[HPforGrownups] Re: In Defense of Snape (long)

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 122323

On 18 Jan 2005 at 22:50, dumbledore11214 wrote:

> If they performed well, they performed well, because Snape was absent 
> in OWL class.
> "With Snape absent from the proceedings he found that he was much
> more relaxed than he usually was while making potions. Neville, who
> was sitting very near Harry, also looked happier than Harry had ever
> seen him during a Potions class" - OOP, p.716.
> 
> How does it make Snape a good teacher, if his only presense 
> terrorises the studentts so much that they are unable to reach their 
> potential?

Well, there's a few points there:

(1) Just because Neville looks happier doesn't mean he's more able 
to reach his potential. A lot of kids do work better in 
environments where they are happy, but quite a number do not.

(2) There's a difference between learning something and being able 
to show your understanding of it. I'm fairly convinced that Neville 
is better able to express himself outside the presence of Snape, 
but if he does well on his exam, that's going to come from at least 
two places - the comfortable exam environment means he may be 
better able to show his understading, but if he hasn't learnt in 
Snape's classes, the ability to show his understanding would be 
useless, because he wouldn't have anything to show. 

(3) Even if Neville is one of those who generally works better in 
an environment where he is happy (and I think he probably is, given 
what we know of his performance in other classes - most notably 
herbology), Neville is only one student in the class. Virtually all 
teachers have some students they teach well, and some students they 
teach poorly.

I've said it before, but it warrants restating. I learned well from 
teachers like Snape. Most people in my classes did - but certainly 
not all. There were other classes where I didn't learn well from 
the way those teachers taught - but most people in the classes 
were.

I can certainly understand why some people cannot regard Snape as a 
good teacher (even though I disagree with them), but I really do 
think that it's a real mistake to equate 'good teacher' with '100% 
successful teacher'. The fact that some kids don't do well in a 
particular class is often more a reflection on the differing way 
different kids learn, rather than the ability of the teacher.


It also, to an extent, I think depends on what is being studied, 
and the kid's interest in it. If I enjoyed a particular subject 
(such as science, or history), I did learn in happy classes. Where 
I found the subjects hard or uninteresting (Latin, Ancient Greek, 
and Music most notably) - that's where I learned from the Snape's. 

And I can tell you that I don't think there is any way I could 
possibly have been happy in a Greek or Music class, even if St 
Francis of Assisi had been my teacher (-8

Potions is a hard subject, by all accounts, not just because Snape 
teaches it. Neville is not the best student in the world. I see no 
real reason to think he'd ever have been happy in a potions class. 
Yes, Snape seems to make it worse for him - but happiness may 
simply not be a realistic emotion for Neville to have about 
potions.

He may be happy in that exam, partly because he is aware that this 
is the end of his potions studies. I *know* I felt that way in my 
last music exam at school.

(Please note - I'm not badmouthing music - I know a lot of people 
love it - I have a neurological issue that means I can't really 
understand it though in the way most people do, and that made music 
classes at school, an absolute purgatory for me. I actually only 
passed because my final music teacher came pretty close to beating 
the subject into me. Rather amusingly, at University level, where 
I've had to do music so I know how to teach it, if I ever have to, 
I managed to get Second Class Honours in the subject - because of 
that teacher.)


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