Bad Teachers (2 Viewers)

[Rockyroad]

For me teachers are like the most important influence (other than me doing work) for success in the hsc. my math teacher isn't very good and i wish i could just not go to math class and get my tutor to teach me at home, i know i would do so much better.
Man my bio teacher is so bad we just spend the lessons, ignoring her and reading from the textbook. seriously, she has massive mood swings, is a total racist and doesn't believe in evolution (wtf! for a bio teacher!) and tells us too much about her personal like including her personal ovulation cycles or lack thereof. ewww.
Good teachers inspire me and make me do well so as to impress them.

 

[blueberryeeeeek]

In order to succeed in the Higher School Certificate, one must understand and be able to recall a lot of concepts contained within the subjects that he or she takes. In order to ensure that these concepts stay in a student's long-term memory, they must be taught in a very interesting, engaging and memorable way, and such level of teaching can only be achieved by a very good teacher. Therefore a good teacher is extremely important for a student's success in the HSC, in any subject.

Look, I am in my mid-twenties and have 2 university degrees.

The argument does not lie simply in the fact that "in order to ensure that these conceps stay in a student's long term memory, they must be taught in a very interesting, engaging and memorable way".

Rather, the argument lies in the notion that, as a young person under 18 with a developing mind, it is thus ESSENTIAL to be provided with competent tuition by dedicated lecturers. Personally, I had some really shithouse teachers in high school, and I undoubtedly believe that it had some effect on my UAI. I have only gotten to where I am today, through sheer hard work and perseverance - And no thanks to those teachers I had the misfortune to experience at high school.

But, let me caution you; if you intend to study a high-level course at uni such as the health sciences or law, you are expected to memorise thousands of pages of BORING information, in a very rapid manner. The lecturer simply does NOT have time to engage you in an "interesting, engaging and memorable" manner. Uni lectures are just about all powerpoint, you basically print them off and memorise at home.

Aim to become self reliant in your learning - it is your best investment yet.


All my love,

Aunty blueberry

 

[Sarah182]

For subjects which are mainly content based (PDHPE, Biology) it is quite easy for a student to "teach themselves" so to speak.

However for something like Extension Maths I believe that has to be some level of student and teacher interaction.

 

[Rockyroad]

For subjects which are mainly content based (PDHPE, Biology) it is quite easy for a student to "teach themselves" so to speak.

However for something like Extension Maths I believe that has to be some level of student and teacher interaction.

I agree. Mathext is hard to learn from a book but content based stuff, especially biology is easily learnt from a book. Actually I would rather learn it from a book. History, to some extent can be self taught I think - I do modenr history by correspondence and it is good.

 

[Zephyrio]

The quality of teaching DOES matter.

 

[youngminii]

I disagree with some people in this thread.

You don't need a teacher for anything. A mixture of studying by yourself, past papers, and some help(original purpose of this site's creation) is more than enough.
In fact, it's better than completely relying on a teacher.

I also have terrible teachers(except English) but I've opted to go for tuition. Quite good.

That said, having a better teacher is obviously better than having a worse teacher. But my point is that it's manageable.

 

[Zephyrio]

I disagree with some people in this thread.

You don't need a teacher for anything. A mixture of studying by yourself, past papers, and some help(original purpose of this site's creation) is more than enough.
In fact, it's better than completely relying on a teacher.

I also have terrible teachers(except English) but I've opted to go for tuition. Quite good.

That said, having a better teacher is obviously better than having a worse teacher. But my point is that it's manageable.

It is manageable, but if your teachers are wonderful then you will have a stronger likelihood of getting higher marks. You do need teachers for many things; marking essays, explaining concepts and providing the support integral to student success. To suggest that "it's ['it' being studying by yourself] better than completely relying on a teacher" is wrong. Teachers are there to be relied on. This is not to say that you shouldn't be doing extra work. But the fact remains that if you were given a choice between good and bad teachers, of course you'd choose the good teachers. If you were given a choice of "doing well" in your HSC as opposed to merely "managing" it, then... I do not need to make it anymore obvious.

 

[piitb]

teachers is the most important aspect of learning.

teachers should be there not only to "teach" but to motivate, encourage, help students on a case by case basis. not just to clock in and out and finish up when the bell rings.

but most teachers cant be fucked, and teaching in general has pretty low moral.

u find a good one now and then, but are few and far between.

thats probably why there are so many tutorial companies going around, and why many students improve markedly when they go to a tutor, i mean i seen some people go from fails to top of the class, extra work always help, but improving 100%. obviously the student wasn't taught properly in the first place.

 

[camomile.tea]

I guess it depends on whether the teachers' teaching styles suit the students' learning styles. My maths class does well because the teacher extends our learning by giving us harder questions, more in depth information etc. A lot of students would be bored with most of the topics if she didn't go at the pace she does. However, I know a lot of her past students find her a so-so teacher, and one of my friends find it hard to understand things she explains.

There are elements that you find in all good teachers though. They seem genuinely committed to what they are teaching and care about how the students are dealing with the subject. I don't know about other people, but this really motivates me to perform better and become interested in what I'm doing.

But then again, independent study is also important.

 

[youngminii]

It is manageable, but if your teachers are wonderful then you will have a stronger likelihood of getting higher marks. You do need teachers for many things; marking essays, explaining concepts and providing the support integral to student success. To suggest that "it's ['it' being studying by yourself] better than completely relying on a teacher" is wrong. Teachers are there to be relied on. This is not to say that you shouldn't be doing extra work. But the fact remains that if you were given a choice between good and bad teachers, of course you'd choose the good teachers. If you were given a choice of "doing well" in your HSC as opposed to merely "managing" it, then... I do not need to make it anymore obvious.

Tutors.
There, managed.

 

[pawabola]

Tutors aren't the same, you only spend 1-2hrs a week opposed to what, 5-6 hours a week in class with your regular teacher? A tutor can only do so much.

 

[youngminii]

Tutors aren't the same, you only spend 1-2hrs a week opposed to what, 5-6 hours a week in class with your regular teacher? A tutor can only do so much.

A tutor can provide all the benefits a teacher can, such as essay marking, specific help on a question, how to improve etc.
Tutors generally have a lot less students in class (esp. 1 on 1) and so it is more time efficient.
Who says you can't have more than 5 hours of tutor a week?
A teacher wastes time doing theory AND practice in class. A tutor does the theory and makes you do practice at home.

 

[hayleyharlequin]

My maths teacher is the most arrogant person I have ever met. He nevers explains things properly, or at all. Never takes into consideration people being sick when it comes to classwork. He takes offence to the smallest things, such as two people working on a question together and having to whisper, however if someone's phone goes off, not only does he ignore it, but he doesn't even yell at them! I mean, it's completely stupid! This is my worst year in maths and it doesn't help that it's year 12!

 

[Zephyrio]

A tutor can provide all the benefits a teacher can, such as essay marking, specific help on a question, how to improve etc.
Tutors generally have a lot less students in class (esp. 1 on 1) and so it is more time efficient.
Who says you can't have more than 5 hours of tutor a week?
A teacher wastes time doing theory AND practice in class. A tutor does the theory and makes you do practice at home.

Do you enjoy playing the devil's advocate or do you honestly believe what you're saying?

Let's compare. A teacher will typically teach you 3-4 hours a week for each two unit subject. To reiterate my point, 3-4 hours a week. Most tutors will not be available to tutor you for 3-4 hours a week per subject. Now if you were to rely on your tutor while going to school, you'd basically have no time for yourself all week. A much more time efficient method of learning would be to get most out of school. This means hoping for a good teacher so that you can learn the content; your argument that tutors have less students in this case is negated by the fact that you would be spending an excessive amount of time (and money, no less) on tutoring, thus leaving you less time with homework and that little thing that seems to have eluded you thus far... life.

 

[Timothy.Siu]

well, i think that although teachers do play a huge role in learning, I could do ALL my subjects except for english WITHOUT a teacher, and yes it would be harder but i think i'd do basically just as well. but obviously a good teacher would be better than a bad teacher...

 

[Trebla]

Good teachers are definitely important. They make learning a lot easier. They save you money from actually needing a tutor. In fact, some of them are better than well known tutors. I was lucky enough to have excellent Maths teachers throughout Year 7 to 12 who sometimes taught some extra useful stuff you don't usually learn from tutors.

That being said, I've had my fair share of bad teachers from those who don't know anything to those who have short tempers...

 

[kevinx2]

I wanna teacher to spoon feed me

 

[Zephyrio]

Good teachers are definitely important. They make learning a lot easier. They save you money from actually needing a tutor. In fact, some of them are better than well known tutors. I was lucky enough to have excellent Maths teachers throughout Year 7 to 12 who sometimes taught some extra useful stuff you don't usually learn from tutors.

That being said, I've had my fair share of bad teachers from those who don't know anything to those who have short tempers...

Damn. I was lucky enough to have some pretty good teachers in year 12; they made learning a lot easier.

 

[darkwolfzx]

How important is the interaction with teachers for the process of learning.. ?

Some teachers at my school are just terribly lazy and bad at teaching, he literally lacks the ability and knowledge to teach the subject. What are your thoughts on bad teachers ?

teachers are gonna play some role in helping you through the HSC, but to me a somewhat lazy teacher is a good thing, because as I always say, they don't push you to study in uni.

In uni we have really shitty lecturers who can't get more than 2 points across, but if we don't study the material on our own then we fail our exams. Lecturers are more useful as reference guides in this case.

So yes if you teacher does jack all in the classroom then thats bad. But if he does go through the content in a little detail and encourages you to ask questions then thats a lot better. I sort of regret being spoonfed a shitload in my HSC because I grew accustomed to expecting the same thing at uni.

 

[youngminii]

My Maths teacher sucks. I'm getting along fine (thanks to tutoring and self study)
Although I never said having a bad teacher is better than having a good teacher
So I'm trying to change classes to a better teacher :S