WISDOM
it normalizes mental health and gives them hope. It’s a remarkable feeling.
Building Trust One of the first things I try to do is develop trust in the classroom. Once they trust me, they’ll listen, begin to trust each other and engage in discussion. Then they’ll fall in love with the material. I reveal a lot about my own life. I talk about my developmental journey, my family and my patients to highlight the application of the theories and research we are discussing. I share those experiences to model trust, and then they share their experiences as well. Now they’ve made a personal connection! Weakness to Strength Each student is different. You have to discover their strengths and nurture them. But don’t be afraid to identify their weaknesses. We can’t be scared to say “try again.” Sometimes, if a student isn’t doing well, we’ll meet and I’ll try to figure out why. Are they overwhelmed with their course load? Are they having personal difficulties that prevent them from focusing? Were they with their sick roommate in the emergency room all night? Or do they not yet have the study skills to master the material? Regardless, it is my job to guide them through any obstacles getting in the way of success in my classroom. Teaching With Toddlers Doing is learning, so my teaching includes a lot of experiential activities. My favorite class is when I bring my children in and allow students to work with them.
My favorite class is when I bring my children in and allow students to work with them. After exploring several developmental theories, students create ways to test them among children of different ages. After exploring several developmental theories, students create ways to test them among children of different ages. They’ve examined topics such as infant reflexes, Piaget’s limits of conservation, motor development, theory of mind, impulse control and emergence of gender identity. For example, students hold up a girl doll and a boy doll and ask, “Who goes to work? Who makes more money? Who is a scientist?” It’s remarkable to see how my kids — now ages 3, 5 and 7 — respond differently based on their developmental framework. The students are incredibly creative in their approaches, and it’s always a fun day — even when the kids don’t cooperate. Temper tantrums can be part of it! That’s what it’s like doing research with children. It’s hard. Honestly, it’s a little bit embarrassing,
24 RICE M AG A ZINE SUMMER 2019
but then it opens up a discussion about emotional regulation, brain development and parenting strategies. Shared Respect At the very end of PSYC 101, we cover psychological disorders. People are much more willing to share once we’ve developed a relationship as a class. For example, when discussing anxiety disorders, I might say, “Who’s had a panic attack?” On day one, no one would have told me. But by the end of the semester, they’re talking about their panic attacks, about being bullied, about depression, about alcoholism in their families, about trauma. They’re talking about it with 100 people staring at them. It takes a semester to get there, but when that happens, it’s amazing. When students hear their classmates share their struggles,
A Family Affair We are three generations at Rice: my dad, me and my three kids, who have attended the Rice preschool. After coming to Rice in 2011, I had a baby. And my parents [dad K.C. Nicolaou is the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Chemistry at Rice] were like, “What are we doing in California when our first grandchild has been born?” So my dad got a wonderful Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas grant to do his research at Rice, and we just celebrated his 800th publication! Growing up, students were a part of our lives. My mom would cook for 100 people: students and their families. There would be Greek music playing. She’d be holding postdocs and Ph.D. students in a line, twirling a handkerchief, dancing around the kitchen table, feeding everybody. It was a great time. And the next morning, everybody was back in the lab, back to work, bright and early. That’s how we grew up. Mentorship, teaching, hard work and family all went together. You assume so many roles when you teach. I love learning from my students. As they grow, I grow. It is a remarkable honor to see them flourish and twirl their own handkerchiefs! An expanded version of this interview can be found at magazine.rice.edu.