Hi there. In this education post, I would like to point out some ways that some teachers act in a non-professional manner.
This is based on my own experiences and some stuff I have heard from students.
Swearing
Swearing is a big no-no. Especially in front of the younger kids. Teachers have to lead by example and just not swear. (Mistakes are okay once in a while.)
Inappropriate Touching
This one is a huge no-no. Leave the kids alone.
There are times where you need to touch to get their attention. Somewhere around the hand, forearm or elbow could be okay. If kids get violent, a teacher may need to break up the fighting by stepping in and push the violent kids aside.
Mocking Students
It is generally not good for a teacher to make fun of a student especially if they have a medical condition or disorder. A teacher should encourage not discourage. A teacher should help and not so much criticize.
There may be some kids that may not demonstrate a good ability of learning a certain subject at a certain point in time. In a later time, that struggling student can end up being really good. It does happens sometimes.
I was a struggling student at one point trying to figure out the best way to manage time, learn information efficiently and effectively. What worked for me was something similar to a Pomodoro technique for time blocking and using the library quiet zones alot for math practice problems. Focus was key to get more done in less time.
One of the reasons behind this post was based on a recent student experience my client told me. My student client wanted to be an engineer but the teacher laughed and scoffed at him. I found out later that this teacher teaches too fast and I found a mistake in her marking.
Favourtism
Favourtism may be hidden sometimes or it can displayed more openly. I have heard of cases where a student got a decent grade despite not doing much work. The geography teacher happened to be a track and field coach in high school. This student was a geography student and track and field participant. I've heard he sent a blank cassette tape as his assignment submission and got a B grade. I worked a lot and produced a poster and got something like an A minus.
Humans are not perfect and may play favourites in life. When teachers show too much favourtism towards one student versus the others like the one above, then meritocracy goes out the window. Beyond the classroom, favourtism can occur in the workplace, business and politics.
Closing Notes
There are probably other things that make some teachers unprofessional. These include marking tests really late (after two weeks), not teaching, teaching too fast, giving free bonus marks too often.
Unfortunately, there are not so good teachers out there. They may not be focused on actually helping out students. Some may do the bare minimum and are in it for the paycheck.
On the bright side, there are some good teachers out there that really want to help out their students do well. With some teachers, you can see the passion in how they deliver the information to the next generation.
