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lilali
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 7
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 Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 12:51 am Post subject: What can a teacher bring to students' life? |
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And from what kind of teacher can a student benefit most?
I know different types of teachers, some seem good at teaching and others seem unable to teach. And a few teacher movies, ["Dead Poets Society", "Mona Lisa Smile" (English) and "Not One Less" and "Pretty Big Feet"(Chinese)], provoked the thoughts. I reflected and found, for me, it was those who seemed unable to teach or to follow the syllabus that were more favorable. But I know, certainly, they didn't make themselves appealing simply by that. |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 1:00 am Post subject: |
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| Um, could you please make your picture smaller? |
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lilali
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 1:07 am Post subject: How about it now? |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 3:27 am Post subject: |
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| Xie Xie |
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anthyp
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 1320
Location: Chicago, IL USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 5:33 am Post subject: |
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| I suppose the real value of the kinds of teachers you seem to prefer, lilali, lies in something intangible, doesn't it? Not in practical things they can teach you, since they don't know how, but in terms of life and individuality and character development. But really, what did you learn from these teachers who were unable to teach? I'd be interested to know if you really think they taught you all that much. My favorite professors were all ones I consider to be more "professional" - I mean they had a syllabus and used it, knew how to teach, clearly came prepared for every class, and didn't have unrealistic goals for what they could do with their students. Am I a cynic?! |
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Ludwig
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 1096
Location: 22� 20' N, 114� 11' E
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 6:21 am Post subject: |
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| 'Lilali', I would suggest that there exists a sharp and distinct difference between the classroom/lecture hall/etc., and any portrayal on the part of Hollywood thereof. |
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lilali
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 6:57 am Post subject: |
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Bu Ke Qi Great Wall
| Quote: |
| But really, what did you learn from these teachers who were unable to teach? I'd be interested to know if you really think they taught you all that much. |
Quite ironically, many teachers I admired were labelled as one kind or another other than real professional teachers. Yeah, some of them did teach something in terms of life or individuality or character development, but I would have long been bored if they had only preached that all the time, even in one form or another. And yes they often came into the classroom in a manner that they would get us nowhere, but actually we could always make way to somewhere. They have their own plans instead of the big official syllabus, they have their understanding about teaching instead of rigidly following some formula or tradition.
Maybe some good old time stories will make me understood more. One teacher from my high school who taught us politics opened my eyes to things I was so sick of. He did carry a textbook and only a textbook to the classroom each class but I'd never seen him open it. The first time he came, I thought he was just another reading aloud or reciting lecturer and I'd got ready for a doze or a novel or something. But he had my attention as soon as he started talking. He didn't talk about things available in the textbook but about real events around us or other parts of the world. For the first time the whole class started to learn not for an exam and we were so eager to learn. We learned to think to question to reason. But we didn't do well in the final exams as expected, so finally he was fired because he was "unable to teach according to the syllabus".
This is only one and I have many. May tell more if there's more questions. Oh, no, you're not a cynic anthyp. I think I can understand what you like. You're just a bit more professional than I am. 
Last edited by lilali on Thu Jun 10, 2004 11:48 am; edited 2 times in total |
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lilali
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:05 am Post subject: |
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| I would suggest that there exists a sharp and distinct difference between the classroom/lecture hall/etc., and any portrayal on the part of Hollywood thereof. |
I knew that'd be something people might pick up and throw back at me.
It's not a problem. We can always watch the movie read the novel and think about things around us, can't we?
Last edited by lilali on Thu Jun 10, 2004 11:49 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Ludwig
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 1096
Location: 22� 20' N, 114� 11' E
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:30 am Post subject: Re: What can a teacher bring to students' life? |
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| lilali wrote: |
| Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live. |
I think perhaps this should read, 'Men, for the sake of getting a living, forget to live'. |
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Taiping04
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 188
Location: East of Aden
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 11:14 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| 'Lilali', I would suggest that there exists a sharp and distinct difference between the classroom/lecture hall/etc., and any portrayal on the part of Hollywood thereof. |
Is Ludwig suggesting that there is some similarity between a classroom and a lecture hall?
Maybe in his methodology there is. |
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lilali
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 11:53 am Post subject: Re: What can a teacher bring to students' life? |
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| Ludwig wrote: |
| I think perhaps this should read, 'Men, for the sake of getting a living, forget to live'. |
Yeah you are right Ludwig, it's better for you this way. |
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Roger
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 9138
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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If all students took a little more time out to study SERIOUSLY, then most teachers could relax and entertain them during lectures/lessons.
But this is rarely the case; especially in China, the students are not that studious as some believe; they make-believe, feigning being busy when all the do is poring distractedly and disinterestdly over their various textbooks, not understanding ten percent of what they are trying to memorise.
These students learn almost nothing, yet they want to be entertained as though they were attending a gala concert! |
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anthyp
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 1320
Location: Chicago, IL USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| lilali wrote: |
| We learned to think to question to reason. But we didn't do well in the final exams as expected, so finally he was fired because he was "unable to teach according to the syllabus". |
This is kind of my point, lilali. Let me tell you a different story. I once had a teacher who didn't use a syllabus, either. In fact, the first day he walked into class and told us to rip out the intro to our poetry book, because it's impossible to judge poetry by any pre - conceived conventions. So we ripped them out! We thought, "Man, this is cool!" He taught us to get together late at night to drink and recite our own crappy poetry. He encouraged one of my friends to join the school play, explicitly against that student's father's wishes, and eventually that kid killed himself. Oops! So he got fired. But as he was leaving, we gave him one grand, final gesture of farewell. Still to this day I don't know the date of Walt Whitman's birth, or what makes for good or bad poetry.
O.K., O.K., so I guess I am a cynic. But see my point? Nobody really learns anything in these kinds of classes. I, too, would like to make a difference in my students lives, but I've learned not to try so hard. If you can teach them what they are supposed to know, I say you've done your job. Most of your students don't expect too much from you. To hell with the ones who want to gather together late at night to recite their own crappy poetry. |
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Atlas
Joined: 09 Jun 2003
Posts: 662
Location: By-the-Sea PRC
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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This is kind of my point, lilali. Let me tell you a different story. I once had a teacher who didn't use a syllabus, either. In fact, the first day he walked into class and told us to rip out the intro to our poetry book, because it's impossible to judge poetry by any pre - conceived conventions. So we ripped them out! We thought, "Man, this is cool!" He taught us to get together late at night to drink and recite our own crappy poetry. He encouraged one of my friends to join the school play, explicitly against that student's father's wishes, and eventually that kid killed himself. Oops! So he got fired. But as he was leaving, we gave him one grand, final gesture of farewell. Still to this day I don't know the date of Walt Whitman's birth, or what makes for good or bad poetry.
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Creepy. Same thing happened at my school. But then my professor became a 200 year old robot who made clocks from driftwood. |
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lilali
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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| anthyp wrote: |
| This is kind of my point, lilali. Let me tell you a different story. I once had a teacher who didn't use a syllabus, either. In fact, the first day he walked into class and told us to rip out the intro to our poetry book, because it's impossible to judge poetry by any pre - conceived conventions. So we ripped them out! We thought, "Man, this is cool!" He taught us to get together late at night to drink and recite our own crappy poetry. He encouraged one of my friends to join the school play, explicitly against that student's father's wishes, and eventually that kid killed himself. Oops! So he got fired. But as he was leaving, we gave him one grand, final gesture of farewell. Still to this day I don't know the date of Walt Whitman's birth, or what makes for good or bad poetry. |
Ha, anthyp, I didn't know you had been a kid from Keating's class. Anyway, you made me chuckle. So you are not a cynic. I don't think of people as cynics as long as they can still make me chuckle over something.
There is one thing I need to make clear, however, i.e., I didn't list movies here because I prefer those kinds of teachers portrayed in them. You know I had and still have the same doubt too, and that's the very reason I started this thread. And another thing is that the teacher I mentioned was different from Mr Keating. He had something substantial besides the uplifting manner. And it is this kind, who seems at random in teaching but has real knowledge to pass on, that I admire most.
I'm afraid I know many others who prefer teachers who know how to entertain while teaching. So maybe we just belong to that group of common people who, as said by someone famous, are willing to pay more to be amused than to be educated. But I found myself trying hard not to be one of that kind of teachers when I myself started teaching some time ago. You know, just as termed in another thread here, "the monkey thing" may attract some attention for a while, but you seldom get the right feeling being a teacher who teaches. And yes, like you, I also learned not to try so hard.
| Roger wrote: |
If all students took a little more time out to study SERIOUSLY, then most teachers could relax and entertain them during lectures/lessons.
But this is rarely the case; especially in China, the students are not that studious as some believe; they make-believe, feigning being busy when all the do is poring distractedly and disinterestdly over their various textbooks, not understanding ten percent of what they are trying to memorise.
These students learn almost nothing, yet they want to be entertained as though they were attending a gala concert! |
And yes Roger, one problem from my class is that students often failed to see the real humor even when they were entertained and most unsatisfying classes were due to students' reaction or my false presumption about their reaction. But now I would like to focus on teachers, no matter what kind of difficult students he or she might encounter. Simply put, what would you do if you stood before those kids as you've described? Just throw the concert or try to preach and then take the horses to the water? |
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