The Best Approach is Often a Friendly One

In the last decade, I have developed a hobby of observing human behaviour, and I daresay that it is has been fun observing people. For one, it gives insights on what is socially acceptable, and the new trends. Of course you'll come to find that individual behaviour vary from one person to another, and although there might be some similarities among individuals. In my many years of observing people, something I would say is a constant, and everybody has a soft heart for is FRIENDLINESS. People rarely find a friendly face repulsive, and even if they do, they usually pretend otherwise for as long as needed. This though is not ALWAYS the case. A friendly face is always welcome, and people usually find themselves drawn to friendly people.

A couple of days ago, I was observing my cousin and her home tutor, and his method of teaching was particularly the reason I am writing this article. There was a sense of cordiality between them, like they had known each other for long. As a student, we are usually better at subjects whose teacher is friendly and jovial, as compared to teachers who are usually stern and strict. That is not to say jovial teachers are not strict and disciplinarians, but you would agree with me that the best of teachers are often those who find the balance between being friendly and strict.

I remember reading an article by  @Lucifer01 , where he talked about the approach he has adopted to teach his students, and how he has become good friends with them and also, making himself accessible whenever they need his help. I could relate to everything, as I have been a student, been a teacher, and still am a student. As a student, I find it is easier to understand what the friendly teacher teaches, as compared to an unfriendly lecturer.

Years ago, as a teacher, I had the erroneous opinion that being mean and stern was the best my to handle my pupils, I was wrong, as I noticed they became recluse and less open, even to the level that when they have questions or are unclear about anything, they are too afraid to ask. This reflected in their grades, and I felt I had failed as a teacher, thus, I had to change my approach and do better. I became more open and friendly towards them. This, I believe led to a significant change in fortunes, as their grades became better.

For most of last year, my classmates and I were involved in a lot of practicals and experiments relating to our field of study. This led to a lot of groupings and of course, squabbles and quarrels. One thing all of the tiffs taught me was that 'anger sharpeneth anger'. Why do I say this? A lot of the quarrels and squabbles could have been avoided if only a friendlier approach has been adopted. If I address a group of people with an angry or disrespectful tone, if not all, at least someone in the group would pick offense and may want to refute any suggestion or opinion I may have, just because of my approach. I have also observe a group of people support an idea -even though it is not ideal- simply because the other better idea didn't come through a friendly approach.

In conclusion, perhaps we would achieve more of our objective and goals if we tried a friendly approach. I am not say it is the master key to unlocking anything you want, as sometimes you need to use a fierce and strong approach. I am merely saying that if you've tried fierce and it isn't working out well, you can also try the friendly approach to see how it works out too.

Thank You For Reading 🖤🖤

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