Teaching Styles

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 147802

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Alan Wilson" 
<bawilson at ...> wrote:
<SNIP>
> 
> Which brings me to Prof. Snape.  His two fields are DADA and 
> Potions. What is distinctive about those subjects?  This--if you 
> don't do it right, you can get yourself or someone else killed.
> 
<SNIP>
> Anyone here in the Health Sciences? Any doctors, nurses, 
> pharmacists?  Were your instructors cuddly?

Yes indeed.  Several years of medical training.  And many of the 
instructors were indeed, to use your phrase, "cuddly" and extremely 
interested in making sure their students were comfortable and not 
intimidated.  Others, to be sure, were more "Snape-like," but they 
by no means the majority.

I currently work for the military, and one of the people with whom I 
often interact is in charge of the disposition and use of nuclear 
weapons.  He is one of the kindest and most patient people I know, 
well-known throughout the base for creating a warm and appropriate 
work environment.  Another friend, who runs a counter-intelligence 
program designed to protect said nuclear weapons among other things, 
is somewhat more stern, but still kind and thoughtful, and 
universally popular among the agents assigned to him for supervision 
and training due to his skill at making them feel at ease.


> Anyone here studied the Martial Arts?  Were your instructors 
> cuddly? 

The answers are Yes and Yes.  Indeed, my martial arts instructor has 
made it clear that the various martial arts schools in my local area 
are working very hard to "flush out" the older style (i.e. "Snape-
like") instructors, as their techniques are viewed as irresponsible 
and counter-productive. 


> Perhaps Snape himself got someone hurt or killed because of some 
> error or omission that he (thinks) he would not have made if his 
> teacher hadn't been a little tougher on him.

That is possible.  However, I don't know of any evidence for such in 
the text, and certainly McGonagall manages to teach a dangerous 
subject without sinking to Snape's level, as did Lupin.


Lupinlore