I also just want to shout out to Moomin, here. That post rings true as a bell.
My DH and I are both very good teachers. VERY. We're both conscientious, deep subject experts with a wide variety of knowledge to draw from, and we both are reasonably adaptable for differences in student pacing and individual needs.
However-- I am by far a better teacher for students who are struggling with their own demons. He is by far a better teacher for people who are highly assertive and slightly abrasive by nature.
My mom was a
remarkable-- really STELLAR-- elementary teacher with a reputation of managing kids with fairly significant history of behavioral issues, and kids who struggled with learning disabilities. She was legendary for maintaining quiet, calm classroom environs that ran like clockwork-- without ever needing raised voices or harsh discipline.
But all of us have had students that we just couldn't/didn't reach. GOOD teachers care about the fact that they can't find that lever. It BUGS them.
There's just so little of the educational process that teachers
actually control or have influence over.
At the primary and secondary levels, that's even MORE true than in post-secondary. In post-secondary, at least you have the ability to tackle the elephant in the room;
"You seem very tired. Joe, is there something happening that is preventing you from having the time to work outside of class? Maybe I can help." (Yes, I've sent people to student health, the local health department, the public assistance office for food stamps, campus employment offices, etc. etc.) Profs have the ability to "refer" willing students in order to tackle some barriers to learning much more directly.
I don't necessarily
blame teachers for the decisions of: a) taxpayers (to only fund 'fun/new' ideas) b) administrators (making a name for themselves with 'fun/new' ideas), c) unions (who are about teacher JOBS, not student education), d) parents (some of whom do NOTHING to help the process)...
All of those things matter at least as much as what happens INSIDE classrooms. Crappy curriculum or impossible edicts from on-high are
unfortunately commonplace.
