Anyone who teaches writing, especially argument, knows the importance of ethos. In order to effectively communicate with an audience, one must evaluate that audience's values, beliefs, and interests and cater to them, build common ground--in order for that audience to be able to trust the author's credibility to inform, persuade, or entertain them.
One of the biggest mistakes many teachers make is assuming that they have no need to establish their credibility, that their audience somehow already owes them their trust and respect because they're the teacher and they have a MA or PhD. But that doesn't mean anything to students. All they see is another adult proving to be an obstacle to getting where they want to be.
If you want students to care about what you're trying to teach them, you first have to establish your credibility, which has little to do with what you know about the subject you teach. It has everything to do with what you know about your audience. You have to present the material in a way that takes into consideration your stduents' value systems and their interests. You might think that because they're in college that appealing to their desire to get an education and a "good" job would work. Wrong. They're in college because adults like you have told them their entire lives that college is the only option. How do I know this? My students spend weeks discussing this issue in class and writing about it.
My students have no qualms about laying out the truth in regard to this issue. They want the things a college education can get them, but they don't care so much about the college education itself. As far as they see it, college is a huge waste of time, a repeat of high school (shame on professors who teach this way and reinforce this unfortunate belief). If we want to change this, if we want them to value the learning and not just the diploma, we have to connect that learning to things they do care about, the everyday parts of their lives, the music they listen to, the movies they watch, the language they converse in, the hardships they face, the relationships they're in, the experiences they've had (sometimes traumatic).
Too often teachers' efforts to make class more interesting is to cater to their own interests instead of their students. You're never going to win them over that way. They need to experience you showing interest in what they care about and making an effort to connect what you teach to that.
I certainly don't consider myself to be the best at this, but I am aware of it and I certainly try--every day, every class period, every time I interact with a student. I do not expect their respect, nor demand it...I put in the effort to earn it.
