OoP(Spoilers) Snape as teacher

[nb100uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 67036

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak" <pipdowns at e...> 
wrote:
> 
> 
> Yeah, but Darrin, these are the fifth year students. They're in an 
> Exam Only system. That means that at the end of the fifth year, 
they 
> sit their OWLS, in which they have to follow a set of instructions.
> 
> With no help at all.
> 
> If Harry had repeated the goof he made in one of his potions 
classes 
> in his exam, where he *didn't* read clear instructions accurately, 
> then it would be 'congratulations, Mr Potter, you've just got a 'T' 
> for Troll. You'd like a second chance? That's fine, just repeat the 
> fifth year again...
> 
> > Darrin:
> > Granted, some of the instructions seem to be incredibly  
> > complicated, but nothing a calm and clear-headed student couldn't 
> > handle.
> > EXCEPT... how many calm and clear-headed students do you see in 
> > Potions that aren't Snape's pet Slyths? 
> 
> Probably as many calm and clear-headed students as you find in an 
> exam room, sitting exams that they know their entire future depends 
> on. Five years of work, and you can blow every single bit of it in 
> three hours.  Five years of straight A's, and then you fail the 
> exam? Tough. You've failed. Nothing counts except that exam mark.
> 
> The UK system has now changed to a part course work, part final 
exam 
> system. But I went through the Exam-only system (as did JKR), and 
> believe me, the *pressure* was incredible. 
> 
> Snape's 'put the students under continuous pressure' teaching style 
> is probably permitted by Dumbledore *because* it teaches the non-
> Slyth students to work under pressure. They need to know how to do 
> this. Just as they need to learn that some people in positions of 
> authority play favourites *before* they go out into the big wide 
> world.
> 
> > 
> > Which is why I pointed out  that Neville, away from Snape, turned 
> > out to make a decent potion.
> 
> Which suggests that Snape, unlikeable and unpleasant as he is, has 
a 
> teaching style that is effective. Compared to Snape, the practical 
> exam itself is a doddle. Even his least confident students look at 
> the instructions and think 'hey, this is easy'. Or easier, at least.
> 
> > 
> > So the question is: Does Snape get more satisfaction out of 
> > scaring the crap out of his students or actually seeing them 
> > perform?
> > If it's the former, I have a hard time agreeing that's he's a 
good 
> teacher.
> 
> That he only takes the Outstanding students for NEWT suggests the 
> latter. If he really found his kicks solely from screaming at 
> students, surely he'd take the less able students as well, so he 
> could continue screaming at them. 
> 
> The fact that he only takes the students with signs of a genuine 
> talent for Potions suggests to me that he prefers seeing his 
> students perform well. He's a bit of a Rowena Ravenclaw: he only 
> wants to teach the intelligent. 
> 
> 
> Pip!Squeak

Snape's attitude to teaching reminds me very much of a Maths teacher 
I had for my 'A' levels back in the days when they were Exam Only 
Nightmares!  She was as close to Snape as humanly possible and made 
our entire class a jibbering wreck - I vividly remember one class 
where she completely humiliated me by referring to an incident that 
lunchtime where she's walked past me and my boyfriend making out in 
the canteen!  She informed the class that 'people who had time for 
snogging in the canteen but didn't come to her study groups [which 
were voluntary by the way] didn't deserve to get recommendations for 
university.  I was mortified and was on the verge of quitting the 
class, but my friends rallied and helped me out in areas I was having 
problems with so I didn't have to confront her.

At exam time, I outperformed her predicted grade by 2 grades (I got 
an A and she's predicted a C).  Most of our class did a great deal 
better that her measly predictions and we put it down to being able 
to do the exam under pressure, but knowing that it wasn't her 
determining our marks at the end.  Other teachers pushed us extremely 
hard, and we discovered that often we knew a great deal more than our 
actual exams required.  My Biology A level was one such, and I 
discovered that our lovely Professor Black had actually given us a 
basic university level Biology Foundation Course for almost 2 years - 
sneaky bugger!;-) - but it came in handy for 75% of the class who 
went on to study Medicine, Veterinary Science or Biological Sciences -
 first year of uni was a breeze!

I definitely hated the 'Snape' method and reacted much better to 
positive pressure in my biology classes, but both produced the 
results I needed.  I guess you've got to live the 'Exams Mean 
EVERYTHING' culture to know the utter stress and panic that it 
induces!