Is It Always the Teacher’s Fault?

Mandana Arfa Kaboodvand, Iran

Mandana Arfa-Kaboodvand has a PhD in TESOL from the University of Exeter, UK. She has been a language teacher for more than 27 years. She was a university lecturer at Azad University, Central Tehran, in Iran. At present she works as a senior lecture at Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Her main areas of interests are language and culture, language teacher development and teaching English to YLs. E-mail: m_arfa@yahoo.com

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Introduction
Students’ reasons for disliking their teachers
Outline of the study
Finding
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

“I hate my teacher!” “I love my teacher!” “The teacher is OK!” “The teacher hates me!” “My teacher is a nightmare!” “My teacher is cool!” “My teacher is funny!” “My teacher is simply the best.” “My teacher is from hell”.

Students often produce these sentences about their teachers, surprisingly sometimes different students talking about the same teacher and while studying in the same class. However, it does happen that a teacher is disliked by most of the students. In that case is it really always the teacher’s fault?

A sub-finding that emerged from a study I conducted on perceptions of language teacher effectiveness revealed that it does happen that an English language teacher who does their best, is well-educated and has quite extensive experience is literally detested by most if not all of the students in their class. This made me curious to look for the reasons why sometimes some teachers are not favoured by a larger group of their students regardless of how qualified they might be. In one of the classes I was exploring, a very simple, yet different reason surfaced. The language teacher was not liked, because the students felt that she had replaced a loved teacher.

Students’ reasons for disliking their teachers

Students may have a great number of reasons for finding a teacher objectionable. Usually the reasons fall under four main categories. Students may believe that the unfavoured teacher

• does not manage the class as well as they should. This can take many forms. Not being able to control the class, not being able to create an interesting climate, not having a good plan and not having a good temper are among them. At times these teachers may be accused of paying attention to only a few students in the class and not being fair.
• does not have the required pedagogic knowledge and is not competent in classroom practice. The unfavoured teachers may seem not to be well- prepared. They may not be able to make the lesson more understandable or plan for engaging activities, and so on. In addition, the students may think that the teacher gives too much homework or does not design the right type of tests.
• does not have the required knowledge. In the case of language teaching, this refers to the teachers’ general language proficiency, knowledge of language skills and sub-skills and also meta-linguistic awareness.
• is disorganised and even sometimes untidy. Some teachers are known for losing the students’ projects and assignments or simply not paying attention to their personal hygiene and tidiness.

On the other hand, a teacher who is liked by the students besides exhibiting their knowledge and teaching skills, most often is seen as credible and successful in creating rapport with them. That teacher has the charisma to win their hearts and motivate them. Therefore, a good behaviour which can emerge from attributes such as friendliness and an adequate sense of humour may contribute to making a teacher more desirable. The exact definition of all these terms is of course defined by the context and varies in different cultures.

The problem is sometimes some teachers tick most of these boxes and are still not liked by a class.

Outline of the study

In a recent study I conducted on perceptions of language teacher effectiveness, I had the opportunity to relate to 300 boys and girls from 10 classes studying at 8th grade in 10 different single-sex public schools in Tehran. The students were 13 or 14 years of age and had studied English at school for two years at the beginning of my study and almost three years towards the end. At the very beginning of the school year they all sat a language test and then towards the end they retook the same test. One of the classes in one of the girls’ schools had made the most improvement in the test and it was exactly that class whose teacher was not liked by even one of the students. The improvement made in the second test was surprising and unexpected. After having an informal chat with the students of that class to get a general picture, I interviewed four of the girls from the strongest to the weakest about their perception of language teacher effectiveness. Generally speaking, these students like most of the other students who were interviewed, thought that effective teachers had to show that they were interested in teaching and that were concerned about what took place in their classes. The students all agreed that these would promote teachers’ credibility and lead to better interrelationship between teacher and students, which they regarded as critical to their learning. According to them teachers could show their interest by:

• paying attention to students’ demands
• smiling more frequently
• not showing boredom
• carefully choosing their words when reprimanding someone and not being verbally aggressive.

I also interviewed the language teacher of this particular class. The interview with the teacher again concerned her perceptions of language teacher effectiveness; and in many cases she also reflected upon her own teaching. She viewed her teaching as effective and seemed to show genuine interest in her job. She was studying towards her MA in TEFL and had quite extensive relevant job experience. She was also very confident about the steps she was taking in her classes. She believed that she was very attentive to the needs of the students and she provided some evidence to support that.

Finding

Upon further investigation, I realised that the same students literally adored their previous language teacher who according to them had left their school due to a disagreement she had with the head. Therefore, there was an initial resistance for any teacher who would substitute her. In addition, this teacher was new to this school and the students did not have any information about how she was. Apparently the students had already made up their minds before even giving the new teacher any opportunity. They had decided that no teacher could be as good as their previous language teacher. Then every act of this new teacher was put under microscope and was criticised.

To give an example of this teacher’s performance, some information about the context might help. In Iran teaching English does not begin at primary school; however, many parents choose to send their to private language classes outside the school from an earlier age. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see students with a variety of English language proficiencies sitting in the same language class at high school. As can be imagined, this at times makes the teacher’s job very challenging. This particular teacher had a plan to address this issue, as in her class almost half of the students’ language proficiency was higher than the requirements of the curriculum. In order to encourage the participation of all of the students in the class activities, she had asked groups of students to do the teaching. After the students performed their work, the teacher would consolidate what was taught and give the required exercises. However, this was seen by the students as a sign of her being unconcerned and uninterested in her job; while the result of the test and the teacher’s experience made it evident that it was a good practice. Williams and Burden (1997) believe that if students’ perceptions of what the teacher does do not fully match the teachers’ intentions, serious consequences including students’ dislike to continue their language learning can be expected. This is what had happened.

This mismatch between the understanding of the students and the teacher’s plan was due to several reasons. First and most importantly and as mentioned before, the students showed resistance towards the new teacher even before having given her an opportunity. Therefore, they were trying to find fault with everything that she did. In addition, it seemed that they did not see the justifications for how the teacher was performing and misinterpreted her teaching method, even though it had helped them get better test results. On the other hand, from day one and observing the reaction of the students, she had sensed the disappointment of the students and how they rejected her. She, too, was probably a little disappointed.

Conclusion

All in all, although in this particular class learning had taken place and the students had made an eye catching improvement, they were reluctant to attend their English class and were unhappy. Apparently, it had not all been the language teacher’s fault. It seems that the head of the school had to play a better part in convincing the students and helping the teacher. After all, it is not always the teachers’ fault. This leads us to revisit the roles and responsibilities of schools heads and how they can be more supportive and more helpful in making the teachers’ job less challenging.

Reference

Williams, M., & Burden, R. L. (1997). Psychology for language teachers, A social constructivist approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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