[HPforGrownups] Dumbledore as Headmaster

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 2434

Pam Hugonnet wrote:

> Actually, I don't think Snape is a bad teacher.  He's just a very tough
> teacher with a bad attitude.  He's certainly a bad teacher for some
> students, but in terms of knowing his stuff and passing his techniques on,
> he's pretty good.

I was going to post something of this nature. Snape is, in fact, probably better
than average at getting the information across, because the students (well, most
of 'em) are afraid of getting it wrong and being ridiculed or some such. In
this, he does Draco and his buds no favors. I took it as a measure of Snape's
teaching abilities, as well as Hermione's know-how, that she was able to brew
the Polyjuice Potion correctly.

> As for Hermione, the only way for her to learn about her limitations was for
> her to try it her way and live with the consequences.  She would not have
> responded well to hearing that she couldn't take that course load because
> the teachers felt it too much, she need to learn it for herself.

This is what I was saying, about philosophies of education. The students at
Hogwarts are allowed to experience life's oddities and inequalities, to learn
how to handle it, in a controlled environment. This way they'll be better
equipped to handle it later, in an uncontrolled one. The teachers are not
enforcers, they are moderators. This is not the philosophy most Americans seem
to have about education. So far as I've observed.

--Amanda