The problem is, according to Gladwell, that there is no way to identify a good teacher until he or she teaches.
He uses the analogy of the quarterback to make this point. It appears that most great quarterbacks in the college game fail in the professional game. On the other hand, more mediocre quarterbacks in college become stars in the pros. This makes the process of scouting quarterbacks an impossible task.
We have many talented students right now in universities, studying subjects and succeeding as students. Many of them will choose and train for the very honourable and important profession of teaching. However, many of them will land a place as a teacher in a school, and may find that they lose their vision and their spirit (as the Nation website reports).
In your view, and in your experience as students in your respective education systems, do you agree with Gladwell's argument? Do you see a quarterback problem in the education system from which you come?
Make your post by Sunday night. Respond to 2 classmates by before next class. Remember to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M
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ReplyDeleteThe quarterback analogy is somewhat an interesting perspective on the educational system. I wouldn’t say that agree with it, mostly due to the circumstances I have been through with education.
I've been through a purely Thai educational system from kindergarten leading up to Mathayom 3(Grade 9). From personal experience, Thai educational system is heavily influenced by the teachers' position in the government system. Changes to a teacher's position can also influence what level they get to teach for a certain subject as well as WHERE they get to teach. I've had plenty of my elementary school teachers transfer from Bangkok to rural schools in Chiang Mai. And this teacher transferring is so frequent I found it almost ridiculous. Every year I found myself studying awkwardly with a new teacher. Fortunately, for elderly teachers, they don't get to transfer much. These teachers tend to have a lot of experiences in regard to teaching and tends to nail how they teach, however they are very inflexible when it comes to accepting the new generations.
One thing in common among these teachers are how they usually describe themselves as mediocre at best when they were students our age. Sadly, no matter how good those teachers did in school, it wouldn’t matter given the circumstance. Thai education is heavily laid out, ranging from having fixed textbooks as well as premade course outline (most likely to accommodate the heavy rotation of teachers), resulting in a very inflexible learning experience. I find it so heavily controlled that the no matter who were to teach, we were most likely going to get the same outcome anyway.
Fortunately, I transferred to an international high school which really gave me the opportunities to absorb proper education as well as expose myself with the variety of teachers that exist. Some of my teachers did well during their time as highschoolers or undergrads, some didn’t but ended up with a very successful career and took up teaching as something of a hobby. I wouldn’t argue with Gladwell’s point about the only way to identify a good teacher would only be when he/she teaches. His quarterback analogy does sound convincing, however as I progress with my own education, I get to meet these amazing educators, so I haven’t really paid much attention to their background. Certainly, there are bound to be bad educators, humans are full of flaws after all, but I don’t think that would make the “education” bad. If your teachers happen to be awkward with teacher-student interactions, maybe try talking with the person more and you just might have discovered a hidden gem.
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DeleteI've heard so many times about the poor quality of Thai educators that it no longer angers me but just saddens me. I have a few friends who could probably not agree more regarding the way they were taught in their schools. It seems that our government should really try do something about these wide-spread problems, but that's just me being optimistic.
I see that even after such a disheartening experience that you are still able to try and learn in school by going out of your way to communicate with some teachers, which is quite admirable. I'm happy that you were able to find amazing educators after moving out of the system.
I like how you used your experience to connect with your opinion. I myself have never studied in a Thai school, but have seen a lot of news online and heard from different people about their experiences. It's really unfortunate how our country isn't trying to improve the education system, since these people are who will become the future of our country.
DeleteIt's great to see that you got a good experience in an international school. However, it is also sad that students in Thai school do not get the same experiences as students in international school.
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DeleteI find it fascinating that despite the decades of Thai education, they still are using the same methods of teaching, using large textbooks that dull the experience of learning and that bore the students to their core. We have seen that in private schools here in Thailand that changing up their education techniques could have radically change a students outlook on learning and education as a whole. Yet despite that public schools here in Thailand don't do that. Granted, I understand that lack of budget and the inefficiency with teachers that you have described do affect the possibility of implementing this. However, doesn't that mean the we need systemic changes to the Thai education system as a whole?
I definitely agree with Gladwell that the potential to be a great teacher is impossible to gauge, unless educational institutes are willing to simulate a classroom environments with fake students for teachers to be evaluated in. The way I initially thought of alleviating the quarterback problem, making teacher training programs more rigorous and updated with current practices, was already written off by Gladwell as ineffective. However, doesn’t the fact that teaching degrees and certifications are “about as useful in predicting success as having a quarterback throw footballs into a bunch of garbage cans” mean that these courses need to be changed? Gladwell states that educational reformers favor academic and cognitive prowess, but clearly this approach has been fruitless. I’ve had teachers before who were clearly highly knowledgeable in their field, but (in my opinion) were hopelessly poor instructors. They would ignore students in the class, be overly harsh whenever students asked for help or fail to pick up on the fact that half the class wasn’t understanding any of the material. How teachers with clear anger management issues ever get qualified is also indicative of the system’s flaws. A shift to focus on communicative skills is necessary I think; the ability to pick up on social cues and subtleties was the shared trait for the ‘good’ teachers in Pianta’s tapes and should thus be emphasized. Nonetheless, doing still doesn’t address the fact that teachers can only be truly evaluated in a real classroom environment.
ReplyDeleteGladwell’s proposal for an apprenticeship program is probably the best solution, since it would allow teachers-in-training to receive immediate feedback about their conduct. On paper, this sounds like a surefire way of giving new teachers experience without having to subject students to their initial blunders. I can say from personal experience though, that such a program can be rather awkward from the students’ side if implemented poorly. This process was regularly used in my previous high school, with the new teacher accompanying another as an assistant. More often than not, the apprentice teacher would be too eager to prove themselves to their mentor and go up to students that haven’t requested help. Students would almost always call on the senior teacher out of habit and familiarity. Eventually, the teaching assistant would end up sitting off absently or be constantly pestering students. Alternating between teachers for some classes in the schedule is the better approach, but requires more coordination on the teachers’ side. Again, this was something I’ve also experienced, and while it was odd at first, it doesn’t change the classroom dynamic the same way being taught by two instructors simultaneously does.
DeletePerhaps a better way of approaching the quarterback problem would be not to think of it as a problem at all (since that implies it can be solved), but rather acknowledge it as an inherent trait of the education system. It may be cliche to say this, but in my opinion, the only real indicator of a bad teacher is the lack of passion for actually teaching. A teacher that values their students is almost guaranteed to improve, because they will treat the act of educating others as a skill, one that must be constantly refined and improved upon. They will gladly accept feedback, incorporate new teaching methods or theories, as well as acknowledge the fact that student demographics change over time. Even if the teacher’s initial approaches are inadequate, they would think critically about how not to repeat their mistakes. A poor teacher would be set in their ways, making no attempt to adapt their techniques to new challenges. This is why I think experience isn’t an accurate indicator of teaching skill: what may have worked with students in the 2000s isn’t guaranteed to work with students in the 2020s. It’s irrelevant how many classes a teacher has successfully taught in the past if they are unwilling to adopt new strategies to better instruct their current one. Admittedly, I recognize the difficulties that an institution would have in attempting to use the ‘passion to teach’, as a metric of weighing teacher efficacy compared to the industry standard of ‘value added’ analysis. Nonetheless, I feel it is something that educational researchers should at least consider (and perhaps try to quantify) in future studies.
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DeleteYour point on teachers being highly skilled on the subject but being bad instructors was really good, I didn't realize this when writing my comment. Many solutions to the gladwell problems are brought up here and I quite enjoyed reading your post as it highlighted many other things I didn't think would happen before (a potential teacher working as an assistant first).
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ReplyDeleteGladwell’s point seems to be quite straightforward and agreeable on first impressions, and that’s definitely because it is exactly as I just described, straightforward and agreeable. The quality of teachers makes a whole world of difference. Good teachers are able to inspire not only understanding in a particular topic, but also inspire interest. I am able to recall my highschool math teacher, who was someone who was so passionate about mathematics that it radiated out. Her passion inspired me to pursue math on my own, which led me on a mini-journey onto the mathematical side of youtube to watch and learn about all these new interesting mathematical facts and problems that I would never have known without this teacher. Now I am taking an applied math minor in MUIC.
I feel that I am quite lucky because I think most, if not all, of my previous teachers have been pretty good. Even those who had moved on from the profession were educators who were quite alright. In my fortunate experience, all my previous teachers really did put in an effort to foster a quality educational experience for me and my classmates.
Regarding Gladwell’s point about not knowing if a teacher will be good until they have actually taught, leaves me with the impression that it could potentially happen, but I would not know since I have never seen it myself. I can imagine somebody going into the field of education and their first experience in the classroom with petty students could turn them off from the profession forever. Although if this were the case, I’d be left quite skeptical of their motivations behind pursuing the field in the first place. Could it have been only for financial reasons? Or maybe they settled and could not find another profession? In my opinion, the quality of education a teacher is able to give significantly depends on their passion for teaching, as well as their passion for the subject they are teaching. Like I mentioned earlier, one of my teachers was just so passionate about mathematics that it made all the difference.
I really like how you share your experience about how your high school math teacher was so enthusiastic about mathematics that it somewhat inspires you to take an applied mathematics minor. My highschool computer teacher also inspired me do this computer engineering major, having an enthusiastic teacher can really help you realize about your passion. While certainly, I do agree that the occupation in education requires great passion, it hasn't really been the case, especially in Thai's education. Currently, Thailand is in dire need for new educators (which really brought upon all the transferring issue that I mentioned in my comment). Unfortunately, to fix this issue, the qualification to study in the field of educating has been dropped to promote more enrollment. This solution not only brought a dip in education quality (leading back to the pre-planned education I mentioned) but also damaged role of being an educator as well. Sadly, nowadays, teachers in Thai educational system (elementary, middle, high school teachers) are usually regarded as failures that couldn't do better in college. It's saddening and discouraging.
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Yes you are right about how teachers can play a significant role in our goals because my passion towards art is due to my teachers, their support and teachings have placed me to this position where my Muic professors gave me the opportunity of making some cards for Muic because of my calligraphy. As I said in my comment, I am studying in this field because of all of the motivations and appreciation my teachers gave to me. 6381040
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Gladwell's statement to an extent. Most, if not all, teachers won't know if they're able to teach until doing so. I knew a teacher that once had a passion for teaching. He was transferred around multiple schools due to need and all the students at each schools respected him. However currently, he loathes teaching. He's tired of the school system.
I also had a teacher who studied aeronautics in university only to teach in highschool without the usage of his degree. He was a surprisingly great teacher with great charisma and strong morality. Although he's not greatly knowledgeable in all the subjects he teaches, the way he masturfully inspires the students to study on their own and digest ideas makes up for that lack. It's surprising, really.
A teacher who was taught to be one failed against a teacher who picked teaching as a gig.
I believe that because teaching deals with human to human interaction, it's nearly impossible to gauge the compatibility of a person and their capability to give information through teaching. Multiple factors such as culture, environment, socioeconomics, and even demographics play a huge role. Just because a teacher is unable to teach well in, let's say, Thailand doesn't mean that they will be unable to teach well in Germany.
I agree with your statement about how you can't really gauge the compatibility of a person and their capability to give information through teaching. As I also mentioned in my own comment, there is more to a teacher than just the way they teach. There are plenty of teachers who did not particularly want to become a teacher, but had to become one due to certain circumstances. It's not really fair to determine if a teacher is good just by the way they teach.
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DeleteI really like your opinion about this topic as the last part resonated really well with me. I also agree that it is difficult to measure how well a teacher can teach because the same teacher and teaching methods could vary based on the response of students. The way you described it was very well articulated.
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Yes what you stated is very true especially the part you said about how your teacher studied aeronautics in university just to teach in high school. I remember one of my mathematics teacher did PhD in maths field just to give the best knowledge to us. It was so admiring because he studied till the highest degree to teach us. 6381040
DeleteI do agree with Gladwell's statement regarding how many teachers when placed in their field, find themselves losing their vision and spirit. However, I do not believe that it is necessarily as big of an issue as Gladwell describes. Many people find themselves lacking the passion or the drive for a profession they studied and worked so hard for when they join the actual field. In fact, it is a very human thing to do and I do not believe there is a way for any institute to find a definitive way to prevent that. I have seen doctors in my family who studied for several years to get their medical degrees and throw all of that away to pursue a different profession because they simply weren't as passionate about their field as they expected to be. While they lacked the passion that certainly would have made them better doctors, it did not make them understand the human anatomy any less nor did it make them any less of a doctor. This applies to the profession of teaching as well as other fields.
ReplyDeleteWhile I make this comment, I do acknowledge that I may be biased as I have never really had a "bad teacher" and if I did, I usually found them quitting the next year and getting replaced by a better teacher since I went to an international school.
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DeleteComparing teachers and doctors is quite interesting I think. You say yourself that doctors lacking passion will quit the medical field, why shouldn't this be the same for teachers? Of course, it's inevitable that people will experience uncertainty and lose their initial drive over time, but recovering it isn't impossible either. Institutes can't prevent people from losing their spirit yes, but they can implement programs/tools to help recognize fatigue and provide support channels. I think a teacher truly struggling with a certain class should be allowed to take a break or change classes. Telling them to power through to the end of term isn't helpful. Students can't learn effectively from a halfhearted teacher, and being continuously strained would only make it less likely for that teacher to restore their passion.
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DeleteI find it difficult to compare doctors to teachers because a doctor's job is more black and white than a teacher's. While some doctors do go the extra mile to ensure that their patients have healed successfully, doctors don't need to go through the lengths great teachers go through. Their job ends when a patient is healed and when the patient is educated on how to prevent such issues from arising again. Now that I have said this, I have realised that a doctor's job does include being a teacher. This makes your comparison much more applicable to this topic and your input more valuable but I still feel that teachers cannot do their jobs without being passionate because they would be fired when the results come in. This is because a passionate teacher would ensure that the students are performing well while a teacher who does not care about their profession would not have the same drive to be bothered to do so. However, this is just an assumption as I have never taught professionally.
I completely agree with Gladwell's statement about how teachers are the most crucial value-adding mechanism in a school. When I was in high school, there was one class that I didn't particularly enjoy, but the teacher was one of the bests one I ever had. She was kind of like a friend to all of her students. I would look forward to that class every morning. I also had an english teacher who loved his job so much. Every time he would teach, we could see how passionate he was. He was always ready to give us any advice, and make us better writers. I give him a lot of credit for the fact I got placed into the advanced track because I gained a lot of good reading and writing skills from that class, causing me to get a high score in the ielts exam.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have had teachers who were passionate about the subject they were teaching, I also had teachers who were just teaching for the sake of having a job, and a steady income. Other than teachers, I have also seen some other adults in my life who still do not know what they really want to do in life, even though they have a steady income. For this reason I also agree with Gladwell about how some people may lose their vision and their spirit. However, I don't think that it is only possible to know if a teacher is good by seeing how they teach. I think there is more to a teacher than just teaching, and we should give them more credit for who they are beyond just being a teacher.
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Totally, teachers are the ones that control the general mood of the class, having an enthusiastic one around would really boost the motivation among students. Thai educational system doesn't really give that flexibility for teachers and students to really show their enthusiasm which really brought down the general mood shared among the class. It could be said that not only does the educator lose their spirit due to the current system in place but it also lessens the students' willingness to learn. While the issue of losing passion for teaching exist in other educational system as well, I think the one currently in place in Thailand "promotes" educators to lose their passion.
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DeleteI agree with you. It is virtually impossible to list down all the tasks a teacher needs to do. I believe that the best way to see how good a teacher is, is by seeing their results and like you, not by how they teach. This is true as long as they obtain those results legitimately and if there are no major external factors that would cause students to have bad results.
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DeleteDefinitely agree because I've had similar experiences. Despite being difficult, I think any class can be enjoyable when the teacher puts an effort and doesn't do it just for the sake of teaching. It was also sometimes the other way around, where the class was an easy A but I dreaded it every morning because of the teacher.
Agreed. The part where you mentioned looking forward to a class—you initially disliked—because of a fun teacher really resonated with me. That was the case with my physics teacher in 11th grade; although I wasn't particularly good at physics and struggled most of the time, my teacher was fun and understanding which helped keep me engaged during class.
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ReplyDeleteIn my personal experience, teachers are actually not the defining factor when it comes to a good learning environment. Though I agree with the overall idea of the quarterback problem and how we never know how good a teacher is until they teach, I find that the teachers are usually not the biggest defining factor.
In the years that I have been in school, there have been many different types of teachers I've encountered, some good, and some not as great. Though the quality of the teachers affected the classroom environment, it was usually the classmates that contributed to my opinion on each class. Often, good teachers would be undermined by the students that misbehave in the class. I have seen over and over again how certain teachers try really hard to make it so that the students would have an interest to learn, but it was often to no avail. Though there are a few teachers that could appeal to the students as a whole, often times, it was really hard to say what made a teacher good or bad definitively as well. In my opinion, nothing is good or bad for sure. There has to be a middle point somewhere and I think it’s okay for teachers to make mistakes because they are human as well. However, when it is something to do with something as important as a young mind’s education, I feel like the teachers should improve through experience. To judge a teacher’s quality and character is difficult because it is a profession so carefully shaped by years and years of experience. I think, if I had to say specifically when the quarterback problem applied, it would probably be in early years of educational development. The quality of teachers matters especially at that moment in time because of how easily they can influence students. A good teacher can change a student’s whole education ahead of them, and a bad teacher has the capability to ruin that chance.
While we can never really determine a teachers’ worth before putting them in an actual classroom setting, I find it is also difficult to always maintain the same opinion about the same teacher if you knew them throughout the years. While there are some teachers out there who resist and detest change, I’m sure that all teachers who I consider good will have the heart to change for the better as they are flexible and realize the importance of change.
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DeleteYou raise a great point about how rude students can disrupt the learning environment. I think we've all met people who don't seem to care at all about their education and would rather spend their time being a pain for everyone else. It's especially frustrating to see the teacher try to work with these troublemakers, but have their efforts rejected. While I think there should be some leeway for younger age groups, genuinely agitating students should be removed from the classroom as quickly as possible. I understand that some teachers may be hesitant to do so, especially if they feel they can get through to those students, but the rest of the class should be the priority.
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DeleteI agree that students do effect a teacher's ability to teach their students, however I do not think that this is big factor. A teacher's effectiveness in teaching means not only how good the teacher is at teaching a topic, but also if the students can learn and adapt it into their lives or future job, and that the knowledge gets to them in the first place. If a teacher cannot control their class, it means that they cannot effectively teach their class. If the teacher can teach in a not only fun but effective manner, there would be no misbehaving students in most cases. In the few cases where no matter what, even a good teacher cannot control their students, and that those student's behavior is endemic to other teacher's classes as well, then it would be on the students that misbehave and should be punished by the schools, not the teachers.
I completely agree with you that a teacher is not really the defining factor for a good learning experience because I think there are so many factors to consider as a whole. I think its interesting that you bring up students as a more relevant factor and how bad students can disrupt a classroom because i think this goes back to how experienced a teacher is as I would assume that a more experienced teacher would have the ability to control a disruptive environment while a less experienced teacher would be unfamiliar with such environments.
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DeleteI agree with Gladwell here. I have transferred schools multiple times, and noticed a wide array of types of teachers that either hinder or encourage students to not only pass their class but to also help them remember what was taught in the class, and not just forget them the moment the year ends. I've had teachers in subjects I love to learn in completely alienate me from the subject all together, or had teachers that made me question my own hatred for the subject they are teaching. I agree wholly that teachers are the cornerstone of education.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also agree with Gladwell's conundrum, where we would have no idea how good a teacher is until they actually teach, and that teachers might lose their fighting spirit to teach their students. If we let prospective teachers teach to see how effective their teaching is, then we risk exposing students to a potentially poor teacher, which could have disastrously negative consequences. A side note of this that I need to mention, the concept of bringing teachers from other levels of education to teach your students is a terrible idea if they are not properly trained or understanding of the students that they are going to teach. I have had multiple university level teachers in high school, and they were either insufferable or had to be replace mid year due to their ineffectiveness at teaching, which meant that classes he taught were doing significantly worse than other classes. I would also like to add that there is no good way of determining when a teacher is no longer a "good" teacher. The nuance of this is notoriously hard to figure out. Do you fire all teachers that don't meet a schools expectations and hope to find better ones? Or do you make sure that the teachers you hire are good enough and just keep all the teachers that you hire? Besides, what if there is this really good teacher but they are either bullying their students or are practicing favoritism in a subtle way? Do you fire them or keep them, or could you even figure out that this was happening until it's too late?
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DeleteYour post identifies the crux of the problem. Defining a "good" teacher is a slippery thing. And the process to "improve" a teacher is even slipperier. And in the meantime, it is students and the classroom that are the laboratory for figuring this out. Insufferable.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Gladwell that the teachers of a school are the key to it becoming a successful one. This is because, in my opinion, schools exist to educate people and also to provide them with an opportunity to grow not only academically, but in their extra-curriculars as well. A great teacher acts as a catalyst for their students in those areas and adapts to the conditions they are in to fulfill their purpose. I believe that every great teacher has a similar understanding of their job. Some "teachers" may think that their job is to mark papers, present lectures, and make sure that their students behave but that is not it. The job of the teacher is to make sure their students understand the concepts that they are teaching and to know what the students should be taught as well. The latter really comes in handy when extra-curriculars come into play. There are countless methods teachers can employ to do this task. The only way to find out that a certain teacher's methods works with their students is to actually try it out. This is why it may be difficult to employ great teachers as just their qualifications are not enough to justify their position. It is their results that matters and the only way to get those results is by experimenting. This leaves me inclined to agree with Gladwell.
Ignore this comment because I totally misunderstood the question
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Gladwell that the teachers of a school are the key to it becoming a successful one. This is because, in my opinion, schools exist to educate people and also to provide them with an opportunity to grow not only academically, but in their extra-curriculars as well. A great teacher acts as a catalyst for their students in those areas and adapts to the conditions they are in to fulfill their purpose. This makes the boundaries of the job teachers have very vague. To be able to fulfill their tasks, teachers need drive to make sure that they put in the effort to adapt to different classes. This drive however is not only limited to passion like I believe Gladwell thinks. There are other ways teachers are driven to do their work such as money however I do agree that passion plays a big role in making a teacher great. I doubt the market of teachers has competition as fierce as the market for quarterbacks which is why the strong drive of a passion is not as necessary.
Catalyst is a great word. You know that lighting in a bottle feeling you get in a classroom, when a teacher has complete mastery of subject? I love that. A good teacher can inspire you to completely fall in love with a subject. Sadly, the opposite is also true.
DeleteUnlike many of my classmates, I have had the privilege (or burden) of being educated in three completely different education systems. Since primary, I was lucky enough to be able to afford to go to an international school in Bangkok, where the teachers were quite awful. I will not name the institution, but the etiquette and lack of professionality at this school was baffling to me at times. PE teachers teaching computer science, and computer science teachers teaching English. It was pandemonium.
ReplyDeleteMy second international school experience fared much better. In fact, it was a Canadian school called British Columbia International. Never in my life did I think I would learn who Terry Fox was, or that the capital of Saskatchewan is Saskatoon. But these were just some of the many important things I learned at this school. The teachers were driven, motivated, and laser focused at their professions. Each class had a purpose, and each prompt made me really think. I learned how to be confident at this school. I broke out of my shell and started to inch towards the person I am today.
My third and final education experience was in the States. I finished my high school here through the AP program, and it was miserable. Not that the teachers were bad, but my ability to learn and absorb information was severely compromised by the fact that I was going through a period of severe depression. Thankfully, when I started going to community college, the cloud over me lifted and I went back to being a fierce and competitive student. The professors at my college were excellent for the most part, each one with accolades and high honor degrees at many ivy league institutions. Most importantly, the fact that I could just go up to talk to them in that small class size made the world of difference. In a world where lecture halls over 50 students are commonplace, knowing that each person in the room gets more individual attention can be highly motivating for learning.
I do not agree with Gladwell's analogy, as football has never been a good metric to compare anything to - especially not education. Teachers are the most important asset to a school, but we mustn't forget that a teacher's success depends on successful management at the upper levels of the school, as well as facilities that enable the educator to maximize their potential.
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DeleteTotally agree on your point about football and education. Not so comparable eh? I think it's cool that you were able to experience education in two corners of the world. As someone who has never studied abroad I regret not seizing the opportunity to when I had the chance. It definitely would've made me realize earlier how terrible the system back home is..
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DeleteI agree with this too. While the statement is true towards a certain extent, the environment plays a huge role in how a person teaches.
Really interesting to see your point of view considering you've been in so many different education systems! Definitely agree that the school management and facilities play a part in the sucess of a teacher.
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I agree with your point on how a teacher's success is dependent on the school's management. In highschool I have come across great, motivated and passionate teacher but due to lack of good management, facilities, their potential was limited. As you said teachers are an important asset in school, I feel like schools should focus on motivating the teachers in order for them to provide the best education to students.
What I am today is because of the support and love of my teachers. The 15 years that I spent in Pakistan were just for my education. I have known teachers who are very enthusiastic and who just teaches the courses and leaves the class.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Gladwell’s statement. My middle school principal in Pakistan was very strict when it comes to handwriting. I still remember how my teachers would train us after class, each letter, the up and down strokes. They would come to every student’s table and correct the letterforms for us. I totally have to give all the credits to my teachers for my handwriting and calligraphy. The major reason why I got enrolled into Communication design major was my unique calligraphy artworks. I can never forget my teachers and their hardworking whenever I get compliments on my calligraphy and cursive writing. this is just one of the stories of my enthusiastic Pakistani teachers. If any student had some problems, either about education or personal life, my teachers always tried to help them out. They are always so involved with the students that's why I see them as my second parents.
When I got enrolled into a Thai semi international high school, a little perspective about the teachers changed. I was enrolled in the middle of the term. It was very hard for me to make friends because I couldn’t understand that properly. The teachers were not so helpful because whenever I have any questions about a particular subject, they would always tell me to ask my classmates. Nevertheless, luckily I found a Thai language teacher who taught me during break and off-time every day. He would have lunch in his free period. Because it’s a government school, he didn’t even get the extra tuition fees from us. He was the teacher who reminded me of all the passionate teachers I have met in my life. He brought my positive mindset about the teachers back.
There was a time I started disliking biology so much. It was due to my Thai biology teacher who always ignored my questions. I used to have a lot of fun drawing diagrams when I was in Pakistan but because of this teacher, I didn't give much attention to the subject. In grade 12, new biology taught us and my passion for biology came back. I believe having a good teacher affects my studies.
My love and hate towards a subject depend on how the teacher is.
I realized that there are teachers who have great intentions to give us all the knowledge they have and also teachers who just teach because it’s their duty. However, I respect every teacher because I understand sometimes it might be too tiring to teach individually.
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I agree with your takes Munazza! I was lucky enough to have a good biology teacher in high school and I can't imagine having a bad teacher at that time in my life. My major would probably be completely different today. I would love to see your calligraphy sometime that is so cool :0
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ReplyDeleteI spent several years in an institution many would consider decent, prestigious, even. I lost all respect for it after I left, mainly because of the teachers. The way I was treated had left a deep mark on how I view education. Instead of being able to think creatively and challenge different viewpoints, learning has been more of an anxiety-filled experience. I believe that if I had studied elsewhere and been shown the support I needed, things would’ve turned out completely different. Educators do not just provide us with knowledge in a certain field. As children we enter the education system vulnerable and impressionable. In the hands of our teachers, they are capable of shaping our malleable minds- and for that they are important.
I agree that there is no definite way to measure how qualified a teacher is. At the end of the day, students are comfortable with different teaching methods and will take away what they can. But a teacher who is genuinely passionate about their job can make a substantial difference. From what I have observed, many teachers lose their motivation to teach because of the institutions themselves. I cannot speak for everyone when it comes to the Thai education system. However, many will probably agree that it needs to be reformed. Our country should hold teachers to a higher regard and be more accommodating to their needs. Despite my misfortune of encountering horrible and condescending teachers, I can still empathize with the difficulty of their job.
Reading your statement has made it really easy to see how different environments can just change everything about how you come out as. I agree with how passionate teachers will always have an impact no matter what and that more teachers should probably be like this. However, I do feel like teachers are already put on a high regard and that can sometimes backfire when they are too immersed in their own authority and ability to affect others.
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Delete6480729
DeleteI agree with you on that statement. A educational institution keeps children in their walls for most hours of their day for the most important years of their lives, essentially making it an extension of the home. Therefore, teachers hold immense value for training children.
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DeleteYour point clearly explains how a teacher's passion will have an impact on their quality of teaching and ultimately the education system both negatively and positively. Their lack of passion can drive a student to have an experience similar to what you explained. Vice versa if they are internally passionate about the subject. However, their job as you mentioned indeed very difficult and accomdating their needs can play a role in improving their passion and quality of teaching.
I'm sorry you had to go through that experience. I agree with you completely that teachers not only teach us learning materials but they also act as a support since they are perceived as some kind of role models for children. It is sad how many teachers can lose their motivation due to the institutions themselves and I think this is a very relevant issue in our educational society today.
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ID: 6380784
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gladwell's statement. It is hard to deny that teachers play a crucial role in determining the quality of education. Throughout my time in school, it's safe to say that I've gotten my fair share of both "good" and "bad" teachers. I've had teachers who were so passionate about their field of teaching that their passion rubbed off on their students and inspired and motivated them to learn more about that field. On the contrary, I've also experienced teachers whom were adept in their field but lacked the proper communication skills which in turn degraded their ability to teach effectively. To elaborate on communication skills, these teachers did not understand the students needs, and would often become frustrated when they were falling behind in class instead of patiently addressing the issue with the student. So, for students who understood the class, this teacher who was an expert in the field worked wonders in helping the student blossom and grow. On the contrary, students who were falling behind were only digging themselves a deeper grave as their problems were not addressed and they were scolded for being "too slow" and "thick- headed".
In year 10, I was told by the head of the science department at my school that I was hopeless in the 'additional mathematics' course I was enrolled in and was put on probation despite my grades still being over the passing score; this teacher mentioned that my grades were too low for me to be able to succeed in the IGCSE exam the following year. Thankfully, I ended up passing the probation and even scored an A on the IGCSE exam, however, I will never forget the extreme anxiety I experienced during the probation— scared of what would've happened if I couldn't get my grades up in time. If I had failed the probation, I would have been removed from that class (which did indeed happen to a couple of my friends) and thus would have been unable to take the IGCSE exam for the course the following year. I was at risk of being robbed of my choice purely because this teacher felt he needed to protect the integrity of his department (students always having high scores). I cannot even begin to explain the emotional distress I experienced from that time, which then in turn manifested my hatred for mathematics as a whole. This one bad teacher had caused me to hate a subject I once loved. Isn't that the opposite of what a teacher should do? If anything, a teacher should be inspiring their students, not putting them down.
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DeleteHowever, determining the qualities of a "good " and "bad" teacher is a difficult task to begin with as the definition of a "good" or "bad" teacher varies greatly from student to student. Every student has a different need and learning style— a teacher who is considered "great" to one student may be considered "mediocre" to another depending on whether or not the teacher can meet the respective student's needs.
I agree with Gladwell that it is nearly impossible to determine whether a teacher is "good" or "bad" without seeing them in action teaching a class. In my opinion, teaching is a job that requires experience. Standardized testing will not be able to determine the teachers performance in a real classroom setting. Furthermore, practice classroom settings may also be flawed as every class is unique, therefore, it will not be able to fully predict the teachers performance in a real setting. As the student demographic varies, the ability of a teacher to perform well in that class also varies. In my opinion, a good teacher should be able to adapt to these changes and develop a teaching method which works for each particular demographic.
So yes, I do agree that there is a quarterback problem in the education system I come from— or at least in the schools I had been in— however, addressing the issue and fixing it is much more complicated than expected. With the current methods available, it's almost impossible to measure how "good" a teacher is until they have taught for many years and experienced a wide array of students. Furthermore, the opinion of whether a teacher is "good" will always vary from person to person.
ID: 6480577
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with Gladwell's assertion. The educational quality of teachers is extremely important. Teachers are individuals who, through their passion and ability, teach us about a subject and assist us in determining what we enjoy. Although I was not much of a science student, I was enrolled in biology. The teacher was quite enthusiastic and seamlessly transitioned from the course materials to practical biology that may be beneficial to us. Looking at his enthusiasm, I realized I wasn't as enthusiastic about biology as he was. Despite liking the class and admiring the teacher's enthusiasm for it, I decided that biology was not for me. Meanwhile, I decided to enroll in economics because I wanted to pursue business. My economics teacher, on the other hand, didn't use the most effective teaching style (in my opinion). Her teaching quality wasn't up to standard, and as a business major, it was difficult for me to tell if I disliked the material or her teaching quality. A good instructor not only helps you understand the material but also helps you find out what you want to do with your life. Hence, the educational quality of a teacher is critical in directing a student to their desired outcome.
As a result, I believe that a quarterback issue could arise during a teaching career. It can be explained by the concept of growth. When there isn't much progress in one's field, one's vision begins to deteriorate. For example, my economics teacher was teaching the same course to different students every year, with no new information or growth. Similarly, brilliant college quarterbacks who thought they were the best saw no improvement in professional games and began to lose their vision. On the other hand, those who were mediocre began to see development opportunities and improved as a result of the professional game. Regardless of one's age, I believe it is perfectly normal for one to reconsider their profession or career.
Hence, teaching quality is an essential element in an education system. However, the quarterback problem explains why sometimes there may be a lack of good quality in certain teachers.
I appreciate how you're seeing the analogy between the teachers and the quarterbacks. A star in one situation may not be in another. The opposite is also true. I'm glad this story resonated with your own experience as you experienced different teachers from different fields. It is true across the board.
DeleteThe journal blog is now closed. Thank you for your participation. Aj. M
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