Rampant Ingratitude

[torigyrl at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 129430

> Amandageist:
> 
> Ah, but I am one who will not concede that he's miserable at it. 
> Because I think what a teacher should do is convey information, 
> and (with the exception of Neville, who has trouble in classes 
> other than Snape's) Snape does that. I don't think it's required 
> for a teacher to be nice. I think it's required for a teacher to 
> pass fundamental information about the subject he/she is teaching, 
> and there is canon to support that Snape is quite effective at 
> that.
 

I agree with you on the fact that being a good *teacher* has nothing to do with whether you are nasty or nice.  From my experience as a corporate trainer I've found that it is how you disseminate information.  Or as you put it "convey information".  I've worked alongside trainers with personalities that would qualify them as "great" (Flitwick, Sprout) and personalities that would qualify them as "bad" (Snape) teachers.  The truth is that as far as examination scores or attrition rates (the percentage of students who drop or fail a class) there is very little difference in the outcome. It has been stated that Snape does seem to have a relatively high number of students that do well in potions. 
 
 
Another point that his been brought up on whether he is a good teacher or not is the fact that he does not work to bring out the maximum potential in every student in the class.  Neville Longbottom is usually cited.  Again, from my experience in education, this kind of expectation upon a teacher is unreasonable and quite frankly utopian.  
 
First of all not all students want to learn.  Here is a quote I snagged off of the HP Lexicon site 

"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?"
--Ron Weasley
 
Both Harry and Ron seem to rush to the door when class is over, put little effort into studying and try to cheat off Hermione.  Students like this were the bulk of my 30 student training classes.  Trust me when I say that there is very little that you can do to encourage, inspire or persuade these types of students to do better.  It is a personal choice on the part of the student.  And when you look at Ron and Harry's behavior in their other classes, blaming their poor behavior on Snape just doesn't hold.
 
Secondly not all students are capable of learning.  I've had my Neville Longbottoms and unlike Snape I have tried to take these students aside during breaks.  No matter how much attention and time I put in to these students I could not get past the "I can't do it" barrier.  Sometimes the students own insecurity gets in the way of teaching.  Hopefully after the battle at the MOM Neville will have more confidence in himself and be a better student.  Do I condone Snape's ridiculing Neville?  No, my point is that even if Snape 
was PerfectTeacher!Snape Neville would still perform the same.  Again look at Neville's performance in Transfiguration and his other classes.  The only class he excels at is herbology.  I think there is a tremendous correlation between the fact that herbology is the subject Neville *really* loves and his performance in this class.  It has nothing to do with Prof. Sprout.
 
Also, a word about Hermione.  Yes it is nice to have a student who is genuinely interested in learning.  However, Hermione Grangers have a tendency to end up disrupting a class more than they contribute to the class.  Hermione is after attention more than she is knowledge.  She seems to get most of her actual knowledge from the library and not in-class lectures.
  
Tori   
 


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