I also appreciate teachers who have clear syllabi and stick to them. On
that note, it is nice that Liberty uses standardized syllabi and curriculum
for their courses; this practice likely would have offered many benefits at
other colleges I've attended. The discrepancy from class to class, from
teacher to teacher, often results in widely differing educational
experiences for students, which is a scary thought when one really thinks
about it. We may interact with or receive services from different
professionals (think medical professional for an extreme example) who
have had insufficient education, but earned their degrees/licenses
anyway. These professionals may practice their professions in ways that
come from an incomplete and/or misinformed background.
To continue, I wanted to note that we see teachers like what I've
mentioned all the time--- teachers who don't know how to educate
students, don't know how to work with certain students (think about some
special education teachers for an impactful example), and/or those who
slap on an inappropriate label, such as a mental disorder or behavioral
condition (i.e., behavior analysts, physicians, psychologists, etc., qualified
to do so or not, formally or informally). As a special education teacher and
as a parent, even as a friend or colleague, I've heard many people jump
conclusions and label someone just because of a few characteristics the
person at hand may exhibit, temporal or not. In about 100% of the
situations these labels have been misused, undeserving, and/or
inappropriate. Having standardized classes and curriculums that follow
the classes' syllabi is extremely beneficial, and perhaps important. Having
teachers who do not follow their syllabi, teachers that do not understand
their own content, teachers that do not know "how" to teach (i.e., getting
students to actually learn and retain the content's knowledge), etc., hurts
many.
With that all in mind, I truly respect teachers who operate with a high
regard for their students' abilities. Personally, I found myself aligning to
Bernstein et al.'s (2020) principle of having high expectations for
students. As a teacher and parent, my philosophy is that if you hold your
learners to high standards, often higher than what others may think
someone at a certain age is capable of, is essential, as learners will rise to
the occasion of those high standards. As teachers, we must not
underestimate our promising and bright learners!
References
Bernstein, D. A., Frantz, S., & Chew, S. (2020). Teaching psychology: A
step-by-step guide (3rd ed.). Routledge.
