Bill's Teacher Ratings

[mongo62aa]

No: HPFGUIDX 56687

Bill (original):

In alphabetical order:

Binns - Magical History - 3 points 

(lack of useful curriculum, minus 3 points, inability to hold 
student's attention, minus 2 points)

Rhiannon:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that teachers do 
not often have a great deal of control over curriculum. Granted, this 
is less the case at Hogwarts than in the muggle world (think The 
Monster Book of Monsters!), but if you are the History of Magic 
professor, you must teach History of Magic, and I would imagine that 
there are certain points, such as the Goblin Rebellions, that must be 
covered. So the curriculum really can't be blamed on Binns. In fact, 
we know that the textbook itself is "very interesting" according to 
Harry, who finds Hedwig's name in his HoM text. No, the problem here 
is that Binns simply cannot hold his class's attention, which would 
make him a 6 on your scale. Obviously that can't be accurate, as 
Hermione is the ONLY student to pay any attention to Binns 
whatsoever. Myself, I would say that "inability to hold students' 
attention" should be worth considerably more than two points. One or 
two students ignoring the teacher is probably par for the course, but 
when only one is paying attention, it's time to look for a new 
profession--or else to "give up the ghost" if you'll pardon the pun.

Bill (responding):

You are absolutely right that Goblin Rebellions must be covered, but, 
at least from Harry Potter's perspective, the coverage is quite 
disproportionate.  Unfortunately, Harry's perspective is all we have, 
so I have to assume that it is relatively accurate.

Bill (original):

Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures - 4 points 

(lack of proper classroom safety precautions, minus 2 points, lack of 
proper curriculum, minus 2 points)

Rhiannon:

If the "lack of safety precautions" refers to the Buckbeak incident, 
then that's just rubbish--the only problem there was Draco being a 
moron. If, however, it refers to his experiment with the Blast-Ended 
Skrewts, then I wouldn't bother saying "lack of safety precautions" 
and go straight to "incompetent fool of a teacher." No one has ever 
seen a Skrewt before, and if Hagrid hadn't bred them, no one ever 
would have. Thus, he took up time that should have been spent on REAL 
creatures and spent it on a personal experiment. He's only lucky that 
no one was seriously hurt. Hagrid didn't know what to feed the 
Skrewts, or what sort of habitat they liked, or how to control them. 
Putting them in the hands of his second-year CoMC class would be the 
equivalent of my Introduction to Chemistry professor giving my lab 
group an experiment he'd never tried involving chemicals he knew 
nothing about. As for Hagrid's curriculum, I really don't think it's 
so bad. He certainly did seem to have an intended schedule during 
PoA, though after the Buckbeak incident he lost his nerve. During 
GoF, I think that if he had used a different creature, his idea of 
having his students raise something would have made an excellent 
project. And certainly by the end of the year he does much better 
with his lessons. The Niffler lesson was wonderful, and as someone 
else noted, he went Professor Grubbly-Plank one better by bringing 
baby unicorns so the boys could participate as well as the girls. My 
biggest problem with Hagrid as a teacher is simply that he puts his 
own agenda -- his "interestin' creatures" -- ahead of what he should 
be teaching his class. 

I bounced some of these points off a friend while preparing this 
post, and she said that I should give Hagrid more credit because his 
heart was in the right place. The problem is that, while I'm more 
than willing to give my FRIENDS credit for having their heart in the 
right place, I don't think that a teacher should get that sort of 
extra credit. However, I'm more than willing to give Hagrid points 
for not giving up and coming back strong toward the end of GoF. I 
also give him points for being willing to take this position with a 
group of kids who had been preconditioned to expect him to be a 
friend or a servant, instead of a professor.

Bill (responding):

I don't have much to add.  Let's just say that Hagrid is still 
learning his job.

Bill (original):

Flitwick - Charms - 8 points 

(no problems)

Rhiannon:

By and large I agree with this assessment. Flitwick, IMHO, is just 
one of the best teachers at Hogwarts. However, if you want to claim 
that Trelawney has "poor classroom conditions" you might need to 
consider applying this to Flitwick as well. On more than one occasion 
he has allowed the kids to play games during lessons, and the 
classroom inevitably turns into bedlam (with Neville banishing poor 
Flitwick across the room, no less!).

Bill (responding):

Again, not much to add.  I will deal with the Flitwick vs. Trelawney 
issue under her rating.

Bill (original):

McGonnagall - Transfiguration - 7 points 

(somewhat unfair with house points (against Gryffindor), minus 1 
point)

Rhiannon:

Given that McGonagall is the head of Gryffindor, I see absolutely no 
reason to claim that she is unfair with the house points. She takes 
house points away from her students *when they break the rules.* This 
is not being unfair to anyone; it would be unfair if she didn't take 
points. She certainly doesn't hesitate to take points from Slytherin 
when Malfoy breaks the rules. And I believe that canon even states 
specifically that McGonagall is very strict but very fair. I don't 
see how you can justify this claim at all. By the way, McGonagall 
also undercuts other teachers (see below).

Bill (responding):

What I meant by being unfair is that she is inconsistent with her 
points given vs. taken.  In PS, when Harry and Ron save Hermione's 
life by defeating a mountain troll, they are given a mere 5 points 
each.  But when Harry, Hermione, and Neville are later caught out of 
their dormitory at night, they have 50 points each deducted.  So it 
seems that being out of bounds at night is ten times more important 
than saving a fellow student's life.  Also, note that Draco, caught 
for the same offence, loses only 20 points.  I think that she is 
trying so hard not to favor Gryffindor that she is going the other 
direction, and being excessively harsh with them.
 
Bill (original):

Snape - Potions - 0 points 

(grossly unfair with house points, minus 3 points, cruel to targeted 
students, minus 4 points, undercuts other teachers, minus 1 point)

Rhiannon:

Other people have already argued that, while Snape can be 
ridiculously heavy-handed when taking points from Gryffindor, very 
seldom does he take points for no reason. As well, he's never been 
noticed giving house points to Slytherin, even during Potions class. 
And to be fair, during Potions, about 95% of all disruptions are 
caused by the Gryffindors. At any rate, while I would say that Snape 
is biased against Gryffindor, I would hardly say that he is "grossly 
unfair."

In response to your second point, yes, Snape is cruel to targeted 
students. Harry, Hermione, and Neville all take more cr*p from the 
man than any student should really have to take (oddly, I seldom see 
him go after Ron). However, as has been said, Harry and Hermione 
REALLY DO cause trouble. Hermione really CAN be a problem in class 
(and yes, I've been guilty of the same disruptions, and silenced just 
as harshly on occasion), and Harry really DOES break a lot of rules. 
Many of them are broken for good reasons, but when Harry does stupid 
things, like the visits to Hogsmeade, he needs to be called on the 
carpet for them, and Snape, more often than not, ends up having to be 
the bad guy because no one else will!

The worst part of Snape's conduct, to me, is his attitude towards 
Neville (the "I see no difference" comment as well, but mostly 
Neville). Clearly, Neville is not benefitting at all from his time in 
Snape's classes. That Snape can't see this and try another tactic 
with the boy is the biggest black mark in his book. No one else is 
truly being hurt by Snape's instruction, but I can't believe that no 
one at Hogwarts has stepped into this situation.

As for Snape's undercutting his colleagues, he's hardly the only 
professor guilty of this. After all, McGonagall is barely civil to 
Trelawny ("Tripe, Sibyll?") and all the teachers band together 
against Lockhart. Granted, Trelawney is a fraud and Lupin is the 
genuine article, but a teacher is a teacher. And frankly, while it's 
certainly annoying to deal with, it seems to me to be a common part 
of all schools. Eventually you learn what teacher not to mention in 
front of what other teacher.

What you have not mentioned here is the fact that A) Snape is 
evidently one of the highest Potions authorities in the wizarding 
world, according to Lupin and B) students DO seem to be learning 
potions. Granted, Hermione is Hermione, but I doubt that a student of 
Any Old Potions Instructor could brew up a working batch of Polyjuice 
Potion at the age of twelve. Or take Fred and George-- they're still 
in school and inventing new, Potions-related, candies. Give me a 
teacher who really knows what he's doing and how to teach me, and 
I'll gladly overlook his hygiene and personality. And, as someone 
else said, at least he's honest. 

Bill (responding):

You are certainly right that other teachers are less than civil to 
their colleagues, and this is to be expected, but Snape went over the 
line when he deliberately tried to get Lupin fired - and 'letting 
slip' to students that he was a werewolf, given the WW's attitudes 
toward them, counts in my book as such.  Not to mention his express 
desire to see him get the Dementor's Kiss as well - without a trial, 
I may add.

I have never doubted that Snape is an expert at brewing potions.  
However, what Hogwarts needs is an expert at *teaching* potions.  The 
potions taught at Hogwarts are not Master-level efforts, but simpler, 
easier concoctions.  Hogwarts would be far better served by a lesser 
Potion brewer, but better teacher.

Bill (original):

Sprout - Herbology - 8 points 

(no problems)

Rhiannon:

Really? What about in GoF when she's cold to Harry because he was 
entered in the TriWizard Tournament? If that isn't house favoritism, 
I don't know what is! Here's a student being hassled for something 
that he is desperately claiming is not his fault, and the teacher 
can't be bothered because he's in the wrong house!

Bill (responding):

I confess that I had totally forgotten about that.  Mea culpa.

Bill (original):

Trelawney - Divination - 3 points 

(shows favoritism with students, minus 1 point, lack of ability in 
own field, minus 3 points, poor classroom conditions, minus 1 point)

Rhiannon:

Personally, I don't think Trelawney's "favoritism" is really that big 
a deal. She's not favoring Parvati and Lavender to the detriment of 
anyone else. It's a little unprofessional, yes, but no one seems to 
mind, and it doesn't seem to affect their grades or anyone else's. 

With regard to her classroom conditions, I really don't see how you 
can make this claim. First of all, according to some theories of 
education, Trelawney's setup (the comfortable seats arranged in small 
groups) is an ideal one for learning. And as for the smoke and 
incense and whatever else, I believe this is intended to be a 
necessary condition to help students relax in order to See. Even 
Harry, who makes up all his Divination homework, has had a true 
vision in this atmosphere.

No, the problem with Trelawney is that she has no ability in her 
field. Which, though you only mark her down 3 points for this, tells 
me that she shouldn't be teaching at all. Divination is NOT a class 
where you can read the textbook and teach or learn only from that-- 
there has to be talent involved, and the teacher should HAVE that 
talent. At the very least, an incompetent teacher should be judged as 
harshly as a cruel one. And, after all, one could make the case that 
she picks on Harry unfairly-- she predicts his death once a lesson 
and often tries to force him to "share" more of his thoughts/visions 
than anyone else.

Bill (responding):

My problem with Trelawney's classroom conditions is that they tend to 
put the students to sleep - rather similar to Binns in that respect.  
That, at least, is not a problem in Flitwick's classes.

Your post made some logical arguments in support of different 
conclusions than my original ones.  I agree with some of them, and 
still disagree with others.  I would be interested in seeing your own 
evaluations of the Hogwarts teachers.

Bill