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. f 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. f The lead instructor at the academy was a military veteran and had
many years of experience under his belt as a police academy instructor. f 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. f
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. f 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. f 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). f 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. f I was going to school part time and about 9 years into
my career in law enforcement. f The class I was in was very obviously being
taught by a teacher who had a very liberal agenda based on their presentations. f
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. f Early in the class I wrote a paper using empirical evidence to
dispute the teacher’s viewpoint and it was given a poor grade. f I found myself the
rest of the semester carefully ensuring that my assignments were written to not
stand against the teacher’s views. f 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. f 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. f 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).” f
This Bible verse perfectly covers the issues faced in the second scenario and is a
direct lesson on how to fix that issue. f 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
