To My Dear Teacher

:bravo: :bravo: I think it was a fab response too, coz from a kid’s perceptive, you mention snow, and she thinks of mountain slopes!

[quote]
Agreed. My wife called our daughter’s Principal last night for the same reason, because after school our girl told us her English teacher had asked the class, “if its freezing cold and snowing outside, what would you do?” [/quote]

“Climbing a mountain.”
“You’re stupid.”
“I wouldn’t be in this fucking class; that’s for sure.”
(Note: I am NOT advocating my reply)

What I really realized is that we have to make this a learning opportunity to your daughter, which you did very well. You’ll always run into assholes in life. It’s not about how you hate them; it’s how you deal with them.

Disregard Islam and Obama.

The fact laughing at his pupils after teaching here for 20 years shows a clear disrespect. Not to be excused by any reason.
We all have our bad days, but young students ALL remember their teachers. Especialy the assholes.
And an asshole is a no can do as role model. Facto.

Next !

Laughing at and laughing with can be misinterpreted. The 50 year old should know how to make sure the 20 year old does not misinterpret it, though.

This really does depend on so many factors, not least the personalities involved. It could well be, for example, that the teacher has an inferiority complex. It could equally possibly be that the PhD student has a superiority complex, and is always trying to show the teacher up or score points in class and prove he knows better. It could be the teacher is inexperienced; it could be he’s very experienced and is considering he is teaching a class of X people and they all need the opportunity to speak, and if he lets one person dominate the class he’s letting him rob the other students. It could be pure personality clash, nothing more, nothing less.

There are a lot of teachers who seek to ridicule students as a means of control. A lot of the traditional punishments OUR teachers doled out, such as detention, giving more homework, sending people to the principal, just don’t work here. Ridicule works, because Taiwanese don’t like losing face. I’m not condoning this method, as there are other methods of control, just pointing out that it exists, and why.

Insulting people can be cultural; Brits, Aussies and Kiwis can have quite a biting sense of humour which can be difficult for people of other cultures to get used to. I poke fun at people, laugh at mistakes if they’re funny, deliberately say the wrong word sometimes in sentences to provide contrast which allows me to compare the two words. I also laugh at myself, and tell funny anecdotes in class, and when I laugh because someone said “I’m going to my horse” instead of “to my house”, it’s obvious I’m laughing at the words rather than deliberately insulting and mocking the student. In my experience some students can’t stand my teaching style, and soon leave, but many more really enjoy my style.

I understand what you mean; in “conversation classes”, there is usually one person (sometimes more) who monopolizes the conversation. Still, is making that person too uncomfortable to participate the best way to handle the situation? It being a conversation class, shouldn’t the aim be to encourage student discourse rather than to discourage it? If that’s an issue, surely the teacher should discuss it privately with the student in question, rather than to alienate that student. (Realistically, I understand that monopolizers will continue to monopolize even after such discussions, so I see the teacher’s point.)

With face being such a big “motivator” in Taiwan, shouldn’t teachers be more aware and LESS willing to use it as a deterrent? Perhaps they find it necessary with younger groups, but in an adult class? Really, give me a break! :noway:

[quote=“Mother Theresa”]
Incidentally, I was proud of my daughter’s response that got mocked, so last night I logged on the Internet with her and viewed photos and videos of people climbing big mountains in the snow. :slight_smile: We also explained to her that her teacher was wrong, made a mistake and didn’t know what she was talking about, but she should forgive her because we all make mistakes.[/quote]

Good opportunity to also discuss the dangers.

avalanche.org/tutorial/tutorial.html

Recognize red flags:
3) Heavy snowfall or rain in the past 24 hours.

[quote=“nemesis”]

With face being such a big “motivator” in Taiwan, shouldn’t teachers be more aware and LESS willing to use it as a deterrent? Perhaps they find in necessary with younger groups, but in an adult class? Really, give me a break! :noway:[/quote]

Why find it a necessity with younger students? Quite honestly, that sounds disrespectful to them.

Funny how many people are ready to crucify this person without knowing exactly what was said or hear their side of the story. All the OP has written has been a projection of emotions on another person.

[quote=“Puppet”][quote=“nemesis”]

With face being such a big “motivator” in Taiwan, shouldn’t teachers be more aware and LESS willing to use it as a deterrent? Perhaps they find it necessary with younger groups, but in an adult class? Really, give me a break! :noway:[/quote]

Why find it a necessity with younger students? Quite honestly, that sounds disrespectful to them.[/quote]

It’s not, but local teachers use it more as a means of discipline with younger students. By the time they’re older, most of them have been shamed into submission/silence. :blush:

I’ve been in conversation classes (as a student) where no one would talk. The teacher would be trying to get the students to talk, but most just weren’t interested, and many were also too shy and/or embarrassed about their lack of conversational ability. I’ve taught conversation classes where no one would talk - if I had a student who monopolized the conversation, I think I would have been thrilled. Make fun of him to shut him up, and then we’re back to uncomfortable silence.

One of my Taiwanese students (13) was very upset when his teacher (a native speaker of English, supposedly) made fun of him in class. The teacher had asked him what a kiwi was, and the student said it was a bird. Evidently, it is only a fruit in this teacher’s world.

I have to agree with CraigTPE’s comments.
From my experience, teaching discussion classes to Taiwanese students is very much hit and miss. Each class is unique, and depends on group dynamics, teaching environment, materials, topics, etc. It’s impossible to comment on the OP without having knowledge of this.

QFT. In this case, it seems religion and politics are sensitive subjects for the teacher, and if he CAN allow free discussion without getting hot and bothered, and if he CAN open them up to the class (is the class genuinely interested in discussing it?) then he should do so, but if he can’t discuss them maturely he would be better of saying “I don’t feel comfortable with this subject”, and change the subject.

Using face as a motivator instead of a deterrent sounds like a wonderful idea! Positive reinforcement works well with children of all cultures.

Quite right! The main reason I said that was in the conceivable case of a teacher who taught younger students, and then moved on to adult classes and isn;t sure how to treat them. Perhaps he’s NOT being sarcastic as a means of control, but treating him as more of an equal; treating him as a Western guy at the pub having a political argument over a few beers rather than as a student, and just not thinking about face at all.

What evidence is there that the instructor was “hot”, “bothered” or “sarchastic”? What exactly was said?

Original post:

You’re right in that we don’t have enough information, and as I previously stated there could be multiple reasons for this “clash” (whatever happened), not all of them being the fault of the teacher.
But IF, generally speaking, IF one cannot discuss religion/politics/sensitive subjects in a mature fashion, one should avoid them. One certainly shouldn’t get involved in a heated debate with a fanatical extremist in a language class. :slight_smile: (note: Not saying that’s what happened)

last they forget… the OP left the scene after 3 posts on the 1st day.

My Psych would say that it was therefore merely a rant (maybe) :whistle:

[quote=“ceevee369”]last they forget… the OP left the scene after 3 posts on the 1st day.

My Psych would say that it was therefore merely a rant (maybe) :whistle:[/quote]

Of course! What other purpose would the post serve?

That’s true, but her teacher has been teaching for 20 years and should know better.[/quote]

How? Trial and error? Some might, but most won’t. Unless they read a lot, are observed by someone who knows teacher training, and are prepared to experiment, and generally have a reflective attitude towards their teaching practice, then they will just do the same crappy lesson 10000 times.[/quote]

I’m with Buttercup on this point. In a previous job I needed to supervise teachers and provide feedback after observing classes. I was happy to see some awesome teaching out there (a great way for me to pick up some teaching tips for myself), and was sometimes gratified to be able to provide some constructive criticism to new teachers, but trying to guide certain teachers who had been teaching for years was the saddest responsibility I have ever had. The teachers I’m thinking of resisted any suggestions, simply asserting that they had been teaching for years and knew what they were doing. Their years in service somehow qualified them to simply continue with the same boring instructional style.

Without training or that self-reflective personality, experience doesn’t translate into better skills but often just means you have been doing the same crappy job for longer than others.

[quote]
I’m with Buttercup on this point. In a previous job I needed to supervise teachers and provide feedback after observing classes. I was happy to see some awesome teaching out there (a great way for me to pick up some teaching tips for myself), and was sometimes gratified to be able to provide some constructive criticism to new teachers, but trying to guide certain teachers who had been teaching for years was the saddest responsibility I have ever had. The teachers I’m thinking of resisted any suggestions, simply asserting that they had been teaching for years and knew what they were doing. Their years in service somehow qualified them to simply continue with the same boring instructional style.

Without training or that self-reflective personality, experience doesn’t translate into better skills but often just means you have been doing the same crappy job for longer than others.[/quote]

My old martial arts instructor said it best. “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”

I have been to work and I am really tired, but for some reason I thought the original poster said she liked Bin Laden not Obama and was thinking no wonder he wasn’t happy ha! Being at work is no excuse for that kind of error! :laughing: