[HPforGrownups] Re: What if other teachers behaved like Snape?

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 101567

On 15 Jun 2004 at 19:25, Trevor wrote:

> I cannot agree more, however, it is not only Neville that Snape mistreats:
> his behavior to others is awful- a teacher has no right to belittle or to
> call names (calling Hermione a know-it-all in front of the DADA class in
> POA). 

A teacher has no right to do this?

That's an opinion - not a fact. At my school, it was quite clearly 
understood that a teacher *did* have a right to belittle students 
and to call them names - but *only* in very very specific 
circumstances.

*Very* few teachers took this approach, but the idea that they 
didn't have the *right* to, would have seemed ludicrous to us. 
Within the context of our school, it was accepted that a teacher 
had the right to do just about anything that wouldn't cause us 
permanent damage, if it was likely to increase our academic 
performance.

I agree that Snape shouldn't do it to Neville - because I think in 
Neville's cases it doesn't have any real chance of improving things 
for him. But in my case, on the very few occasions (I can think of 
two) where a teacher took this approach, it *worked*. It made me 
work harder. It really did.

> I think his immature, petty, and constant bullying gets in the 
> way of
> his teaching.  How can Snape move on to potions that are more difficult when
> a significant portion of his class is struggling?  

Actually, there's quite of bit of theory in education that the 
optimum time to move onto harder worker is when a significant 
portion of a class is struggling. Students need to have the basics 
of a subject down before you move on to the next one - but that 
doesn't mean they need to be comfortable with it, or to no longer 
be struggling. In many ways, constantly moving onwards so that 
students are always struggling at the limits of what they 
understand is a very effective method of teaching. Again, it's one 
I experienced - and one used in quite a few schools here. 
Incidentally they tend to be the schools whose students do the best 
academically.

It's a very fine line, and very difficult to do well - but provided 
students have the basic knowledge they need to move on, you don't 
have to wait until they find what they are currently doing easy or 
straightforward. Really, in many ways, you want to be constantly 
probing the zone of proximal development - you want to keep 
children learning nearly always at just a little above where they 
are comfortable learning.

Please note - I'm not saying this is a universal strategy. It is 
*very* hard to do it well, so often a teacher is far better off not 
using this method. And it's a method that focuses primarily on 
academic achievement as the major goal of education - if a teacher 
has other goals as well as the purely academic, there can be very 
good reason not to use this method.

But for a competent teacher, capable of accurately judging the 
level, who is primarily concerned with academic learning - it's 
valid.

Remember - there's no such things as the one right method of 
teaching. Different kids have different needs, different methods 
have different strengths and weaknesses.

I thrived under Snape like teachers - I understand that many people 
would not - but I certainly did. And so did others who learned with 
me.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia