In schools, the relationship between student and teacher is a strange one. How far should the teacher be willing to educate a student, and how far should the student be willing to try?
The most standard of a student-teacher relationship is this: student goes to class, teacher teachers him or her, there are a few tests, exams, and essays, and at the end of the year, they shake hands and they go on their merry way.
At least, it’s supposed to be like this, but what if the student goes onto the next grade or even graduates from the school? If he or she meets the teacher again, would they still be in a student and teacher role system? Or will they be in a situation where they are acquaintances or even equals?
Another thing to note is that sometimes, students say that the teacher or professor is “cool”, or “awesome”, or even like a “friend.” It’s often hard to realize that teachers are humans too, and they have their own personal lives to deal with. They struggle with emotion and frustration, but they have to maintain a certain stature when dealing with students. So if a student and teacher have a great relationship where they talk about things beside school, should the student be willing to help a teacher with their personal lives? After all, it’s not uncommon that teachers look out for the students and what is happening in their homes. Their abilities in school are affected by what’s happening in their personal lives, and teachers give them guidance and time to understand what’s going on to try to help. There are movies where teachers, professors, and coaches take an active part to help realize students with hidden potential in order to give them drive and passion in their lives, because before, it seemed that society seemed to pre-label them as failures.
But what if the students don’t want to become better? Maybe their entire mentality is so damaged or screwed up, or even just born bad. What if the student doesn’t want help and asks the teachers to not care? Should teachers respect the desires of the students, or should the teacher still care for the student’s future, because the teacher realizes that the student doesn’t really know what he or she wants? To delve even further, what if the student has no talent at all, and even has a bad attitude? How far should the teacher try to go and help the student? Is it an obligation or a choice?
In my opinion, it’s a topic that confuses me. I’ve had teachers before who I had no problem with, and on the opposite side of the spectrum, I’ve teachers who I truly detested. For those whom I’ve hated, I realized that they were helping me become better, but their methods were appalling, insulting, and narrow-minded that I disliked them. Is that something that I should have adjusted to? Then there are teachers whom I’ve liked, but after I went up a year, I always seem them in the hall. What words would I share with them? Do they care about me? Or am I just another face of another year they taught?
One response to “The Wall”