Prompt: A teacher’s ability to relate well with students is more important than excellent knowledge
of the subject being taught.
Going though school, it is a universal experience to have a teacher that used to get well along with all students. He is usually considered a friend of the class, above being a fountain of knowledge of which the students can drink from. And, in my experience, these type of teachers are not as successful as others. That is because, although the best intentions, they can be seen as too nice by the students, which impacts negatively in the relationship of respect between the two parties. Furthermore, if the teacher is nice, but not able to effectively explain the necessary content to its students, he is not a proper teacher.
Firstly, a relationship between students and a teacher should be of respect. The teachers detain a power that is provenient from the knowledge they have acquired over their academic years. The students are in the classroom to obtain a fraction of the content the professor is trying to explain them. In consequence, the students must have a great amount of respect over their teachers. If a teacher decides to prioritize a sense of relatability with the students instead of respect, he may have negative consequences. For example, if a teacher is seen as nice by the students, they may perceive him as not tough enough. As a consequence, the students might misbehave and think they can get away with it, since the teacher is a friend. With that, the respect is lost, and he will have a hard time to regain it and properly establish communication with the class.
Secondly, a teacher who is nice with the class and always willing to help, but cannot explain the subject well to the students, serves for nothing. An unprepared teacher, who does not have enough knowledge to be in the position he is in, cannot be called a teacher. Before being nice, he must be prepared to do his job. A teacher who is always smiling but not being able to properly answer the students' doubts is much worse than one who the class is not fond of, but who can communicate well their mastered content.
In conclusion, a teacher must have much knowledge of what he is supposed to teach, no matter the relationship with the class. If he is able to explain well the content and prioritizes the respect of the students over any other social aspect, he will be successful, and will positively impact several students with his classes.
I know what you mean - I have learned a lot from teachers who really knew a lot, and who demanded a lot and who were very tough. On the other hand, if I really like a subject I can learn it on my own even if the teacher does not know a lot about the subject, as long as they are nice and let me study it on my own and they don't get in my way. I get very mad if a teacher thinks they have to boss me around and demand that I respect them, it destroys my concentration and I hate doing any school work for those types of teachers.
I completely agree with you. Although I wrote this essay supporting tough teachers, the ones that I truly hold dear are the teachers that are nice to the class and supportive. I only argued that because this is a practice essay for TOEFL, in which I need to pick only one side. But I agree that things aren't as black and white as I wrote :)
Hmm, when I write an argumentative essay I usually naturally explore both sides' point of view as deeply as I can, and I often like looking at things from both perspectives, then taking the best of both sides and making a sliding scale: (1) The most ideal is a tough teacher who knows their stuff and has the best intentions and who knows how to gain respect, keep control, and make students work their asses off and to develop their potentials in ways that the students wouldn't be as motivated to do if they were left alone. (2) A little less ideal, but still good, teacher is one who is just a nice teacher, who maybe isn't that knowledgeable, but who has good intentions, and who controls a class so that the class doesn't stop the people who want to learn from learning, and who makes a pleasant environment. Next on the ladder is (3) a teacher who is knowledgeable but is a jerk, but who can control a class, and people can learn from that person if they don't let the personality bother them too much. Below that is (4) a nice teacher who does not know their subject and cannot control the class. This is not a teacher, and is a waste of time, since the people who want to learn will be too distracted to learn. And the worst is (5) A bad teacher who knows nothing, is a jerk, and cannot control their class. Notice that there are three traits at play here: nice and knowledgeable and able to control a classroom. If a person is deficient in one but has the other two traits, they are more worthy than a teacher who is deficient in two, or, worse all three.... See, that makes for a more interesting essay, in my point of view... but I don't know the rules of TOEFL. Perhaps they only care about grammar and don't care about philosophy. Ahh well... I thought your essay was thought provoking and enjoyable to read, the grammar and vocabulary seemed less important than the thoughts.
That would certainly make a very interesting essay! This structure is great for longer texts, I think. TOEFL tends to demand shorter texts due to time constraints, but if there wasn't such a thing, your model would be very interesting for sure. Thank you so much for the feedback!