Throughout my educational career I have experienced several examples
of both great instruction and poor instruction. Several themes, as
discussed in this week’s readings, are readily apparent when I reflect upon
what I view as a good teacher or a poor teacher. I have continuously
found that a teacher who is patient has a level of real-world expertise in
their topic and is confident in their abilities, within an objective approach,
are key elements of what I have viewed as effective instructors.$ I will
discuss below two examples that I have experienced, one example of an
expert and excellent instructor and one example of an instructor that
could use improvement.
$
One of the best teachers that I’ve ever had was not in a formal traditional
academic sense. My exposure to this teacher was actually during my time
as a police cadet, after completing five years of active duty service in the
military. I was transitioning from a military mindset after three combat
tours in Iraq into becoming a police officer here in the United States, and
in attendance at a police academy.$ The lead instructor at the academy
was a military veteran and had many years of experience under his belt
as a police academy instructor.$ He took the time and patience with me to
help me adapt in my mindset and took interest in ensuring that I was also
transitioning from military life into civilian life.$ Coupled with his subject
matter expertise in law enforcement, he became a mentor and a life
coach, someone that I could look up to as a role model in both my
professional life and my personal life.$ Additionally, he was patient with
me where needed but also held me to a high standard and accountable,
which was vital in my professional and personal growth.$ It has been found
that this form of teaching and leadership, coupled with preventative and
post incident care also helps police officers and combat veterans gain a
higher level of resiliency in the face of job-related trauma (Ellrich & Baier,
2017).$ This instructor excelled at all the elements that are described in
our reading, but he encouraged student-faculty contact, taking direct
interest in guiding other cadets and I to our fullest potential (Bernstein et
al., 2020).
$
An example of a poor experience I have had with a teacher comes from
my time in my master’s program.$ I was going to school part time and
about 9 years into my career in law enforcement.$ The class I was in was
very obviously being taught by a teacher who had a very liberal agenda
based on their presentations.$ Every presentation and every assignment
that the teacher gave during the class was absolutely tainted by their
personal beliefs and strayed far from the source topic material.$ Early in
the class I wrote a paper using empirical evidence to dispute the teacher’s
viewpoint and it was given a poor grade.$ I found myself the rest of the
semester carefully ensuring that my assignments were written to not
stand against the teacher’s views.$ At the conclusion of the class, I found
that I had learned very little, and the entire class was more-so an exercise
in patience on my end than anything else.$ This teacher had little to no
respect for diverse learning styles and backgrounds, as well as did not
provide an active learning environment, which is a principle of effective
teaching (Bernstein et al., 2020)
$
This teacher likely had valuable information to share but could not step
away from their own ego and connect with their students.$ In 1 Peter 4:10
it is stated “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to
serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms (King
James Bible, 2017).”$ This Bible verse perfectly covers the issues faced in
the second scenario and is a direct lesson on how to fix that issue.$ To
respect each student’s experience, while holding them to a high standard,
allows each student to fully develop their gifts as God intended.
$
References
Bernstein, D., Frantz, S., & Chew, S. (2020).$Teaching Psychology.$New
York: Routledge.
Ellrich, K., & Baier. (2017). Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Police
Officers Following Violent Assaults.$Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 331-
356.
King James Bible. (2017). Retrieved from King James Bible:
https://www.kingjamesbibeonline.org
