[HPforGrownups] Re: Snape as teacher

[Horst or Rebecca J. Bohner]

No: HPFGUIDX 17363

> 1. Does he enjoy [teaching]? ...  No, he doesnt.

I would disagree.  I think Snape does enjoy showing his knowledge to his
students and challenging them to meet his exacting standards.  If you look
at that opening speech, I'd swear he's relishing every word, and daring them
to prove to him that they aren't "dunderheads".

We know how Snape behaves to Harry and his friends, and to less-than-capable
Gryffindors like Neville.  But we don't know how he behaves to *all* his
students.  I'm not saying that he is ever "nice" to anyone, and I'm not
saying he has a "teacher's pet" (if he does, Draco is not it, IMO).  But we
don't actually know that he hates all of his students and loathes the work
of teaching them.  We simply know that he is nasty to Gryffindors in general
and Harry in particular:  and that he has no patience with anyone who breaks
school rules.

It is possible that Snape lives in hope of finding a student who is actually
worthy of receiving the kind of advanced knowledge he possesses, and that he
is continually disgusted by the failure of most Hogwarts students to come
anywhere near his ideal.  But being frustrated with teaching is not the same
as hating it.  I have a friend who is continually frustrated with her
students, but she loves teaching.

> Rebecca explains Snapes method as "The harsh task master driving his
students to excellence". That may well be the effect with some students. And
that gives him a certain right to waspish remarks, to harsh criticism, to
lots of homework, everything that has to do with success or failure in the
field of study. ... But it does not cover that "I see no difference" remark
to Hermione in GoF. <

No, it doesn't.  But neither does that "I see no difference" remark have
anything to do with Snape's abilities as a teacher, nor does it prove that
he hates teaching.  It simply shows that Snape is being cruel to Hermione on
a personal level.  The fact that it takes place in his classroom is
incidental.  He is insulting her, plain and simple.  And yes, it is
unprofessional, and yes, it is pointless (unless in a future book JKR comes
up with some really corking explanation for why Snape had to say something
cruel to Hermione at that point -- which is possible, I suppose, but
unlikely).

But all this says is that Snape is not a nice person.  It doesn't prove that
he is a bad teacher.  There's no need to find a "pedagogical justification"
for this behaviour because it's not a pedagogical issue.  There have been
lots of nasty, unfair, verbally and even physically abusive teachers over
the course of history, who nonetheless succeeded in educating their pupils.
So, I stand by what I said before:  Snape is a teacher, and a capable one.
Even if his students hate him on a personal level, on a pedagogical level
they still learn from him.  And some of them learn a lot.
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj