Teaching Styles

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 147785

Sean Hateley:

> Let's face it. Snape is *not* a likeable person. He is never 
likely 
> to be popular with his students. He is never likely to be teaching 
> them lessons that they enjoy. It's a matter of his personality - 
at 
> least I think it is. He's just not Mr Nice Guy.
> 
> It really seems to me that it would be a waste of time for Snape 
to 
> try and be Mr Nice Guy, to try and run a pleasant classroom where 
> everyone (even Neville) was always happy. And if he tried, I'm 
fairly 
> sure it would be a disaster.
> 
> Snape can't be a popular teacher. He can't be a teacher where his 
> students like his classes.
>
Magpie:

And yet that's not true.  Snape is very popular with the Slytherins, 
who cheer wildly for him when he's made DADA teacher.  Narcissa says 
he's Draco's favorite teacher, and he seems to be.  (Draco's offer 
to "put in a good word" for Snape with his father seems perfectly 
genuine to be in CoS, as does Snape's reaction, and OotP also hints 
at a friendly relationship between them pre-Pensieve.)

Of course I know the obvious response to that is that Snape favors 
Slytherin--we've seen him take their side when they're clearly in 
the wrong, and since he praised Draco the first day of class and 
hates Harry, that's a pretty good reason for Draco to like him 
regardless of anything else.

However, I don't think that fully explains Snape's relationship to 
the Slytherins.  Umbridge favored them even more ridiculously and I 
didn't see any hint that they liked or respected her, even as they 
enjoyed the power.  For all the favoring Snape does of the 
Slytherins in situations where its their word against the 
Gryffindors, and the fact that he amuses them by picking on 
Gryffindors in class, I see no evidence that Snape is any less 
strict with them.  People often make references to them supposedly 
acting out in class but this isn't true.  They aren't very badly 
behaved in class at all, and Draco, the one most often claimed to be 
running amuck in class, seems to be a perfectly good student who 
usually treats Snape with a natural respect (which is why Harry is 
so struck when he hears Draco openly challenge him--Snape reacts to 
Draco's challenge as an adult to an adolescent, unlike the way he 
reacts to Harry's).  In HBP we learn that Snape does give detentions 
to Slytherins.  His strictness, to me, seems to be something 
students like Draco like.

My point being that I think while the Slytherins see a different 
Snape they don't see a Snape who's any fluffier than the guy we see 
in class.  He's not going to be praising them for doing it wrong any 
more than he's going to praise Harry.  I've always thought he 
genuinely appealed to them, and I don't think it's the pettiness 
that does it.  I think the Slytherins actually do get more a sense 
of the Snape who, whatever side he's on, can be intelligent, cool 
and a badass.  For some people Snape's toughness is probably proof 
that his praise is real, and if his "recognizing" the superiority of 
Slytherins gets their attention, it doesn't seem to include Snape 
thinking his Slytherins are superior to *him.*

So yeah, my point here isn't to say that Snape's a great guy and 
Harry can't see it but the Slytherins can...it's just to say that 
whatever Rowling's personal judgment is on Snape as a teacher I do 
think she acknowledges the difference between Snape having power and 
Snape abusing power and is almost interested in the line crossing. 
If he was no good as a teacher at all I don't think he'd work the 
way he needs to work in the story.

-m