Over the last 40 years, I have had the honor of being around many wonderful
teachers while also embracing information gleaned from those who never
managed to earn my respect. My favorite teachers consistently hit on most of the
seven principles of effective teaching. They all encouraged student-faculty
contact, cooperation among students, and active learning. Their feedback was
prompt, and they were willing to work with my quirks showing their respect for
diverse talents and ways of learning (Bernstein, Frantz, Chew, 2020). The teacher
I would like to focus on is a history teacher from my hometown community
college. This professor was able to take a mandatory history class and turn it
into an engaging learning experience. He had high expectations and clearly spelt
them out in the syllabus. His study material were effective and helped to reduce
unnecessary surprises. During class he was able to bring fun historical facts to
life and encouraged discussions surrounding each students personal family
history. He was also available after class and during office hours to discuss the
topics of concern and provide guidance on class materials as needed. Our
homework and tests were returned promptly with meaningful feedback. As a
result, I purposefully sought him out when he taught other classes, especially if I
found the topic to be intimidating.
On the other end of the spectrum, the professor who most distinctly sticks out in
my memory as one that I did not respect was the instructor for kinesiology while
I was completing my undergraduate degree. He was pompous and proud of it. He
started out the class saying most of the class will choose to drop and the rest
will be lucky to receive a (B). His lectures contradicted his required reading, as
well as his study guides and he lectured so fast that it was impossible to take
meaningful notes. He also always told us how busy he was and was rarely
around for questions. My final frustration with him was that if you were not
actively in his program then you were nothing to him, even if you were slotted to
apply for his program the following year. I passed the class with a (B) and
promptly switched my degree course to avoid any further classes with him.
This experience could have been drastically different. If he would have come into
the first day of class with an encouraging welcome and reassurance that while
this class will be challenging, we will work through it together I believe more of
the students would have stuck around. If he would have demonstrated some
desire to have a conversation instead of strictly lecturing it would have built
rapport within the class. Finally, if he felt the need to present like the Tasmanian
Devil, then he could have at least remained consistent with the written material.
Had I stuck with his program, I do not believe it would have changed my final
degree path, but I would have gone into occupational therapy with more of a
biomechanical instead of psycho-social mindset which could have affected my
current occupation and possibly my current degree path.
Teaching and learning occur throughout the lifespan. “Train up a child in the way
he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (English Standard
Version (ESV) Bible, 2001, Proverbs 22:6). Individuals who believe they are bad or
unintelligent because they do not understand a concept or cannot focus for long
periods of time will eventually shut down and may never learn to put forth their
true effort or seek out a learning style that will work best for them (Darling-
Hammond, Flook, Cook-Harvey, Barron, & Osher, 2020). Some people, by the grace
of God and the support of those around them, do prevail. They fight their way
through the system and looking back realize that if the system supported
increased diversity, self-actualization, and positivity when embracing unique
identities their learning experience could have been drastically different (Robinson,
2022).
I believe that we all have an insurmountable number of teachers and students
that directly and indirectly affect our lives on a regular basis. I also believe that
each past interaction helped to make me into the person I am today. Not every
learning opportunity will necessarily be positive and that is okay if I grow as a
person and as a professional. My question to you is as follows, “When thinking
back on the teacher you identified as being a poor teacher, what was something
positive that you learned from that situation as a whole?” f
References:
Bernstein, D. A., Frantz, S., & Chew, S. (2020). Teaching psychology: A step-by-step
guide (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B., & Osher, D. (2020)
Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development,
Applied Developmental Science, 24:2, 97-140, DOI:
10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791 Links to an external site.
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
Robinson, D. (2022). Neurodiversity in medical education: How can we improve
postgraduate learning for neurodiverse doctors? Medical Teacher, 44(5), 564–566.
https://doi-org.usu01.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/0142159X.2022.2039383
