Job Discussion Forums

[shmooj]

[quote="Aramas"]In twelve years of school and three years of university I encountered one good teacher and one good lecturer. Most were mediocre and many were bitter, hateful, broken shells of people who should have been barred from contact with children and young adults on the basis that their disappointment could be infectious. All were 'qualified professionals'.[quote]
... so why should EFL be any different. It isn't and it probably never will be.

[johnslat]

Since many of our opinions are formed by what we personally experience, it may seem odd to disvalue such a source. And yet, it is, I'd say, dangerous to evaluate and pass judgment on teachers and teaching in general based on the exceedingly small sample each of us encountered during our education.
Moreover, the debate about "qualified" versus "unqualified" instructors has
already shown up on these forums often, perhaps too often. Of course being "qualified" doesn't automatically guarantee that anyone is going to be a good teacher, but it seems self-evident to me that there is, at least, a better chance of that being the case than there would be with an "unqualified" one. There will always be bad "qualified" teachers and good "unqualified" ones; however, to see qualifications as somhow being
detrimental and the lack of them as an asset is, in my opinion, absurd.
One of the major reasons I got into teaching was the lasting impression some "good teachers" had made upon me when I was in school. I knew how much they'd affected my life in good and significant ways, and the thought that I might be able to do the same for others was a powerful motivation. But if my experience of teachers had been the same as Aramas described, I suspect teaching wouldn't have seemed nearly so attractive a career to me. And so I wonder why Aramas has chosen it.
Regards,
John