Teaching

[azurelunatic]

Teachers whose teaching style involves the routine humiliation of students as part of driving the lesson home should be warned and suspended from teaching if appropriate.

Teachers who humiliate students rather than teach, and who interfere with a student's future learning because of trauma they inflict, should be suspended by their underwear in such a fashion as to give them a permanent wedgie. And lose their jobs.

Just sayin'.

Apropos of waking up and putting away laundry with the Futureheads' "Decent Days and Nights" in my head, because of a not-so-recent post from somebody on a Really Awesome Teacher who uses that song to get the younglings amped up about math lessons, and the ensuing discussion of Really Bad Math Teachers.

Comments

Movie teachers

[p-o-u-n-c-e-r.livejournal.com]

I take it John Houseman's portrayal of Professor Kingsfield (IIRC) in "Paper Chase" did not inspire you?

Does it matter whether the "teacher" is question is challenging post-teen students versus teachers daunting pre-teens? Are post-teens expected to be able to defend themselves?

Coming back to the question of physcial violence versus verbal assault --is putting a dunce cap on the misbehaving child and forcing him to sit in the corner away from his peers "humiliating" -- and is that better or worse than a (for purposed of this example) private (principal's office) spanking?

I dunno, I'm just trying to get a sense of the opening positions.

Re: Movie teachers

[azurelunatic]

(I can't comment on the media-based example, not being familiar with it in the slightest.)

Humiliation as a punishment for exceptionally bad behavior is probably preferable to physical violence as a punishment for exceptionally bad behavior.

Humiliating a post-teen student who's trying to disrupt the learning environment rather than learn isn't generally a problem. Humiliating a student who is struggling with learning the materials, but is actually trying to learn them, is in too many cases highly counterproductive.

Re: Movie teachers

[azurelunatic]

I also consider that putting a student on the spot to demonstrate something that they were supposed to have learned is perfectly fine, even if the student doesn't know it. However, should the student not know it, calculatedly cruel follow-up commentary is out of line.