Is Snape a good teacher?

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 132458


MmeBurgess:
<SNIP>
> The only problem that I have with Snape is as a teacher, I disagree 
> with his teaching methods.  I believe that he could be just as 
> favoring to Slytherins without the cruelness towards students of 
> other houses (e.g., Hermione's teeth, Neville's nervousness, etc.).  
> But if, as Greg says, it saves 15 years of Slytherins from becoming 
> DEs, then I will manage to forgive him.  


houyhnhnm:

As a high school science teacher, I have a lot of sympathy for Snape.  
He has very high standards and he runs a tight ship.  Teaching one's 
subject is the first duty of a teacher.  Protecting the physical 
safety of students in the lab is the second. Look at the disaster that 
is American education today in science and math. Many teachers in the 
urban district I work for never do labs anymore because discipline is 
so bad. Think of the extent to which the wizarding world is dependent 
on accurately concocted potions. (Also, think of the teaching load of 
the Hogwarts teachers.  JKR has said there are around a thousand 
students at Hogwarts and only one teacher for each subject.  It would 
be enough to make anyone cranky.)

My criticsm of Snape, as a teacher, is the fact that he can't handle 
the counter-transference.  He lets his personal dislikes take over and 
he hits below the belt (comment on Hermione's teeth).  He also doesn't 
make much effort to teach technique--just puts the procedure on the 
board and lets students sink or swim on their own.  All in all, 
though, I'd rather have Snape as a colleague any day of the world than 
Trelawney or Lockhart.