Teaching. It's not a job that seems to get very much respect, when you think about it. We've all heard the expression, “Those who can, do; those who can't do, teach.” It annoys me, because teachers have a crucial job: they instruct the next generation and provide necessary tools that their students will carry with them for their entire lives. Teaching is an important job and someone has to do it... but when I say someone, I don't mean just anyone. Because we can all remember a time in our lives (or more likely, several times) when we had BAD TEACHERS.
I'll get to that in a minute, but let me first explain why teachers are so underrated. For that, we need to discuss the influence of parents. Perhaps surprisingly, multiple studies seem to indicate that parenting only matters significantly in a child's development when it's bad parenting. If a youth has good parents, the effect is one of stability (which obviously makes for a mentally healthy child, of course) but it really provides little more than a solid foundation for growth. With good parents a youth has a healthy upbringing, fostering a minimum of personal issues, but the actual impact parents have on our personality is, it seems, fairly small. The first thing to realise is that about 50% of our personality is genetic alone; Lady Gaga was half-right when she told you that you were “born this way” (but only half-right, folks). The other half of our identity comes largely from peer groups – friends mainly, plus any churches, scout groups, sports teams, etc. that you might participate in. Media manipulation also plays a part: you wouldn't care about your figure nearly as much as you do without the insidious influence of television and magazines. Essentially, parents are important in early development, but it isn't really very long before we begin to draw our identity from elsewhere.
School teachers are therefore incredibly important during our high school years. We draw our knowledge of the wider world from teachers – or we are supposed to at least. Teaching is obviously different to parenting, but both parents and teachers bear the responsibility for fostering healthy minds in the next generation, and good teachers are people that have the more direct, formal impact. A degree of loyalty is often fostered: the student of a good teacher will defend their theories, excitedly repeat the highlights of their lessons to others, and (if you go to university) your class choices can be influenced hugely on the basis of who is lecturing in a subject.
So what happens when a student has a bad teacher? It might help to ask – what makes a bad teacher? Things like disrespect for students, ineptitude at communicating, an apparent lack of interest or enthusiasm on the part of the teacher – all of these, and more besides, can severely affect how much you apply yourself in class. Bad teachers can be emotionally affecting: you might leave the class of a bad teacher drained, despondent and depressed. It can affect your self-esteem – you might not want to ask a question in class in case you look stupid. The teacher might ask a question and you're afraid to answer. I was once told (by a somewhat icy teacher) that, “there's no point in you being here – you might as well leave.” On a different occasion I asked another teacher to repeat something I hadn't understood, and was met with a rolling of the eyes, a melodramatic sigh and a slow, patronising explanation. I don't think I ever asked her anything ever again.
My argument is simple: some people cannot, and should not, teach. Ever. If you're considering studying Education at university because you're passionate about the idea of teaching, go for it. But if you're considering Education because you don't know what else to do – stop and think about it. You might make a good teacher (and the only way to find out is by having a go) but make sure you're prepared to deal with the responsibility that being a teacher brings... because you will hold too much power over impressionable, sensitive, developing minds to be excusable for any damage you cause. Even knowing your subject back-to-front means nothing if you don't have the passion, warmth, patience and 'people skills' to complement that knowledge.
In our society, I believe that we don't value good teaching enough, and we don't stigmatise bad teaching enough. I've always resented the expression, “the children are our future” (it's always sounded to me like “You'll get your turn once we're done”) but there is a bit of truth in it. Students eventually grow up, and they always remember their teachers, both good and bad. For me, a student's memories of school should be of a time spent basking in the joy of learning. Those memories should never conjure up bitter resentment and frustration at the thought of a year spent in the presence of an appalling teacher who could teach nothing at all.
I'll get to that in a minute, but let me first explain why teachers are so underrated. For that, we need to discuss the influence of parents. Perhaps surprisingly, multiple studies seem to indicate that parenting only matters significantly in a child's development when it's bad parenting. If a youth has good parents, the effect is one of stability (which obviously makes for a mentally healthy child, of course) but it really provides little more than a solid foundation for growth. With good parents a youth has a healthy upbringing, fostering a minimum of personal issues, but the actual impact parents have on our personality is, it seems, fairly small. The first thing to realise is that about 50% of our personality is genetic alone; Lady Gaga was half-right when she told you that you were “born this way” (but only half-right, folks). The other half of our identity comes largely from peer groups – friends mainly, plus any churches, scout groups, sports teams, etc. that you might participate in. Media manipulation also plays a part: you wouldn't care about your figure nearly as much as you do without the insidious influence of television and magazines. Essentially, parents are important in early development, but it isn't really very long before we begin to draw our identity from elsewhere.
School teachers are therefore incredibly important during our high school years. We draw our knowledge of the wider world from teachers – or we are supposed to at least. Teaching is obviously different to parenting, but both parents and teachers bear the responsibility for fostering healthy minds in the next generation, and good teachers are people that have the more direct, formal impact. A degree of loyalty is often fostered: the student of a good teacher will defend their theories, excitedly repeat the highlights of their lessons to others, and (if you go to university) your class choices can be influenced hugely on the basis of who is lecturing in a subject.
So what happens when a student has a bad teacher? It might help to ask – what makes a bad teacher? Things like disrespect for students, ineptitude at communicating, an apparent lack of interest or enthusiasm on the part of the teacher – all of these, and more besides, can severely affect how much you apply yourself in class. Bad teachers can be emotionally affecting: you might leave the class of a bad teacher drained, despondent and depressed. It can affect your self-esteem – you might not want to ask a question in class in case you look stupid. The teacher might ask a question and you're afraid to answer. I was once told (by a somewhat icy teacher) that, “there's no point in you being here – you might as well leave.” On a different occasion I asked another teacher to repeat something I hadn't understood, and was met with a rolling of the eyes, a melodramatic sigh and a slow, patronising explanation. I don't think I ever asked her anything ever again.
My argument is simple: some people cannot, and should not, teach. Ever. If you're considering studying Education at university because you're passionate about the idea of teaching, go for it. But if you're considering Education because you don't know what else to do – stop and think about it. You might make a good teacher (and the only way to find out is by having a go) but make sure you're prepared to deal with the responsibility that being a teacher brings... because you will hold too much power over impressionable, sensitive, developing minds to be excusable for any damage you cause. Even knowing your subject back-to-front means nothing if you don't have the passion, warmth, patience and 'people skills' to complement that knowledge.
In our society, I believe that we don't value good teaching enough, and we don't stigmatise bad teaching enough. I've always resented the expression, “the children are our future” (it's always sounded to me like “You'll get your turn once we're done”) but there is a bit of truth in it. Students eventually grow up, and they always remember their teachers, both good and bad. For me, a student's memories of school should be of a time spent basking in the joy of learning. Those memories should never conjure up bitter resentment and frustration at the thought of a year spent in the presence of an appalling teacher who could teach nothing at all.
