Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Response to Video 1 (RJC Teacher Lecturing Student)
should the people involved be videoed?
In my opinion, yes. The purpose of recording and uploading this video for public view was probably to expose the teacher's lousy teaching method. Though one may argue that there is an intrusion of privacy, it serves as concrete evidence for the teacher's lousy teaching method, and tells us what is not acceptable in the eyes of the student body.
Who is at fault?
I personally feel that the teacher is at fault. The student may have produced work that was below her expectations. However, using such discouraging words to scold him in front of his own classmates will not motivate him to do better, but would instead lower his self esteem and even destroy the student-teacher relationship between them. Yes, the teacher probably had her own stress and trouble to cope with, and every teacher should have the right to discipline her students. However, the aim of a teacher should be to nurture the students' interest to learn, and her negative choice of words is actually causing her to deviate from her goal.
"You ignore the teacher's instructions, you do as you like, you do your work on your own terms..."
as we can see, she pointed out all the student's weaknesses, which does not make him aware of his strengths. How then is he expected to work on his strengths or have a positive direction to work towards?
it would have made a huge difference if she said things like,
"It would be good if you can improve on..." or "You could have done much better if you..."
at least, the student would have more incentive to work harder and produce better quality work next time.
does the person recording the video have any fault then? yes, to a small extent, as some may comment that disrespect is shown to the teacher by defaming her and violating her privacy. However, the intention of the student was clearly to open room for discussion with regards to whether the teacher's actions are justifiable. according to the video's comments, it is proven that her method of teaching is not only ineffective, but disapproved by many.
What should not be done? (or rather, what should be done...-.-)
though the reputation of the teacher (and even the school) are at stake, this video serves as a reminder that one should be responsible for his or her own actions. the teacher should not have anything to worry about if what she was doing was correct in the first place. in this case, the teacher should be mindful of her actions, especially when the school's reputation is in her hands.
Eunice
Howled at 6:16 PM