 100% of students on free and reduced breakfast and lunch. A lot of them live in a small, run-down apartment or house with more than five children. Some live with grandparents or spend most of their time with them because their parents are working or not capable of caring for them.

One way to start the year off right and make students feel safe and comfortable in your classroom is to make it feel like a home. Show the students you put time into making your classroom for them! When I set my classroom up each August, I like to make it as homey and inviting as possible. This year, I went with a farmhouse and light blue theme, probably my favorite yet.

I love turning corners of my room into places where students can cuddle up on a beanbag chair with a good book. I want students to know how much I care about their learning environment when they walk in my classroom. Students notice the time you put in, and it helps you start to build that relationship with them from the first day of school.

The next step to building that relationship is to make each student feel like an important part of your class. Getting to know what they like, what sports they play, how many siblings they have, their hobbies and more. There are two easy things I would suggest to any teacher to really connect with their students. The first is I like to show my students I want to know more about them by inviting them to eat lunch with me in the room. I’ll pick two students who are friends and bring them up to the room. They love it. It gives them time to talk your ear off for 30 minutes without being interrupted by anyone or anything else. If you like your lunch quiet to work, then you can use this same concept but instead keep two helpers back during specials. They love to help in the room, and you can chat while doing it.

The second thing is show up to their events. If they play football, go to their games. If they sing in the school choir, go to the concert. If they are in a play, go watch the performance. The look on their face when they see you after will make it worth the time it takes up on your Saturday morning. Whenever I go to my students’ events, it is always the first thing they want to share with the class the next day during circle time. Even the kids who act too cool to say hi after their games will come up to you and say, “Miss Curtis, remember when you came to my football game?” during the last week of school. This shows them that you care about their lives outside of learning in your classroom.

Being a Role Model in Education

One day in class, I asked my students to raise their hand if their parents went to college. Most of them didn’t even know. Being a role model for students can mean many things, and talking about the importance of education is something you can do the first day of school.

Something as simple as hanging a flag of the college you attended by your desk can start the conversation very easily. Students always want to know more about college because, for most of them, it isn’t something talked about at home. I like to share stories about the classes I took in college to become a teacher or the fun things, like making new friends and going to sporting events, to get them thinking about college.

Grow Your Teaching Skills and Career

The fully online teaching degrees at CU cover a wide variety of topics, from associate level to master’s and certificates. As a student in these programs, you’ll learn to become a role model from leaders in the field.

I don’t just try to be a role model for my students; I also like to give students good examples of role models in other career options. It is easy to take a topic you are doing and change it into a career. One I use each year is construction. I decorate the room with construction signs and cones, and I have a friend who is a project manager come in and talk to the students about how he uses math in his architecture drawings every day. The students are always so interested when you bring other people in to talk about what they do.

Another easy theme is a restaurant. You can introduce students to all the different career options such as a chef, a manager or talk about opening your own business. When you do this with older students, you can do things like market day and have students create their own service or product to sell. The more options we talk about for their future, the more students are going to see themselves in one of those positions.

Teaching Students to be Leaders

Building a classroom community can be tough, but it challenges students to be a leader, a team player, patient with others and so much more. One thing I wish I learned more about in my undergrad classes was how to teach students to take ownership of their learning.

To work on that, every day I do a morning circle. Students are asked a question of the day and are able to share. Sometimes, I do a simple getting-to-know-you question, but sometimes, it’s more difficult, such as, “What does it mean to respect others?”

Showing each student that their opinion matters helps them come out of their shell and feel more comfortable sharing. In my classroom, we also do project-based learning where students are work in groups. This is one of my favorite ways to see who steps up to lead.

Group work is not easy for students; it’s always where the most conflict occurs. Students need it to be modeled before they jump in. Teaching students to listen to each other and try ideas that are different from their own is something I try to do often. Giving students roles in group work has been a game changer.

For example, someone is the project manager, and they make sure everyone in the group is doing their job and being heard. Someone is the recorder, and they write down everything that happens for the project. Someone gets to be the person who asks the teacher any questions, which is a huge help so you aren’t having a stampede of questions. Depending on the project, you could implement many more jobs.

Become a Role Model for Students

I have a quote by Nicholas A. Ferroni hanging on the bulletin board by my desk that says, “Students who are loved at home come to school to learn. Students who aren’t loved at home come to school to be loved.”

I keep this quote in mind daily. One of my favorite educators, Kim Bearden, talks about how there is always something going on with our students that we don’t know about. If we as teachers can show them we are here for them and listen to them, it will be one of the greatest examples of a role model they get to see.

I try to come to work every day expecting that it won’t be perfect but that I’ll grow through all the challenges. I try to remember there are always 40 little eyes watching me, and they’ll remember the role I play in their education.

The question is, what are they going to say they remember about you?

Our goal as teachers should always be to empower and inspire our students, and that’s exactly what Campbellsville University believes. Their online teaching degrees cover a wide variety of topics, from associate level to master’s and certificates. As a student in these programs, you’ll learn to become a role model from leaders in the field. The fully online programs were developed by practicing teachers, counselors and principals, ensuring that you receive the best possible education in the field.

This blog post was written by guest contributor Courtney Curtis of Miss Curtis Classroom. Courtney is a third-grade math and science teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can follow her on her on Instagram @misscurtisclassroom .

Ask a Psychologist

Helping students thrive now.

Angela Duckworth and other behavioral-science experts offer advice to teachers based on scientific research. Read more from this blog.

‘Someone Like Me’: The Surprising Power of Role Models

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This is the last in a three-part series on the legacy of Albert Bandura. Read the first one here and the second one here .

Why do some students set ambitious goals and others don’t?

It’s hard to think you can do something if you haven’t seen someone who looks like you do it. Here’s something I wrote recently about the topic for Character Lab as a Tip of the Week :

“Angela, do you think the United States will elect a female president in your lifetime?”

Years ago, this was the last question of the last interview for a scholarship that, alas, I didn’t win. Reflexively, I frowned and shook my head no.

As the interview ended, I sensed that I’d given an answer the committee found disappointing. “Yes, of course there will be a female president in my lifetime,” they wanted me to say with a confident smile. “And I hope I have your vote.”

Where does the audacity to set ambitious goals and strive for them come from?

A decade before I was born, a young psychologist at Stanford named Al Bandura asked the same question. He randomly assigned preschool children to three groups . One watched adults play aggressively with an inflatable clown called a Bobo doll, another watched adults play quietly with a different toy while ignoring the Bobo doll, and a third had no exposure to these adult role models. Next, each of the children was left alone with the Bobo doll.

The results were striking. Only the children who watched adults play aggressively later imitated what they’d seen. They did so with eerie precision, punching and kicking the Bobo doll, hitting it with a mallet, and sitting on it just as they had seen the adult do.

Like most children, my first role models were in my family. My dad had a Ph.D. in chemistry. Most of my uncles—and countless cousins—were doctors or scientists. So if you’d asked me in, say, 3rd grade, “Angela, could you become a college professor someday, if you tried?” Without a shred of evidence that I’d be any good at such a career, I’d have nodded my head. “Sure. Why not?”

If, instead, you’d asked me, “Angela, do you think you could become an Olympic swimmer, if you tried?” I would have shaken my head. After all, nobody in my family was a professional athlete, and for the most part, the athletes on television didn’t look like me.

In the Bobo doll study, trends in the data suggest that boys were more likely to imitate the behavior of men, and girls were more likely to imitate the behavior of women. Likewise, in a more recent study , college students who were assigned to teaching assistants of similar race or ethnicity were more likely to attend office hours and discussion sections. This match also led to improved student performance in sequenced courses and positively influenced decisions on college majors.

Don’t assume that children know they can be anything they want when they grow up.

Do go out of your way to expose the young people in your life to inspiring role models they can relate to, whether it’s an Olympic athlete or a local entrepreneur. And now that we have our first female vice president, can the first female president be far behind?

The opinions expressed in Ask a Psychologist: Helping Students Thrive Now are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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Which role models are effective for which students? A systematic review and four recommendations for maximizing the effectiveness of role models in STEM

Research output : Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Is exposing students to role models an effective tool for diversifying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? So far, the evidence for this claim is mixed. Here, we set out to identify systematic sources of variability in STEM role models’ effects on student motivation: If we determine which role models are effective for which students, we will be in a better position to maximize role models’ impact as a tool for diversifying STEM. A systematic narrative review of the literature (55 articles) investigated the effects of role models on students’ STEM motivation as a function of several key features of the role models (their perceived competence, their perceived similarity to students, and the perceived attainability of their success) and the students (their gender, race/ethnicity, age, and identification with STEM). We conclude with four concrete recommendations for ensuring that STEM role models are motivating for students of all backgrounds and demographics—an important step toward diversifying STEM.

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• Role Models Keyphrases 100%
• Model of Science Keyphrases 100%
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• Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Social Sciences 100%
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T1 - Which role models are effective for which students? A systematic review and four recommendations for maximizing the effectiveness of role models in STEM

AU - Gladstone, Jessica R.

AU - Cimpian, Andrei

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Tanner LeBaron Wallace, Shanette Porter, Allan Wigfield, the other Inclusive Mathematics Environments Fellows, and the members of the Cognitive Development Lab at New York University for insightful feedback on this work. We also thank Gabrielle Applebaum and Theodora Simons for their assistance with screening the manuscripts and synthesizing the evidence. Funding Information: This work was supported by an Inclusive Mathematics Environments Early Career Fellowship from the Mindset Scholars Network, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to JRG. The funder played no part in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

PY - 2021/12

Y1 - 2021/12

N2 - Is exposing students to role models an effective tool for diversifying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? So far, the evidence for this claim is mixed. Here, we set out to identify systematic sources of variability in STEM role models’ effects on student motivation: If we determine which role models are effective for which students, we will be in a better position to maximize role models’ impact as a tool for diversifying STEM. A systematic narrative review of the literature (55 articles) investigated the effects of role models on students’ STEM motivation as a function of several key features of the role models (their perceived competence, their perceived similarity to students, and the perceived attainability of their success) and the students (their gender, race/ethnicity, age, and identification with STEM). We conclude with four concrete recommendations for ensuring that STEM role models are motivating for students of all backgrounds and demographics—an important step toward diversifying STEM.

AB - Is exposing students to role models an effective tool for diversifying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? So far, the evidence for this claim is mixed. Here, we set out to identify systematic sources of variability in STEM role models’ effects on student motivation: If we determine which role models are effective for which students, we will be in a better position to maximize role models’ impact as a tool for diversifying STEM. A systematic narrative review of the literature (55 articles) investigated the effects of role models on students’ STEM motivation as a function of several key features of the role models (their perceived competence, their perceived similarity to students, and the perceived attainability of their success) and the students (their gender, race/ethnicity, age, and identification with STEM). We conclude with four concrete recommendations for ensuring that STEM role models are motivating for students of all backgrounds and demographics—an important step toward diversifying STEM.

KW - Diversity

KW - Motivation

KW - Role models

KW - Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120748159&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85120748159&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1186/s40594-021-00315-x

DO - 10.1186/s40594-021-00315-x

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:85120748159

SN - 2196-7822

JO - International Journal of STEM Education

JF - International Journal of STEM Education

Teachers as Role Models

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• Wayne Martino 3  

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE,volume 21))

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In this chapter I focus on the discourse of teachers as role models to highlight the conceptual limits of such an explanatory framework for making sense of teachers' lives and their impact on student learning in schools. I stress that the issues sur rounding the call for role models in terms of recruiting more minority and male teachers in schools cannot be treated solely as a representational problem which can be addressed simply by striking the appropriate gender and ethnic balance in the teaching profession (see Latham, 1999). In fact, my argument is that the role model discourse is particularly seductive because it recycles familiar stereotypes about gen der and minorities with the effect of eliding complex issues of identity management and conflict in teachers' lives (see Britzman, 1993; Button, 2007; Griffin, 1991; Martino, in press). Moreover, claims about the potential influence of teachers, on the basis of their gender and/or ethnicity, have not been substantiated in the empiri cal literature. By reviewing significant research in the field, I demonstrate that the familiar tendency to establish a necessary correlation between improved learning and pedagogical outcomes, as a consequence of matching teachers and students on the basis of their gender and/or ethnic backgrounds, cannot be empirically substantiated.

In this sense, my aim is to provide a more informed research based knowledge and analytic framework capable of interrogating the conceptual limits of the role model discourse, particularly as it relates to establishing the potential influence of teachers on students' lives in schools. In addition, in the second part of the chapter I draw attention to the persistence of the role model discourse as a particular gendered phenomenon within the context of the call for male teachers in elementary schools to address the educational and social needs of boys. This discussion is used as a further basis for interrogating the fallacious assumptions informing the teacher role model discourse which has been invoked in response to a moral panic surrounding the crisis of masculinity vis-à-vis the perceived threat of the increasing feminization of elementary schooling (see Lingard & Douglas, 1999; Martino, 2008). In this way, I foreground the extent to which the role model argument has been used to sup port the need for both a gender balanced and a more ethnically and racially diverse teaching profession, while eschewing important political issues pertaining to: (1) the devalued status of doing women's work (Williams, 1993); (2) the significance of teaching for men's sense of their own masculinity and sexuality (Francis & Skelton, 2001; Martino & Kehler, 2006) and; (3) the impact of the social dynamics of racism and sexism on minority teachers' lives (Carrington, 2002; Ehrenberg, Goldhaber, & Brewer, 1995; Pole, 1999).

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The Limits of Role Modelling as a Policy Frame for Addressing Equity Issues in the Teaching Profession

The Role of Self-Study in Teaching and Teacher Education for Social Justice

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Martino, W. (2009). Teachers as Role Models. In: Saha, L.J., Dworkin, A.G. (eds) International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 21. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73317-3_47

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Teachers as Role Models

Updated: Nov 9, 2021

The Early Career Framework states that teachers must learn that... Teachers are key role models, who can influence the attitudes, values and behaviours of their pupils.

A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term role model is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who coined the phrase during his career. Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires. An example being the way young fans will idolize and imitate professional athletes or entertainment artists.

True role models are those who possess the qualities that we would like to have, and those who have affected us in a way that makes us want to be better people. They help us to advocate for ourselves and take a leadership position on the issues that we believe in.

Role models show young people how to live with integrity, optimism, hope, determination, and compassion. They play an essential part in a child’s positive development.

Teachers are key role models, who can influence the attitudes, values and behaviours of their pupils. A positive role model serves as an example–inspiring children to live meaningful lives. Teachers are a constant presence in a child's life. They influence children as much as—if not even more than—parents do. Over the years, I've seen the tremendous impact teachers have had on their students. They're not just educators; they're role models who inspire and motivate children outside the classroom as much as they impart knowledge inside it.

Role models are people who influence others by serving as examples. They are often admired by the people who emulate them. Through their perceived personal qualities, behaviours, or achievements, they can inspire others to strive and develop without providing any direct instruction. Social scientists have shown that much of learning that occurs during childhood is acquired through observation and imitation. For most children, the most important role models are their parents and caregivers, who have a regular presence in their lives. After these, it is their teachers. Teachers follow students through each pivotal stage of development. At six to eight hours a day, five days a week, you as a teacher are poised to become one of the most influential people in your students’ life. After their parents, children will first learn from you, their primary school teacher. Then, as a middle school teacher, you will guide students through yet another important transition: adolescence. As children become young adults, learning throughout middle school and into high school, you will answer their questions, listen to their problems and teach them about this new phase of their lives. You not only watch your students grow you help them grow.

As a teacher, it is impossible to not model. Your students will see your example – positive or negative – as a pattern for the way life is to be lived.

According to David Streight, executive director of the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education and a nationally certified school psychologist, we know the following about good role models for children:

The way you act and the kind of model you offer your students constitutes one of the five well-researched practices proven to maximize the chances your students will grow up with good consciences and well-developed moral reasoning skills.

The right kind of modelling can influence how much empathy your students will end up feeling and showing in later life.

The chances of your students growing up to be altruistic – to be willing to act for the benefit of others, even when there are no tangible rewards involved – are better depending on the kinds of role models children grow up with.

Good role models can make lifelong impressions on children, regarding how to act in the difficult situations that they will inevitably face in life.

Role modelling is a powerful teaching tool for passing on the knowledge, skills, and values of the medical profession, but its net effect on the behaviour of students is often negative rather than positive

“ We must acknowledge . . . that the most important, indeed the only, thing we have to offer our students is ourselves. Everything else they can read in a book.” – D C Tosteson

Role models differ from mentors. Role models inspire and teach by example, often while they are doing other things. Mentors have an explicit relationship with a student over time, and they more often direct the student by asking questions and giving advice freely.

Ducharme (1993), Guilfoyle, Hamilton, Placier, and Pinnegar (1995), as well as Regenspan (2002), remind us of the complex dual role of teacher educators. Korthagen, Loughran, and Lunenberg (2005) elaborate on this when they say:

Teacher educators not only have the role of supporting student teachers’ learning about teaching, but in so doing, through their own teaching, model the role of the teacher. In this respect, the teacher education profession is unique, differing from, say, doctors who teach medicine. During their teaching, doctors do not serve as role models for the actual practice of the profession i.e., they do not treat their students. Teacher educators, conversely, whether intentionally or not, teach their students as well as teach about teaching

Being a positive role model requires effort, fore-thought, and self-control for most teachers. Because your students are watching you all the time, your actions, beliefs, and attitudes become integrated into your students’ way of being; therefore, it is very important that you be very intentional about what behaviours you model for your students.

Unfortunately for teachers, the saying “Do as I say, not as I do” simply does not work. Students can sniff out hypocrisy like a blood hound, and they gain the most from teachers who demonstrate consistency between their actions and their values by “walking the talk.”

Students respect adults who live by the rules they preach. Hypocrisy disillusions students and sends them looking for alternative role models to follow.

Model through your own actions. For example, consider how you:

handle stress and frustration

respond to problems

express anger and other emotions

treat other people

deal with competition, responsibilities, loss, mistakes

celebrate special occasions

take care of yourself (what you eat, how much you exercise, balance your commitments)

Your students are not only watching you carefully for clues about how to be; they are also listening to you. The way you speak, what you speak about, and the opinions you express will influence their values.

Consider how you speak to them.

Do you model respect of others through your words and tone of voice?

Do your words indicate respect for differences and tolerance toward all people or do they subtly support lack of acceptance for others different from yourself?

Do you “bully” your students with harsh words and threats when they misbehave, or do you respond with discipline based on respect for your students’ humanity?

Ask yourself what kind of people you want your students to become, and then consider what you can do to model the behaviours and attitudes that would reflect that kind of person. This is another way of saying that it is helpful for you to examine your own values.

For example, do you want your students to:

develop a strong work ethic?

have a generosity of spirit?

have courage?

stand up for their beliefs?

be kind and considerate?

be patient?

be diligent and persistent?

be assertive?

be a contributing member of society?

take good care of their bodies?

be open to new learning? To find pleasure in reading?

If you wish for these traits in your students, then do these things yourself!

You will be a larger influence in your students’ lives if you have a warm and nurturing relationship with them, and your students are more likely to emulate you if they feel close to you and supported by you.

Give them unconditional “love” in a safe environment that also provides consistent, firm, and flexible discipline so they know what is expected of them.

Listen to them without judgment when they are upset. Share your own feelings with them so they get to know you; share some of your choices and decision-making as examples to guide them.

Build a connection with them based on trust so they know they can count on you when they need you, and so that they learn to be trustworthy in return.

Nobody is perfect – neither you nor your students. That means that mistakes will be made. What is most important when mistakes are made is the way you handle the situation.

When you or your students or someone else makes an error:

are you unforgiving or accepting?

do you deal calmly with the situation to resolve it or do you berate the perpetrator?

do you get angry and look for someone to blame or do you assess what has gone wrong and consider what can be learned to avoid a repetition?

If you make a mistake by doing something that you later regret, you can use that as an opportunity to show your students how to handle errors in judgment by:

acknowledging the misstep.

accepting responsibility for your part in it.

apologizing to any hurt parties.

finding ways to make amends.

thinking about what you can do next time so you don’t repeat the error.

These steps are all part of a healthy process of reacting when you mess up. This is the same process you can use if you respond to your students in a way that you later regret.

And what do you do when your students make a mistake? You can:

let them know that mistakes are opportunities for learning and that nobody is perfect.

help them to go through the steps outlined.

have a forgiving and responsible attitude toward making mistakes.

There are no hard and fast rules to being a "good role model" but there are several articles available online for you to read which give some great tips.

Dr. Robyn J.A. Silverman has a fabulous article which details seven ways teachers can make a positive impact (read the full article here ). While there is some variation in every teacher’s definition of what it means to be a good person, the following 7 characteristics of a positive role model remain constant:

Model positive choice-making

Think out loud

Apologise and admit mistakes

Follow through

Show respect

Be well rounded

Demonstrate confidence in who you are

In her article, these seven characteristics are further explained and there is a lot you can take from it. @TeacherToolkit advocates a DECIPHER model in his article "8 Tips For Becoming A Teacher Role Model" which is another excellent read. Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD write about 5 qualities that matter as a role model in her article " What is a Role Model? Five Qualities that Matter to Youth ". Clarendon Learning also provide advice on how/why teachers ARE role models in their article and Dr Candice Singh writes Role Model: 4 Tips on How to Be The Best One in Your Students’ Lives .

The Early Career Framework

[Further reading recommendations are indicated with an asterisk.]

Aronson, J. (Ed.) (2002) Improving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education. New York: Academic Press.

Bandura, A. (1986) Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Campbell Collaboration (2018) School-based interventions for reducing disciplinary school exclusion: A Systematic Review. Accessible from: https://campbellcollaboration.org/library/reducing-school-exclusion-school-based-interventions.html .

Chapman, R. L., Buckley, L., & Sheehan, M. (2013) School-Based Programs for Increasing Connectedness and Reducing Risk Behavior: A Systematic Review, 25(1), 95–114.

Chetty, R., Friedman, J. N., Rockoff, J. E. (2014)

Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood. American Economic Review, 104(9), 2633–2679. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.9.2633 .

*Education Endowment Foundation (2018) Sutton Trust-Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Accessible from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit [retrieved 10 October 2018].

Hanushek, E. (1992) The Trade-off between Child Quantity and Quality. Journal of Political Economy, 100(4), 859–887.

*Institute of Education Sciences (2008) Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom. Accessible from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/4

Johnson, S., Buckingham, M., Morris, S., Suzuki, S., Weiner, M., Hershberg, R., B. Weiner, Hershberg, R., Fremont, E., Batanova, M., Aymong, C., Hunter, C., Bowers, E., Lerner, J., & Lerner, R. (2016) Adolescents’ Character Role Models: Exploring Who Young People Look Up to as Examples of How to Be a Good Person. Research in Human Development, 13(2), 126–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1164552

Jussim, L. & Harber, K., (2005) Teacher Expectations and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Knowns and Unknowns, Resolved and Unresolved Controversies, Personality and Social Psychology Review 2005, Vol. 9, No. 2, 131–1557.

Lazowski, R. A., & Hulleman, C. S. (2016) Motivation Interventions in Education: A Meta-Analytic Review. Review of Educational Research, 86(2), 602–640. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315617832 .

Murdock-Perriera, L. A., & Sedlacek, Q. C. (2018) Questioning Pygmalion in the twenty-first century: the formation, transmission, and attributional influence of teacher expectancies. Social Psychology of Education, 21(3), 691–707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-018-9439-9 .

*PISA (2015) PISA in Focus: Do teacher-student relations affect students’ well-being at school? Accessible from: https://doi.org/10.1787/22260919 .

Paice E, Heard S, Moss F. How important are role models in making good doctors? BMJ 2002;325:707-10. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Rathmann K., Herke M., Hurrelmann K., Richter M. (2018) Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0189335. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189335 .

Ricer RE. Defining preceptor, mentor, and role model. Fam Med 1998;30:328. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Rubie-Davies, C. M., Weinstein, R. S., Huang, F. L., Gregory, A., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (2014) Successive teacher expectation effects across the early school years. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35(3), 181–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.03.006 .

Slater, H., Davies, N. M., & Burgess, S. (2011) Do Teachers Matter? Measuring the Variation in Teacher Effectiveness in England. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2011.00666.x .

Tsiplakides, I. & Keramida, A. (2010) The relationship between teacher expectations and student achievement in the teaching of English as a foreign language. English Language Teaching, 3(2), P22. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1081569.pdf .

Wubbels, T., Brekelmans, M., den Brok, P., Wijsman, L., Mainhard, T., & van Tartwijk, J. (2014) Teacher-student relationships and classroom management. In E. T. Emmer, E. Sabornie, C. Evertson, & C. Weinstein (Eds.). Handbook of classroom management: Research, practice, and contemporary issues (2nd ed., pp. 363–386). New York, NY: Routledge.

Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (2007) The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 17(2–3), 191–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/10474410701413145

• High Expectations (Standard 1 – Set
• Teaching & Learning

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Managing the End of Term

The Importance of Role Models in Education

Role Models in education are an important part of learning!

A role model/guide is someone worth imitating in character and lifestyle qualities. Every student needs a model to imitate and influence them to do better in their academic and life endeavors. This is one of the major reasons schools teach their learners about who and how to make the right choice of role guides.

Students and their parents can read role model paper examples to learn more about who a good role model is. Especially now that learners have to write quality essays about role guides to fulfill a better grade and GPA in school. So, why are role models important in academics today?

A good role model inspires and motivates learners to pursue their inner potentials by working hard and staying disciplined. And considering the vulgar exposure of the internet world today, very few prospects can be considered a good role guide. This is why parents seek ways to become good model prospects for their children. Do they know what it takes? Let’s check out!

Benefits of A Good Role Model in Education

Firstly, what are the qualities of a role model? Good guide prospects must have positive qualities to inspire and motivate another. Qualities like;

• Commitment to their life purpose.
• Show great concentration and focus on their purposes.
• Passion and clear personal values.
• Selflessness and acceptance.
• Honesty, discipline, and self-control for life purposes.

Considering all these qualities, we can now clearly prove that role guides are important in education by helping students;

• Cultivate the good characteristics of a successful person.
• Learn from their prospect’s life mistakes.
• Face life and overcome potential obstacles to success.
• Pursue their academic or life goal with more determination.

Now, we can see the benefits of these model prospects in students, especially college learners. But how can parents become the ideal role guide to their wards? Let’s discuss!

3 Ways Parents Can Be a Great Role Model to Their Wards

Instead of leaving wards to imitate a stranger, why not read about being a role model to your child. If you’re reading this and need a guide to becoming the best role guide for your wards, continue reading. Here are ways parents can become great model prospects for their kids;

Start Communicating Well

As a parent, you need to start speaking to your wards as individuals capable of making good and bad decisions by themselves. Most university learners don’t think of their parents as good model prospects. This is because of the communication barrier between the family.

Start speaking simply with an appropriate tone with them. Also, avoid critical discussions during resenting matters. Just try to be encouraging with an appropriate tone.

Express positivity, give them a chance to speak and show affection. This will open the children to share more information and try to find your opinion on their matters.

Cultivate Good Habits

From today, set good habits for yourself. Stop bad habits like smoking, drinking, or bad spending habits. Cultivate good habits and take responsibility for any action you take.

This teaches them a lesson that all their actions are their responsibilities. Start Communicating more openly around others. Also, cultivate the habits of managing negative emotions and try to be positive around them.

Avoid Negative Role Models

A parent must eradicate all forms of negative prospects. Parents can do this by limiting the influence of misleading celebrities in their ward’s life. Also, manage their peer groups.

By keeping good company, you give your ward chances to gain experiences that’ll guide them in life. More importantly, direct them to like good guides with great qualities you’ll like them to imitate.

Good role models steer and influence one’s actions and mindsets toward making life-benefiting choices to fulfill a better life. This is also a very important aspect of many youngsters, especially students that should be monitored.

Beneficially, a good model prospect will inspire and gear students toward fulfilling a greater academic performance and successful life.

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• DOI: 10.1177/001979399504800307
• Corpus ID: 55738594

Role Models in Education

• Ronald G. Ehrenberg
• Published 1 April 1995
• Education, Sociology
• Industrial & Labor Relations Review

15 Citations

The effects of role models on college graduation rates, gender ratios in high school science departments: the effect of percent female faculty on multiple dimensions of students' science identities., minority groups in the economics profession, women helping women role-model and mentoring effects on female ph.d. student in economics, book reviews, education and job match: the relatedness of college major and work, gender and the study of economics: the role of gender of the instructor, female faculty role models and student outcomes: a caveat about aggregation, a comparative study of campus portal user acceptance: student and faculty perspectives, 4 references, did teachers' verbal ability and race matter in the 1960s "coleman" revisited. rand reprints., do historically black institutions of higher education confer unique advantages on black students: an initial analysis, the flow of new doctorates, related papers.

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• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 03 July 2018

A skill to be worked at: using social learning theory to explore the process of learning from role models in clinical settings

• Jo Horsburgh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2099-6808 1 , 2 &
• Kate Ippolito 1  

BMC Medical Education volume  18 , Article number:  156 ( 2018 ) Cite this article

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Role modelling is widely accepted as being a highly influential teaching and learning method in medical education but little attention is given to understanding how students learn from role models. This study focuses on role modelling as an active, dynamic process, involving observational learning and aims to explore the process involved, including strategies that learners and medical teachers use to support this.

To gain insight into medical students’ and clinical teachers’ understanding of learning through role modelling, a qualitative, interpretative methodology was adopted, using one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Six final year medical students and five clinical teachers were purposefully sampled and interviewed. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. The data were then analysed using open and axial coding before codes were combined to develop broader themes.

Students could identify ways in which they learnt from role models but acknowledged that this was complex and haphazard. They described selectively and consciously paying attention, using retention strategies, reproducing observed behaviour and being motivated to imitate. Students evidenced the powerful impact of direct and vicarious reinforcement. Clinical teachers reported using strategies to help students learn, but these were not always consciously or consistently applied or informed by teachers’ understanding of their students’ cognitive processing.

Findings illustrate in what ways the process of learning from role models in clinical settings is challenging. They also support the relevancy and usefulness of Bandura’s four stage social learning model for understanding this process and informing recommendations to make learning from role modelling more systematic and effective.

Peer Review reports

Learning from role models is widely accepted as being an influential medical educational method, especially during clinical rotations [ 1 , 2 ]. Park et al. argue that of all learning experiences exposure to clinical environments and the role models present there have ‘the greatest impact on professional formation’ ([ 2 ], p.134). Despite this perceived value, we would suggest that the term ‘role model’s’ common but vaguely defined usage [ 3 ], coupled with limited awareness about the process of learning from role models, lessens the value of this construct as a way of explaining how medical students learn in clinical settings. The concept of ‘role model’ draws on two theoretical constructs. First, the tendency of people to identify individuals who hold a social position to which they themselves aspire, in this context a successful senior medical student or well-regarded consultant in a specialty of interest. Second, the concept of modelling, or social learning [ 4 ], which suggests that individuals pay attention to role models because they believe they can learn skills and accepted ways of behaving in a particular context [ 5 ]. Although we see the relevancy of both, our study is framed by the latter because we perceive a need to critically examine the active, dynamic process between role model and observer, or teacher and learner.

Most previous studies in this area have focused on what students learn from role models and there is much consensus on the attributes of positive doctor role models including excellent clinical knowledge and skills, patient-centred approach and humanistic behaviours such as empathy and compassion [ 6 , 7 ]. Our interest lies in further examination of how students learn from role models in order to maximise the conditions for this type of learning. This builds on the work of Cruess et al. [ 8 ] who proposed the idea of making explicit the implicit reasons behind role models’ actions for the benefit of both learners and role models. In addition, the BEME Guide no. 27 [ 9 ] highlighted the importance of recognising the process of learning from role models. In this paper we take an exploratory approach to gain more insight into medical students’ and clinical teachers’ understanding of how individuals learn through behavioural observation and role modelling. Based on this insight we will attempt to suggest ways to improve learners’ and teachers’ understanding and therefore the effectiveness of this method.

Bandura’s theory of social learning

Bandura’s theory of social learning [ 1 ] provides a useful framework for us to consider how students learn via observational learning and modelling. For Bandura, learning takes place in a social setting via observation, but it also involves cognitive processes; that is, learners internalise and make sense of what they see in order to reproduce the behaviour themselves. Gibson argues that this involves ‘the psychological matching of cognitive skills and patterns of behaviour between a person and an observing individual’ [ 3 , 5 ]. Bandura proposed that this type of learning involved four different stages – attention, retention, reproduction and motivation.

The first stage is attention whereby learners need to attend to the behaviour. They need to actually see the behaviour that they want to reproduce or that others want them to reproduce. Secondly they need to internalise and retain what they have seen. This involves cognitive processes in which a learner mentally rehearses the behaviour or actions that are to be reproduced. Thirdly they need opportunity to reproduce the behaviour by converting the information obtained from attention and retention processes into action. Finally learners need to be motivated to enact or imitate the behaviour they have observed. This motivation occurs via reinforcement, of which Bandura proposes three different types – direct reinforcement, vicarious reinforcement and self-reinforcement.

We wanted to better understand to what extent learners and teachers are aware of and consciously make use of the underlying cognitive processes described by Bandura, even though they are unlikely to be aware of his model, to maximise learning from role modelling and what they think creates barriers to this four-stage process. In particular we wanted to investigate:

What are the processes occurring in clinical settings that support learning from role models and what hinders it?

What approaches do learners take to analyse, evaluate and adopt or reject what they learn through observation of and engagement with role models?

What strategies do role models consciously apply to encourage their learners to learn in this way?

A qualitative, interpretative methodology was adopted, with one to one semi structured interviews being conducted. Six final year medical students (Anita, Mark, Pete, Emily, Jason and Liam), and five clinical teachers (Shivani, Melanie, Iris, Stefan and Abigail), identified here by pseudonyms, were purposefully sampled on the basis that they would provide rich insight into teaching and learning in clinical settings [ 10 ] The clinical teachers were from a variety of specialities and had a range of teaching experience. The aim was not to achieve theoretical saturation but to gain in-depth insight into 11 individuals’ unique experiences to better understand how learners and teachers perceive and make sense of learning from role modelling in clinical settings [ 11 ]. The two interview guides varied slightly between students and teachers to take into account their differing roles. Although we were aware of Bandura’s social learning theory and anticipated it would help us to interpret our data his four predetermined categories did not influence the question design, which were deliberately broad, open questions that allowed interviewees to describe the process of learning in a clinical context in their own words (see Additional file 1 ). Interview questions were not validated but were piloted for understanding. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. The data were analysed using open and axial coding [ 12 ] which was completed by both authors independently before codes were combined to develop broader themes. For the purposes of this paper we have adopted a theoretical data analysis approach; identification of themes was guided by our specific research questions and our theoretical interest in the relevancy of Bandura’s four stage model for analysing learning in the clinical setting. This led to more detailed analysis of particular aspects of the data rather than rich description of all data collected [ 13 ] (see Table  1 below). Ethical approval for this study was gained from the Medical Education Ethics Committee at Imperial College, London.

For the sake of clarity and to better explore the process of learning, in this paper we have chosen to emphasise the learner experience and perspective, with data from the clinical teachers used to enhance and further illuminate the students’ viewpoints. Table 1 shows the codes and themes derived from analysis of the interview transcripts, illustrative quotes for each of the themes, and the process from Bandura’s theory that these relate to.

The students interviewed were able to identify ways in which they learnt from role models but acknowledged that this was a complex and haphazard process.

Having presented the codes, themes and illustrative quotes from the interview transcripts, these will now be discussed in further detail.

Being present and involved

Despite needing to be physically present and able to see the action some students reported feeling in the way like ‘lemons’ or ‘ghosts’, suggesting they needed their participation to be legitimised. They described that legitimacy as coming from being given a specific role, such as taking a history from a patient. Anita, for example, described being asked by a consultant to sit and chat with a patient whilst she ate her breakfast. For the student this proved to be a rich and memorable learning experience. This purposeful role gave her an involved perspective from which to observe and maintained her attention. Lave and Wenger [ 14 ] refer to the way that newcomers to a community of practice learn by participating as legitimate peripheral participation . But opportunities for legitimate peripheral participation need to be created for medical students and the value of this should not be underestimated as the quotes from students’ demonstrated.

Teachers were also aware of this need to actively involve students, particularly those less confident ones, but due to time pressures this was not always possible. Most teachers agreed that some role models were easy to identify - what Abigail referred to as ‘superstars’. But there was an acknowledgement that other role models might be more useful, particularly in the early stages. Therefore, as has been found in other research [ 8 ] signposting less obvious behaviours, such as at what point and how junior doctors involve senior colleagues was important.

Continuity of and exposure to role models

Barriers to paying attention included lack of continuous exposure to any one role model or patient, meaning that students could not truly analyse role model’s behaviours or evaluate the impact of that behaviour on others. Attending to patterns in role models’ practice takes time and for some the short phases that tend to characterise medical students’ clinical rotations made this difficult.

Where role models had facilitated more continuous observations of their practice the educational value of this could be recognised by students. For some students, their experience aligned well with Gioia and Manz assertion that “if an observer is to learn effectively from a model it is important for the model to be credible, reasonably successful, clearly display the behaviour to be learned, and otherwise facilitate the attention process.” ([ 15 ]: 528).

Teachers also commented on the fragmented nature of clinical rotations. Difficulty in identifying patterns in behaviour and forming relationships created by lack of continuous exposure to role models seemed to be disruptive and demotivating for both students and teachers. Being aware of these challenges to attendance and opportunities to observe was important. Faculty also needed to be present in order for students to observe their practice, although as Iris pointed out, clinical teachers were still role modelling even if absent.

Aligned values

The students reported paying close attention when they observed a behaviour that aligned with their views of what was important about being a doctor. For Emily, the positive reactions she observed from her role model’s patients were more important than them having a long list of publications.

The artificial separation of scientific and medical knowledge from skills and attitudes within medical curricula can be confusing and students saw clinical rotations as a place to learn how to bring these elements of a doctor’s practice together, although they found it difficult.

There is an enormous amount for a learner to take on board when in a clinical setting and they cannot possibly be expected to retain everything they observe. In order to avoid becoming overwhelmed learners seek cues to work out what is important to retain and develop strategies for doing so.

Learning the language

Students spoke about comprehending and retaining the unfamiliar clinical language that they heard their role models use. This sometimes involved looking it up later or consulting peers.

Particularly useful role models deliberately helped students to learn the language and develop the way they communicated in the clinical setting.

Understanding thought processes

Students talked about how they valued their role models giving insight into their thought processes as this enabled them to understand the reasoning behind the behaviours they were observing, including coping with uncertainty, and helped them to make sense of and retain the particular learning point.

Liam, who like other students talked about the importance of being able to relate to their role models, attributed this relatability, in part, to him and his role models thinking alike. This seems connected to the point made earlier about the attractiveness of aligned values between role models and observers.

Meaningful reflection

Reflection is widely acknowledged as aiding development, but how do learners make use of reflection when learning from their role models? Even though Jason claimed not to be ‘a fan of formal reflection’ he had clearly developed a critically reflective approach to help him extract personal value from what he had observed and imitate aspects of it before deciding what to retain.

Stefan also talked about the importance of authentic reflection and the role of teachers in creating space and support for students to evaluate what has been observed in clinical settings.

Writing it down

Liam described a particularly systematic approach to aid retention and processing of what had been observed, clearly guided by his role model.

Such strategies were encouraged and signposted by teachers, with Melanie referring to use of an advanced organiser [ 16 ] to help students consciously retain what they observed. She described an example in which she asked students who were observing her on a busy labour ward to write down a few things they noticed her doing or questions she asked the patient and then, importantly, got them to reflect on why they noticed these specific things or why they thought them important. Facilitating this metacognitive process, whereby students are required to think about what and how they are learning through observation, may also enable teachers to reinforce or ‘correct’ important take away messages.

Reproduction

Opportunity to practice.

The opportunity for hands-on practice has been reported as lacking from some clinical-based learning experiences [ 17 ] In our study students talked about being given the opportunity to put into practice the behaviours and strategies that they had observed in their role models. Some needed help to recognise opportunities or to be given permission to take advantage of opportunities and to participate in a legitimate and meaningful way.

Giving students opportunity to legitimately participate in the team may involve considering the roles and expectations of the existing clinical team.

Most students recognised the need to be proactive about identifying and creating their own opportunities for practice and some had strategies for arranging these.

Students’ also highlighted the value of being supported by a role model to identify in advance, in a systematic way, tasks and skills that they could learn through modelling and observation with opportunity for practice.

When referring to opportunities to put into practice the techniques that they had observed, students highlighted the value of feedback that both reinforced desired behaviours and suggested aspects for development, especially where it was highly contextualised and immediate.

Shivani talked about making use of the student perspective and adopting a more dialogic approach to feedback [ 18 ] on what has been observed in way that could offer suggestions for development for both teachers and students.

Finally Bandura argued that if students are to learn from and reproduce the behaviours that they observe in their role models they need to be motivated to do so. For many students this was a question of direct reinforcement, whether this was a self-regulated process involving perceptions of ‘wanting to please’ or further reinforced by direct, positive feedback, including more independence.

Observing other’s responses - vicarious reinforcement and punishment

Two further interesting and useful concepts from Bandura’s social learning theory are vicarious reinforcement and vicarious punishment. Bandura proposed that when observing others we not only learn from their behaviour but also from the reactions of other people to the role model’s behaviour. This is potentially a very efficient way to learn as it allows us to learn from others’ mistakes. Our student interviewees identified a number of examples of being vicariously reinforced or punished and described how the reactions of patients, colleagues or fellow students influenced their decisions to reproduce behaviours they observed. For example, Liam, who was vicariously reinforced having closely observed this paediatrician, chose to adopt his communication technique as a result of the calming effect it appeared to have on children.

Conversely an example of vicarious punishment refers to what Jason considered to be brusque treatment of a patient. He was vicariously punished by the interaction between a role model and patient and as a result talked about wanting to deliberately avoid reproducing this behaviour in his own practice because of the patient’s reaction.

Jason also highlighted barriers that interruptions in exposure to patients and clinicians poses for students wanting to convert observation into practice. It appears to be important to create opportunities for students to observe outcomes of interactions (or for them to be discussed), as well as seeing the behaviour that led to them. Students reported receiving mixed messages about appropriate behaviour through vicarious reinforcement. As Iris commented the less desirable behaviours observed in clinical settings can have a powerful influence, a view supported by Gibson [ 5 ], who highlights the value of learning from negative traits as well as positive aspects of role models. Furthermore Bucher and Stelling [ 19 ] found, to their surprise, that rather than identifying complete roles models amongst their senior colleagues, as had been assumed, medical students actively identified specific attributes to emulate and to reject, in a process of creating a vision of their ‘ideal selves’. Clinical teachers recognised that students made decisions about who were useful role models on the basis of vicarious reinforcement. in the form of successful clinical outcomes, and/or positive reactions from patients and colleagues. Stefan spoke about how students might use clinical outcomes to judge the value of a particular behaviour when deciding whether to adopt or adapt them.

Reciprocating

Student also saw satisfaction and reward in being part of the reciprocal role model cycle themselves and referred regularly to the culture of peer support in medical school.

In terms of closing the reciprocal loop Liam, for example, also talked about how he sent a letter, email or card to his role models to thank them.

However, in general it is unclear how aware role models are of the influence they have on those observing them and indeed how they could be more effective. Clinical teachers commented that they seldom received direct feedback on the impact of their role modelling but Shivani recalled that students had commented on how she had interacted with a patient thus highlighting for her the value medical students derived from being able to closely observe a role model in action. Feedback on how role models have influenced those around them is potentially an important of untapped source of evaluation data.

Limitations

Whilst this paper has emphasised the benefits of modelling and observational learning, students also highlighted the limitations. This included that the ability to imitate the actions of others and carry out clinical tasks might not be accompanied by underpinning clinical knowledge or rationale in the mind of the learner.

Another limitation is created by the lack of constructive alignment [ 20 ] between the formal undergraduate medical curricula, often with an emphasis on gaining knowledge and exam-based assessment, and the authentic, skills-based learning in the clinical setting. This resulted in some learners prioritising revision for their exams over taking the opportunity to learn from observation in the clinical setting.

Finally the unfamiliar and haphazard nature of observational learning opportunities in the clinical settings proved challenging for students to identify and follow to their logical conclusion thus limiting the learning process that Bandura describes. Even when student interviewees described successful learning having taken place it became apparent that they were often not in control of, or even conscious of, the process occurring, let alone able to guide themselves through the four stages identified by Bandura.

We acknowledge that the exploratory inquiry presented here is a work in progress that does not does not yet reflect the application of a finished construct to an empirical study. However, this small sample of medical students’ and clinical teachers’ insightful accounts of how observational learning from role models happens, leads us to make the following tentative conclusions.

The way students and clinical teachers described learning in this context can be aligned with the four stage model set out by Bandura. That is, participants clearly illustrated how they benefitted from (and felt motivated by) being able to observe or attend to the behaviours of their clinical teachers, being helped to retain new understanding, opportunities to practise the actions or behaviours observed, as well as how they learnt through vicarious reinforcement from seeing the reactions of others. Barriers to learning identified can also be analysed in terms of where these four stages could not be carried out or were interrupted.

Although when asked student and teacher participants demonstrated good understanding of ways in which individuals learn from role modelling,, all participants illustrated that learning from role models in clinical settings is complex and challenging and the processes they described as supporting that learning were often fragmented and inconsistent. Furthermore there appeared to be limited awareness of underlying cognitive processes supporting observational learning. Whilst some of the clinical teachers interviewed did identify methods that they used to enhance observational learning in clinical settings, it could be argued from these findings that this could be done in a more conscious and consistent way.. Whilst consistency is not the ultimate goal in undergraduate learning during clinical rotations and variety in approaches to role modelling adds richness and authenticity to the experience, we have given insight into how a lack of structure can be problematic for students. We believe that, the process of learning from role models in clinical settings is a skill to be worked at. Students in the study demonstrated different levels of awareness and capacity in this regard, and some suggested it would have been useful to be aware at the beginning of their clinical rotations.

On the basis of our theoretically-informed analysis we would like to suggest the explicit use of Bandura’s model to develop a two pronged approach to supporting students’ learning from role modelling. Firstly, by introducing students to Bandura’s four stage model and strategies outlined above to inform development of their skills for maximising their own learning at each stage and their agency within the unfamiliar learning environment. Secondly, by using it to develop teachers’ understanding of how learning from observation occurs and their ability to maximise opportunities and create the conditions in the environment that enable learners to:

Closely and repeatedly observe role models’ actions and behaviours and patients and colleagues’ responses to these behaviours.

Be given insight into the invisible thought processes behind the behaviours they observe

Be given permission and structured opportunity to reproduce and test out observed behaviours in practice and reflect on this.

By linking our exploration of learners’ and teachers’ understanding of how observational learning happens in clinical settings with Bandura’s four stage model we hope to have provided a feasible and memorable framework to guide teachers and students in making more effective use of modelling and observational learning.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Medical Education Research Unit and Educational Development Unit, Imperial College, London. We would also like to thank our staff and student participants for their time and insight.

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Horsburgh, J., Ippolito, K. A skill to be worked at: using social learning theory to explore the process of learning from role models in clinical settings. BMC Med Educ 18 , 156 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1251-x

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The potential of role-model education

The potential of role-model education. in this article, daniel rose examines the role and potential of the educator as a role model within both formal and informal education..

contents: introduction · the influence of the role model on moral identity · role model education and informal education · role-model education as a basis for mentoring · a  critique of role-model education · conclusion · bibliography · how to cite this article

No printed word, nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves. Rudyard Kipling

What exactly is role-model education? I can think of no clearer way of explaining this most effective of all educational tools than     Kipling’s words (above). Children, especially during adolescence – their most vulnerable and impressionable age – are in need of role models, and take them from all areas that are close at hand, whether mass media, parents and family, or their teachers.

Role model education is not concerned with the imparting of knowledge and information, as one might expect from an educational context. Rather, its aim is to expose its target groups to specific attitudes, lifestyles and outlooks, and, in particular, to individuals in which these attitudes and lifestyles are embodied. This educational tool is stressed in informal education settings such as youth movements, where the sometimes charismatic educational youth leader embodies the values that he or she is espousing, and therefore provides a frame of reference for the children. Aliah Schleifer provides us with an example of this from the Muslim home. He asserts that the mother has an incredibly important role to play in the education of her child, simply because she embodies the values that he or she is learning about. He or she now has a chance to experience the ideals that he or she learns about in school. For instance “the child “begins to learn the importance of cleanliness when he sees that she makes wudu before prayer” (Schleifer 1988: 36).

Not only is there no reason for teachers not to utilise these ideas, but rather the teacher has a responsibility to use them, and to be wary of the power behind this concept. Children of this age are incredibly perceptive, and will automatically see through a teacher who tries to convince them of something they are not convinced of themselves. (I have seen this at first hand, in a school with a strong ethos that not all the teachers embody in their personal lives, such as a religious denominational school, where non-practising teachers are forced to lead or facilitate prayer services.)

Role model education can be seen as effective because it bridges the gap between the ideal and reality. Education becomes experiential , as students learn a little about their teachers’ lives, and how they embody the values they are trying to pass on and explore. The gap between theory and practice is bridged, as ideological concepts become realities before the eyes of the students. Once they have truly understood an idea because they have seen it at first hand through teacher’s expression of it in the way they conduct themselves, they are only then in a true position to judge its validity to their life, and then make the relevant lifestyle decision.

The influence of the role model on moral identity

Anton A. Bucher asserts that “Models are one of the most important pedagogical agents in the history of education”. He continues; “ Plato mentioned their impact in forming moral consciousness. He warned against bad models, especially gods and heroes in Homer’s epic poems. Young people would imitate their immoral behaviour and adopt their immoral values and attitudes” (Bucher 1997: 620). He goes on to suggest that over the centuries educators have been sensitive to the need for good role models in order to shape desirable moral attitudes in young people, and cites Jesus as the ultimate and most widespread role model from ancient times, through the middle ages, until modern times.

To support his theories of role models and the effect that they had on youth, Bucher collected data from 1150 pupils between the ages of 10 and 18 from Austria and Germany, 53% girls, pupils in each country attending different schools. The data on preferred models was collected in the form of a questionnaire. This included both an open-ended question (What persons are your personal models? Why?), as well as a list of 40 persons (musicians, movie stars, sports figures, intellectuals, politicians, religious persons, as well as persons of social nearness such as parents and siblings). The participants were asked to rate each personality on a scale of 1 (“no model whatever”) to 4 (“a very important model for me”). The results from both types of questions contained in the questionnaire were clear. Those personalities of social nearness to the participants had the greatest “model effect” for them. Mothers, fathers, and relatives were mentioned with the greatest frequency. After that came religious models, and only then mass media personalities such as movie and television stars, and sports figures.

These results were surprising for many people working in pedagogical fields, who had assumed that well-known stars and not parents would be those influencing our youth. In his analysis of these results, Bucher ( ibid 625) refers to Mitscherlich who explains that it is “a psychoanalytic commonplace that identification with first referenced persons is more imprinting (also with respect to the moral values and attitudes) than the identification with the heroes of TV and other mass media”. For us, as educators, this enlightens us tremendously as to our capacity to influence our students. Educators can be considered to have near to the same status of social nearness to the children as their own parents. Children, when faced with worthy models at this proximity, will latch on to them and their ideals, and fully consider them as role models.

We can also learn from the mass media models that these children did choose after their models from social nearness. Models included super heroes and film stars that played the role of the “good guy” fighting evil. Bucher (ibid: 624) suggests “these answers demonstrate the distinct manner by which the identity of children and adolescents can be influenced by models, also their moral identity. Several children remembered models who were well suited to their moral universe, characterised by a strong distinction between good and evil.”  This surely suggests a thirst within adolescents for a strong positive role model to inspire them in the ways that they know are moral and right. We must conclude that this places the teacher and informal educator in an ideal position to fulfil this role.

This is strongly reflected in the Muslim approach to teachers and their role, as presented in Hasan Langgulung’s essay entitled “Teacher’s Role and Some Aspects of Teaching Methodology: Islamic Approach” . Langgulung suggests that “the position of the teacher as protagonist in the domain of moral values is not limited to direct teacher-pupil interaction in the classroom. The teacher who never marks written exercises or wears indecent type of dress is characterising the notions of duty and responsibility in certain ways. The teacher who openly shows disrespect to some colleagues or the principal is sending across messages unawares about authority and the notions of respect of human beings…we always behave as a good model to the students in conduct and character, because it is part of our obligation and everyone expects us to do so and we have come to expect this of ourselves. It is part of our role of being a teacher.”

Role model education and informal education

In defining informal Jewish education , Barry Chazan identifies eight formal attributes that characterise informal Jewish education. His second attribute is the Centrality of Experience. He says “The notion of experience in education derives from the idea that participating in an event or a moment through the senses and the body enables one to understand a concept, fact or belief in a direct and unmediated way… The focus on experience results in a pedagogy that attempts to create settings which enable values to be experienced personally and events to be experienced in real time and in genuine venues, rather than their being described to the learner. Over the years this notion of experiencing has become closely identified with “experiential education,” often seen as the “calling card” of informal education.”

His eighth attribute of informal Jewish education is the holistic educator . “The informal Jewish educator is a total educational personality who educates by words, deeds, and by shaping a culture of Jewish values and experiences…the informal Jewish educator needs to be an educated and committed Jew. This educator must be knowledgeable since one of the values he/she comes to teach is talmud torah— Jewish knowledge. He/she must be committed to these values since teaching commitment to the Jewish people, to Jewish life, and Jewish values is at the heart of the enterprise. Commitment can only be learned if one sees examples of it up close”.

According to Chazan, central to informal education is experience. It is the job of the holistic educator to provide these experiential educational experiences, and one of the ways that s/he does this is through the educators very essence, personality and lifestyle, which is all on offer to the participant to interact with and be inspired by. At the core of informal education is role-model education, and the most natural educational context that provides the ideal forum for role-model education is of course informal education. These two educational concepts go hand in hand and go some way to explain the success that informal education achieves in its stated goals. In their discussion of informal education, Jeffs and Smith (1999: 82-5) have also stressed these elements – and the significance of attention to the moral authority of informal educators.

Role-model education as a basis for mentoring

The concept of mentoring as a tool in the development of young people is becoming more and more popular and commonplace. Mentoring is classically defined as a young person is inducted into the world of adulthood with the help of a voluntarily accepted older more experienced guide, who can help ease the young person through that transition via a mixture of support and challenge (Hamilton, 1991; Freedman, 1995). I would argue that fundamental to this process is the younger person learning not just from the experiences of the older person, but also learning and being inspired by the older person his/herself. The intimacy and dynamic caused by the interaction of two persons giving the mutual respect necessary in the context of mentoring, will more often than not lead to the younger person relating not just to the information and experiences transmitted by the older person, but the actual essence of the older person, and this can be a potent ingredient for the development of the younger person.

Interestingly, Kate Philip suggests that there are many different styles of natural mentoring models in operation besides the classic one as defined. These include peer mentoring, unofficial adults, friend to friend and group or team mentoring (Hendry and Philip 1996) (see Philip on mentoring and young people and Jean Rhodes (2001) on mentoring programmes in the US). It is possible to suggest from these observations, that role models are not just those in positions of authority or increased age/experience. Young people can choose their role models from any and every context including their peers. This is clearly seen in peer-led informal educational contexts such as peer-led youth clubs and movements , and can and should impact on our policy when facilitating these institutions.

A critique of role-model education

Although we have seen the efficacy of such an approach to values and moral education, there are problems that may be encountered, both on a practical level for the teachers who have this responsibility as role models, as well as on a theoretical level.

As has been stated, children can be most perceptive, sometimes far more than adults, and will see through the lack of integrity of any educator. This places a tremendous pressure on an educator to live up to the values and ethos of their school, subject, or educational message. If a particular educator does not live up to this, their power as a role model is largely diminished. Rejection of the entire message and package is also risked, if children see even the slightest inconstancies in the role model. This may also have the effect of discouraging prospective educators from entering the profession. Educators must also be vigilant in their personal lives to some extent, to ensure it is not publicly at variance with their educational message. Is this after-hours pressure that few other jobs involve, fair on the educator?

Further to this question, is a more difficult one. Does a school or educational organisation have the right not to employ a teacher because their personal life does not coincide with the ethos of the institution? For example, the tension an institution such as a denominational school experiences when considering the employment of either a teacher from a different faith, or from the same faith but with lesser degree of religious practice in their personal life.

The very practical issue of informality is a problematic one when considering role model education within formal schooling. For a student to link in to the personality and way of life of the teacher, the teacher must to some extent lower some barriers in order to let the child catch a glimpse of what he or she is about. This may lead to obvious dangers such as feelings and emotions towards the teacher and compromise the teacher’s desire for distance to forestall problems of over-familiarity. Role model education thrives on informality – and this is not always possible or appropriate in a classroom context – although with the right balance, can and will be effective even with this formal teacher-student relationship. However, as mentioned earlier, this is one of the very strengths of informal education, with role-model education central to its efficacy.

It can be challenged that role model education will stand in the way of true impartiality. It is arguably the goal of every teacher or educator to explore an impartial curriculum, presenting divergent opinions, providing students with the skills to make decisions for themselves, even if within the boundaries of specific ideologies and belief systems. This is especially the case for concepts as subjective as values and morals, which often find themselves the focus of informal education. The participants may have difficulty forming their own opinions and acknowledging the impartiality of the curriculum if the teacher has become a strong role model for them. The educators own lifestyle and value system may become front runner in competing for the attention of the students. (This of course becomes less of a problem for denominational schools, where the lifestyle and outlook of the teacher is the same as that of the ethos and message of the school. However, this can also be seen as an oversimplification, for there can be many different approaches and outlooks within one denomination.)

On a grand and theoretical plain, Bucher (1997: 620) worries about role models and the power of influence that they wield, and potential for evil misuse as seen by totalitarian systems such as National Socialism. He also refers to thinkers who fear there is a “lack of compatibility between models and education on behalf of children’s self-realisation. They believe that models would prevent the development  of an autonomous moral identity.”

All educators, whether formal or informal, bear the burden of role-model education equally. However, to see it as a burden, misses the powerful potential and exciting educational opportunities that it can provide. Role-model education allows those values and ideas that are central to our curriculum to become an experiential educational experience, merely through “hanging out with the educator”. This is arguably the essence of informal education, and in fact all effective education.

This paper therefore recommends added exposure to the educator in all educational contexts. Informal education will do this more naturally than formal, but there is no reason to suggest that it is inappropriate in either context. Let us try to facilitate natural “encounters” between students and educators, both within and without of the educational context.

We discussed briefly the concept of mentoring. Let me suggest some further examples of allowing the role-model to be a powerful educational tool through these “ encounters ”. This will take place in any opportunity where the educator can play a more natural informal role, such as weekend retreats, educational trips and visits, extra-curricular programmes such as sports and recreational events.

Obviously, informal education lends itself better and more naturally to this mode of education, and it is harder to think of contexts from the school where it can be equally utilised. However, a perfect forum for the increased informality necessary for role-model education within the formality of the teacher/student relationship would be on an educational visit/school trip.

On a school trip, whether a one-day trip to a museum, or a month in a foreign country, everything about the student/teacher relationship has the potential to become less formal, while still being professional and controlled. From hiking to kayaking, walking through ancient archaeological remains to travelling for hours on buses, interaction is far easier and more natural. Conversations involve all sorts of topics, and students are afforded the opportunity to gain an inkling as to whom the teacher actually is, rather than merely what he or she tries to convey. This allows them to see that the values espoused in the classroom do not stay in the classroom, but are inherent in the life and lifestyle of the teacher.

It is just these types of encounters that we should be providing for our charges in order to maximise ourselves and our colleagues as role-models to these youth, in order to develop them as people and further our educational goals.

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Daniel Rose was born and bred in London and moved to Israel in September 1999. With a background in formal (High School Jewish Studies Teacher in London area) and informal Jewish education (youth movements and synagogue organisations in U.K. and Israel), he presently lectures 18-19 year olds’ from Britain, America, and Israel, on a gap year programme in Israel, teaching classical Jewish texts, modern Jewish history, and Informal Jewish education and youth leadership. His undergraduate degree is from Jews’ College, London University, in Jewish Studies and has a PGCE and Masters in Religious Education from the Institute of Education, London University. He has just begun a doctorate in Jewish education at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

Acknowledgement : People living a life of fantasy as a result of being excessively influenced by reading novels. Coloured etching after G.M. Woodward, 1800. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection.

How to cite this article : Rose, D. (2004). ‘The potential of role-model education, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education.  [ https://infed.org/mobi/the-potential-of-role-model-education/ . Retrieved: insert date ].

© Daniel Rose 2004

What is a Role Model? Five Qualities that Matter to Youth

by Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD

Ability to act in ways consistent with the values, beliefs, and moral principles we claim to hold.

Authenticity

Responsiblity.

A positive role model serves as an example–inspiring children to live meaningful lives.

Role models show young people how to live with integrity, optimism, hope, determination, and compassion. They play an essential part in a child’s positive development.

Natalie, age 18, described her role model as a person with “a clear sense of what is important to her, putting forth the effort to improve and create things that will make a difference.” When Samira, also 18, feels “lazy, tired, or just plain annoyed,” she thinks of her role model and “is motivated to start working again.”

Natalie and Samira were part of my research study on how young people develop the skills, abilities, and motivation to become engaged citizens. They and 42 other college students recalled stories of their childhoods and adolescence and the kind of people who inspired them. You can read their stories and learn more about my research in Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation.

Role models come into young people’s lives in a variety of ways. They are educators, civic leaders, mothers, fathers, clergy, peers, and ordinary people encountered in everyday life. My study showed that being a role model is not constrained to those with fancy titles or personal wealth.  In fact, students were quick to state that “a true role model is not the person with the best job title, the most responsibility, or the greatest fame to his or her name.” Anyone can inspire a child to achieve their potential in life.

A Role Model Can Have Positive or Negative Impact

While my research focused on the positive impact of a role model in young people’s lives, role models can also have negative impacts. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry suggests parents speak to their children about role models and the qualities they possess. Discover who your child’s role models are and why they are admired. Who do your children look up to for inspiration and guidance? Why?

Sometimes a positive role model will make poor choices. Don’t let your children assume that negative and inappropriate behaviors that involve racism, sexual harassment, and dishonesty by admired public figures or friends are acceptable. When a role model displays behavior that is negative, talk with your child about your family values and why the behavior is unacceptable.

By the time children become adolescents, they should be able to differentiate the positive and negative behaviors of the people they admire. Most often, when role models embrace inappropriate behaviors, they lose their ability to inspire others. However, if a child becomes significantly attached to a role model’s ideology, power, or popularity, the young person may believe the negative behavior is acceptable.

When families learn to teach integrity and live their values, children and teens are much more likely to recognize and be inspired by positive role models.

5 Qualities of Positive Role Models

The top five qualities of role models described by students in my study are listed below. These qualities were woven through hundreds of stories and life experiences that helped children form a vision for their own futures. By far, the greatest attribute of a positive role model is the ability to inspire others.

1. Passion and Ability to Inspire

Role models show passion for their work and have the capacity to infect others with their passion. Speaking of several of his teachers, one student said, “They’re so dedicated to teaching students and helping students and empowering students. That is such a meaningful gesture. They are always trying to give back to the next generation. That really inspires me.”

2. Clear Set of Values

Role models live their values in the world. Children admire people who act in ways that support their beliefs. It helps them understand how their own values are part of who they are and how they might seek fulfilling roles as adults. For example, students spoke of many people who supported causes from education to poverty to the environment.  Role models helped these students understand the underlying values that motivated people to become advocates for social change and innovation.

3. Commitment to Community

A role model is  other-focused as opposed to self-focused . Role models are usually active in their communities, freely giving of their time and talents to benefit people. Students admired people who served on local boards, reached out to neighbors in need, voted, and were active members of community organizations.

4. Selflessness and Acceptance of Others

Related to the idea that role models show a commitment to their communities, students also admired people for their selflessness and acceptance of others who were different from them.  One student spoke of her father, saying “He never saw social barriers. He saw people’s needs and acted on them, no matter what their background or circumstances. He was never afraid to get his hands dirty. His lifestyle was a type of service. My father taught me to serve.”

5. Ability to Overcome Obstacles

As Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome.” Young people echoed this sentiment, showing how they developed the skills and abilities of initiative when they learned to overcome obstacles.  Not surprisingly, they admire people who show them that success is possible.

One student shared a story of a young man she met in Cambodian while on a service-learning project with her school. “He is an incredibly hardworking individual who has faced unimaginable obstacles in his life, yet continues to persevere to support his family and encourage his community. He survived the Cambodian genocide. He earned his education in a system where those who succeed are the ones who bribe officials. He has dedicated his life to give back to his community. Wow! What an individual; and the best civic role model!”

Research studies have long shown a correlation between positive role models and higher levels of civic engagement in young people. Positive role models are also linked to self-efficacy, the ability to believe in ourselves. In fact, the young people in my study admitted that had they not learned to believe in themselves, they would not have been capable of believing they could make a difference in the world!

Children develop as the result of many experiences and relationships. Role models play an important role in inspiring kids to learn, overcome obstacles, and understand that positive values can be lived each day. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, civic leader, clergy member, sports coach, after-school program leader, or a person who just happens into a child’s life, you have the ability to inspire!

New Research on Youth Role Models

You may also be interested in reading how role models influence youth strategies for success . New research shows that young people choose role models based on the mindsets they develop toward accomplishing their goals! Based on their mindsets, they will choose either positive or negative role models.

Top 5 Qualities of Role Models Infographic

Feel free to use and share this infographic, excerpted from the information in this article.

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52 , 1-26.

Jennings, M. K., & Niemi, R. M. (1981). Generations and politics . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Kahne, J. E., & Sporte, S. E. (2008). Developing citizens: The impact of civic learning opportunities on students’ commitment to civic participation. American Educational Research Journal . doi: 10.3102/0002831208316951

Price-Mitchell, M. (2010). Civic learning at the edge: Transformative stories of highly engaged youth. Doctoral Dissertation, Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA.

Zukin, C., Keeter, S., Andolina, M. W., Jenkins, K., & Carpini, M. X. D. (2006). A new engagement? Political participation, civic life, and the changing American citizen . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Photo Credit: Lil Larkie

(This article was originally published July 13, 2011. It was updated and republished Dec. 4, 2017.)

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Critical thinking, mindfulness, self-confidence.

Published: December 4, 2017

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About the author.

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, is founder of Roots of Action and author of Tomorrow's Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation . A developmental psychologist and researcher, she writes for Psychology Today and Edutopia on positive youth development, K-12 education, and family-school-community partnerships. Website // @DrPriceMitchell // Facebook

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Role modelling—making the most of a powerful teaching strategy

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• Sylvia R Cruess , professor of medicine ,
• Richard L Cruess , professor of surgery ,
• Yvonne Steinert , professor of family medicine
• 1 Centre for Medical Education, McGill University, 1110 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1A3
• Correspondence to: S R Cruess sylvia.cruess{at}mcgill.ca

Teachers need to be aware of the conscious and unconscious components of learning from role modelling, so that the net effect of the process is positive

Role modelling is a powerful teaching tool for passing on the knowledge, skills, and values of the medical profession, but its net effect on the behaviour of students is often negative rather than positive

By analysing their own performance as role models, individuals can improve their personal performance

Strategies are available to help doctors become better role models:

Being aware of the impact of what we are modelling (be it positive or negative)

Protecting time to facilitate dialogue, reflection, and debriefing with students

Making a conscious effort to articulate what we are modelling, and to make the implicit explicit

Educating future generations of physicians is one of the privileges and obligations of the medical profession. As an important part of this process, doctors historically have patterned their activities on those of practitioners whom they respect and trust. These have been called role models, “individuals admired for their ways of being and acting as professionals.” 1 Both consciously and unconsciously, we model our activities on such individuals. 2

“ We must acknowledge . . . that the most important, indeed the only, thing we have to offer our students is ourselves. Everything else they can read in a book.” – D C Tosteson 19

Although role modelling is at the heart of “character formation,” 3 medical students and junior doctors have observed that many clinical teachers are poor role models. In one study less than half of the teachers were identified as positive role models. 4 In another, half of the clinical clerks and a third of the residents surveyed felt that their teachers were not good role models for doctor-patient relationships. 1 Clearly, this …

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Role Modeling in Medical Education: The Importance of a Reflective Imitation

The medical literature almost uniformly addresses the positive aspects of role modeling. Still, some authors have questioned its educational value, a disagreement that is probably due to differing definitions of role modeling. If defined as demonstration of skills, provision of feedback, and emulation of specific professional behaviors, then role modeling is an important component of clinical training. However, if it is defined as a learner’s unselective imitation of role models and uncritical adoption of the messages of the learning environment, then the benefits of role modeling should be weighed against its unintended harm.

In this Perspective, the author argues that imitation of role models may initially help students adapt to the clinical environment. However, if sustained, imitation may perpetuate undesirable practices, such as doctor-centered patient interviewing, and unintended institutional norms, such as discrimination between private and public patients. The author suggests that the value of role modeling can be advanced not only by targeting role models and improving faculty performance but also by enhancing students’ reflective assessment of their preceptors’ behaviors, especially so that they can better discern those that are worth imitating. This student-centered approach may be accomplished by first, warning students against uncritically imitating preceptors who are perceived as role models; second, showing students that their preceptors share their doubts and uncertainties; third, gaining an insight into possible undesirable messages of the learning environment; and finally, developing policies for faculty recruitment and promotion that consider whether a clinical preceptor is a role model.

Medical students’ observations of behaviors, specifically those of their role models, are believed to affect learning more than formal teaching. 1 , 2 Research shows that, indeed, as many as 90% of medical graduates remember role models who shaped their professional attitudes. 3 The medical literature almost uniformly addresses role modeling as a powerful, 4 albeit underexploited, 5 teaching strategy. There is evidence that students can identify positive role models 6 ; student-identified role models agree with their students about what is important to model 7 ; and peer-identified, positive role models devote more time to teaching and stress the importance of the doctor–patient relationship and the psychosocial aspects of medicine. 8 Additional research has shown that exposure to physicians at various clinical settings affects students’ career choices 3 , 9 , 10 ; that viewing videotaped teacher performance changes learners’ attitudes 11 – 13 ; and that demonstrations, as opposed to lectures, promote students’ acquisition of skills. 13 – 15

Educators have interpreted these findings as an endorsement of role modeling’s value. They have suggested that students’ “pain of medical training” may be alleviated by role models with appropriate attitudes, 16 and by faculty development aimed at role model training that reinforces empathy, compassion, and caring. 17 , 18 Still, some authors have questioned the broader implications of role modeling, pointing out that its standards are elusive, and that “educators lack an adequate understanding of the process through which learners respond to models.” 5 Other authors have argued that role models merely reinforce views held at the start of training, and therefore, they exert little influence on students’ values 19 ; that some clinical tutors may show unethical behavior and cause students’ confusion 20 ; and that role modeling encourages imitative rather than active learning. 21 , 22

What, then, is the value of role modeling in medical education, and should students be encouraged to emulate role models? In this Perspective, I address these questions. I argue that faculty efforts to improve role modeling, first and foremost, should promote learners’ reflective assessment of their preceptors’ professional behaviors, especially so that they can better discern those that are worth imitating; second, identify and correct undesirable messages of the learning environment; third, show students that preceptors share their doubts and uncertainties; and only then, finally, develop role models with desirable professional attributes. I start by examining the various definitions attributed to role modeling, and then I consider the educational value of role modeling. Next, I examine how the learning environment can affect role modeling. I conclude with a discussion of reflectivity and how it can improve role modeling.

Definition of Role Models and Role Modeling

Role modeling eludes precise definition. Clearly, it is different from mentoring and teaching in the sense that “a teacher … facilitates learning, while role-models are persons from whom [one] wants to gain some of their attributes.” 23 Still, different authors have explicitly or implicitly used definitions with varying degrees of blurring the boundary between role modeling and effective teaching. Some authors have used the term role modeling to refer to deliberate teaching interventions, such as demonstration of skills 13 – 15 or behaviors, 24 , 25 which are intended to achieve specific learning objectives. This definition implies a conscious activity by both teachers and learners. Other authors define role modeling as either unconscious 5 , 26 or conscious 23 , 24 teaching by practicing physicians who are by default role models because they are observed by students, and as both unconscious and conscious learning by students through reflection and abstraction. 4 , 25 Still other authors have implied that role modeling is a predominantly unconscious adoption 18 , 26 or imitation 21 , 22 of the role models’ attributes by the learners.

A second ambiguity is related to the definition of the role models themselves. The term “role model” was first used to refer to a person who “occupies the social role to which an individual aspires.” 27 This definition is consistent with claims that medical students are drawn to figures of status 28 ; however, it is at variance with how medical education research defines a role model: a person who is considered as a standard of excellence to be imitated because of his or her professional attributes. 29

Studies of role modeling commonly use surveys 3 , 7 , 8 , 23 , 24 , 29 , 30 and focus groups 10 to gain insight into students’ reasons for recognizing role models as such, and into the role models’ self-reported attributes. Students’ reasons for identifying a positive role model have included personality, skills, competence, and teaching ability, but not research achievements and academic position. 3 , 31 Students perceived preceptors who appeared insensitive to patients as negative role models. 10 Role models’ self-reported attributes were their competence and teaching skills 23 ; respect for and personal interest in patients 24 ; enthusiasm for specialty, reasoning skills, and close doctor–patient relationships 7 , 32 ; and consideration of the psychosocial aspects of medicine. 8

These observations suggest that students perceive role models as such because of their personal and professional attributes. However, this conclusion is at odds with the claim that medical students emulate those doctors who have responsibility and status. 28 It is possible, therefore, that the reasons students provide for choosing role models are different from the real ones: Students may say they admire a head of a clinical service, for example, because of her competence, while actually emulating her, consciously or subconsciously, because they aspire to her social role. 26

The Educational Value of Role Modeling

The educational value of role modeling depends on how it is defined. If defined as a demonstration of skills and provision of feedback after observing students’ performance, then role modeling is a crucial component of clinical training. If defined as encouraging students to observe and reflect on the benefits and drawbacks of their preceptors’ behaviors and emulate those which they feel are important, then role modeling is similarly essential for students’ professional development. However, if role modeling refers to a conscious or unconscious unselective imitation of a role model’s behaviors and/or to an uncritical conformity with the formal (institutional culture) and unacknowledged (hidden curriculum) messages of the learning environment, then its benefits should be weighed against its unintended harm.

The benefit of imitation is that it helps students’ initial coping with the overwhelming challenges of clinical rotations, which have been described as “how to survive in a threatening environment and how to please authority figures.” 33 Treadway and Chatterjee 34 have claimed that “the rules governing the responses to [clinical] experiences are unclear … so students take their cues from the behaviors they observe.” In other words, just as children learn by imitating, so also role modeling meets an important need of medical students—namely, to take their cues from observed behaviors. Contrary to the claim that imitative learning is incompatible with active learning, Schon 35 has argued that although “we do not like imitating … we are continually doing it … the imitative reconstruction of an observed action is a kind of problem solving.”

However, although imitation is important for students’ initial adaptation to the clinical environment, sustained uncritical imitation of role models may “stifle students’ critical reflection” 5 and prevent students from responding to evolving ethical norms and patients’ needs. 26 It may also promote a judgmental right/wrong dualism towards values and behaviors. 36 Therefore, I suggest that faculty should warn students against the tendency to uncritically imitate one or more of their tutors, because none of them is error-proof, and none of them combines, at all times, all of the qualities of the ideal clinician. Rather, students should be encouraged to critically assess the attributes of their clinical preceptors, with an intention to select those attributes that are perceived useful and worth adopting.

Here again, the analogy with children’s learning seems appropriate. Children do not learn language through imitation alone because the language spoken around them is highly irregular, and because adults’ speech is often broken up and ungrammatical. Chomsky suggests that the principles of a language and its grammatical structures are “hard-wired” in the brain, thereby providing children with an ability to learn despite the irregularities in the language that is spoken around them. 37 Similarly, medical students should be trained to encode the principles of professional attitudes and behavior so that they are able to recognize and ignore instances when these principles are violated.

Indeed, there is evidence that not all doctors with teaching responsibilities have the attributes that students say they seek in role models. In one study, only 40% of the attending physicians were identified by one or more residents as role models, 8 and another survey found that as many as half of the clerks felt their teachers were not good role models. 38 Still, as pointed out by Skeff and Mutha, 39 “faculty members [who are] not generally identified as role models can still be important in reshaping and broadening learners’ views.” In other words, rather than being morally distressed by clinical preceptors’ unethical behavior, students should be encouraged to view such behavior as a learning opportunity and to critically assess the advantages and disadvantages of the observed behaviors. Instead of telling students that there is a right and a wrong way to interview patients, preceptors should urge students to discuss different interviewing techniques in an atmosphere characterized by respect for the techniques’ worth, critical assessment of various approaches, and student empowerment to choose for themselves the elements that they like best among the different interviewing styles. Finally, students should be encouraged to discriminate among behaviors, rather than among preceptors, and treat all of them with respect—rather than admiring “positive” role models, and deriding “bad” role models—because everybody can learn something from everybody else.

The Educational Value of the Learning Environment

Clinical training is delivered by clinical preceptors in a defined learning environment, both of which are interdependent and complementary, 4 , 5 , 18 and so it is sometimes impossible to discern between the influence of role modeling and that of the learning environment in general, and particularly of the hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum affects the behavior of role models, and role models deliver its messages to students. Therefore, any discussion of role modeling must transcend individuals and examine the hidden curriculum and institutional culture.

The hidden curriculum may nega tively affect some clinical learning environments by enhancing rather than alleviating students’ fear of personal inadequacy, and by failing to mitigate students’ prejudice against mental illness. 40 The hidden curriculum may also perpetuate undesirable behaviors, such as doctor-centered patient interviewing in order to save time; humiliating students as a misguided attempt to encourage learning; and making disparaging remarks about primary care physicians, epidemiologists, and psychiatrists in an attempt to promote a biomedical approach to patient care. 5 , 41 , 42

Another disturbing aspect of the clinical learning environment is that some health care providers appear to unintentionally discriminate among patients. There is evidence that white patients have better access than African American patients to specialized services, 43 – 46 and white patients are more likely to be referred to single hospital rooms than African Americans with similar health insurance coverage. 47 The increasing proportion of privately insured patients in countries with universal medical insurance has further enhanced the inequalities in health care delivery. For example, it has been reported that in Israeli public hospitals that permit physicians to also admit private patients, the lead surgeon was of tenured rank in 99% of the most complex private cases, but only in 74% of the most complex public cases, 48 and that 87% of the private patients, but only 74% of the public patients, were satisfied with various aspects of their relationship with their physicians. 49

Because of the inevitable heterogeneity in the personal and professional attributes of clinical preceptors, as well as the undesirable aspects of the learning environment in some clinical teaching settings, efforts to improve role modeling should be targeted at students. Efforts to reduce the impact of a learning environment’s undesirable messages should complement those aimed at increasing the number of positive role models among clinical preceptors. First and foremost, though, faculty should encourage students to observe, criticize, and be selective in adopting the messages of their preceptors and learning environment. In other words, students’ reflectivity is the most important prerequisite for effective role modeling.

Definitions of Reflectivity and Difficulties in Promoting It

Reflectivity is an all-inclusive term for several overlapping constructs, defined below. “Reflective practitioners” think about what they do while doing, 35 particularly when confronting a new, unfamiliar problem. “Mindful practitioners” attend to their mental processes during everyday tasks, using critical self-reflection in order to recognize their own errors, and clarify their values. 50 Other concepts, such as self-awareness and introspection, refer to one’s understanding of one’s self; social intelligence and empathy refer to one’s understanding of others. Theory of Mind 51 and Reflective Function 52 include an understanding of both oneself and others. Finally, these concepts are related to a person’s intellectual 36 and moral 53 development, and tolerance of uncertainty. 54 , 55 Reflectivity 35 , 50 and tolerance of uncertainty 56 , 57 are relevant for clinical practice.

Perry’s 36 intellectual and ethical devel opment scale is a commonly used model to describe the development of reflectivity. According to Perry’s model, development occurs along a sequence of stages, which Perry called dualism, multiplicity, relativism, and commitment in relativism.

At the dualism stage, students believed in the existence of absolute truth and of a single correct answer for every question. They thought in terms of right and wrong, and made comments like “I disagree, and therefore, you are wrong.” The transition to the multiplicity stage began when students came across teachers / role models who answered “I don’t know.” Still, students’ belief in the existence of absolute truth remained unchallenged: Even if we do not know the right answer, in due time we shall know it. Until then, a multiplicity of opinions is legitimate, and therefore, “opinions can’t be judged.” Towards the end of the multiplicity stage, students realized that one can judge opinions, and that even in areas of uncertainty, a problem may have a limited number of legitimate solutions that are congruent with available data, and an unlimited number of illegitimate approaches, which are illogical and divorced from reality. This realization signaled their transition to relativism. Now students would say, “I disagree, but you may be right,” rather than, “I disagree and, therefore, you are wrong.” At this stage, the merits of each alternative appear so clearly that choosing among them became impossible. Students progressed to the final stage—com mitment in relativism—when they understood that, unless they were to remain frozen in indecision, they would have to commit themselves to a decision, even if they would regret it in light of future evidence. The development along Perry’s scheme may be seen as an increase in tolerance of uncertainty: Uncertainty was rejected in dualism, viewed as temporary in multiplicity, accepted as legitimate during relativism, and dealt with when students affirmed themselves in their commitments. The development along Perry’s scheme may be also seen as a transition from blind imitation of role models to a critical and selective adoption of specific role models’ behaviors and attitudes.

Studies of medical students’ reflectivity or related concepts have shown that most students believed that value judgments were either true or false 58 ; that their intellectual development was mainly at the dualism or multiplicity stage 59 ; that they expressed “predominantly simplistic levels of thinking” 60 ; that their reflective ability decreased over the course of the final academic year 61 ; and that there were no detectable differences in tolerance of uncertainty between junior and senior students. 54 , 62 , 63 Qualitative observations have suggested that medical students differ in their responses to observed inconsistencies in the communication styles of their clinical preceptors. Although some students thought that there was no excuse for a “poor” patient-interviewing technique, others attempted to reflect on, and understand, the reasons for the variability in their tutors’ communication styles. 64 Still other students have been reported to stick to “principles” that do not always apply to specific situations, or to express the cynical attitude of “give them what they want” 35 that characterizes Perry’s stage of multiplicity.

The evolution of a novice into a reflective practitioner is intellectually difficult and emotionally demanding. 36 The assumption that, in the uncertain realm of clinical practice, there is an absolute truth known to role models, is extremely attractive. Conformity with authority has been identified as a means by which medical students control anxieties generated by the complexity of the clinical environment. 65 In other words, it is easier to imitate role models than to grapple with the uncertainties inherent in clinical practice. Reflectivity necessitates more complex thinking than does a social code grounded in dominance, hierarchies, and conformity. 66 Furthermore, research suggests that certain aspects of reflectivity, such as self-awareness 67 and awareness of others’ feelings, 68 , 69 are associated with not only higher levels of interpersonal competence but also higher levels of psychological distress and a less favorable perception of one’s self. For all of these reasons, medical students need help maturing into reflective professionals. Students have to be provided with the knowledge and motivation that are needed for developing critical attitudes, for questioning the messages they receive from their clinical preceptors and from the hidden curriculum, and for moving away from the comfort inherent in conformity.

Several specific teaching interventions 70 , 71 have been suggested in order to promote students’ reflectivity and tolerance of uncertainty. Although such interventions are certainly worth exploring, I concur with the view that mindfulness cannot be taught explicitly but can be “modeled by mentors and cultivated in learners.” 50 Given Perry’s finding that the transition to the multiplicity stage began when students came across teachers who answered, “I don’t know,” it would appear to me that the main source of support in students’ intellectual and ethical development is the realization that they are not alone, and that their instructors share their doubts and uncertainties. 36 Therefore, I think that role models and role modeling are an important element of medical education. However, the main attribute of clinical role models is their openness in expressing their doubts and visibility in their deliberations. Seeing role models deliberate promotes students’ reflectivity, while students’ reflectivity is a prerequisite of effective role modeling.

Conclusions

Attempts to improve role modeling have been targeted primarily at the promotion of those personal attributes that learners and learner- or peer-identified role models identified as desirable. 4 , 5 , 18 In this Perspective, I have argued that these attempts alone are not likely to improve the educational value of role modeling. First, I know of no evidence that such attempts increase the proportion of clinical faculty who are “positive” role models. Second, it is uncertain whether the personal attributes, which learners say they admire, are those that they actually emulate. 26 Third, the heterogeneity in the strengths and weaknesses of individual faculty has, in and of itself, a unique educational value. 39

I believe that attempts to enhance the educational value of role modeling should include not only targeting the role models themselves and improving faculty performance but also targeting the students, with an intent to enhance their reflectivity and critical attitudes to their learning environment and clinical preceptors. Therefore, I suggest that faculty should, first, warn students against their tendency to uncritically imitate any of their preceptors; second, make students realize that their preceptors share their doubts and uncertainties; third, gain an insight into, and correct, undesirable features of the clinical setting’s hidden curriculum and institutional culture; and finally, develop policies for faculty recruitment and promotion that consider whether a clinical tutor is a “positive” role model only in the context of an overall evaluation of his or her strengths and weaknesses.

Funding/Support: None reported.

Other disclosures: None reported.

Ethical approval: Reported as not applicable.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not reflect the views of any institutions with which he was and is currently affiliated.