It's all about attitude

All those of you who have watched the movie, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, will fondly remember this hilarious scene. Tom Baker and Jimmy Murtaugh are playing tennis and the latter is mercilessly slaughtering Tom. In the end, a frustrated Tom points to his broken shoe and says, “It’s these shoes.” To this, Jimmy tells Tom that it is only a poor workman who blames his tools.

Most of us wouldn’t have given this a second thought. But an in-depth insight into one aspect of the educational system will very well illustrate how true this statement was. The reference here, of course, is to teachers and students. Much has already been written regarding the student-teacher relationship and its many dimensions. Many a time when problems arise, it is hard to figure out who to point fingers at. Are the teachers at fault? Are students being impossible? Or is it the system in general which is breeding discord?An article published entitled “The good, the bad and the ugly” (Dawn, November 19, 2006) talked about the perception of students regarding their teachers. Many students had felt that they were given teachers ill-equipped to teach them the concerned subjects. They had many issues with the teaching methods, failure of their teachers to grade assignments on time and the inability to answer questions of their students effectively.

But the question is what are the teachers thinking? How do they make categories of students to determine who falls in the positive bracket and who is delegated the negative one? After all, if students can do it, why can’t the teachers? So how does one put students in categories?

The only answer to all these questions lies, of course, with those who are in the profession rather than the third-party observers. When interviewed, teachers also expressed their opinions regarding good and bad students.

“According to me, the best student is one who has a lot of potential and strong will to gain something from the class or teacher,” expressed Aazadi Fateh, who teaches undergraduate students. “If one wants to improve, learn and gain, then all other hurdles can be overcome. So, a best student is an excited, regular and obedient one.”

“A bad student is just opposite of that,” she added further. “A rigid student who has no will and shows no effort. Plus, you just cannot do anything about a student who is not bothered about his/her attendance, marks, position and class participation. It is in the face of students such as these that a teacher becomes totally helpless. Of course, I have faced complains like I am going too fast when delivering a lecture or not checking assignments on time. In such cases, I simply try and improve upon these things.”Ayesha Kalim, who teaches both junior and senior students at her own institute, also offered her perception of good and bad students. “I would say that all students have positive and negative points. It depends upon the teacher as to how she brings out the best in each student,” she said. “A good student can be one who is responsible about his/her work and does it carefully. Such a student can cope with all types of problems and overcome every weakness due to his/her positive attitude.

“A bad student is one who does not realise the importance of education and values. Because of this attitude, s/he will not be able to realise his/her hidden potential while studying,” she concluded. “I sometimes ask my students to tell me about my weaknesses. I think the wisest person is one who learns from his mistakes.”

It is quite interesting to note, that both teachers mentioned attitude as the main factor which demarcates a good student from a bad one. In the first case, it was the attitude towards studies and achievement and in the second, attitude towards education and values. If it is attitude which is negative and rigid, then a teacher can’t really rectify that in any way.

But what does one say about the attitude of students towards teachers themselves? Surprisingly, there are many students who are rightfully concerned about this attitude and they whole-heartedly agree that their peers can easily fall in the “bad student” category simply because of the way they treat their teachers.

The scenario in many educational institutes, especially the universities is something like this. The teacher is extremely qualified. S/he makes a really commendable effort to keep up with the developments in the subject assigned to him/her. Every day s/he logs onto the internet to take out new and interesting points to incorporate in the lecture. S/he gives a lot of leeway to students to ask questions and be critical. Still, the teacher comes under fire for one reason or another. Why do students still have a problem?

According to many students, the reasons are complex and varied, but under no circumstances are there any justifications for what mostly constitutes extremely shabby treatment. They cite examples from their own institutes to illustrate how students can make life difficult for teachers, instead of things being the other way around.

“It is sad. We have a wonderful teacher and she tries her best to clear our concepts and make us understand the subject. But some of my classmates are really rude to her and for apparently no reason at all, except to seem cool,” lamented Nadia Arshad, an engineering student. “They whistle and make cat calls while she is teaching. The poor teacher simply ignores them and proceeds to teach the front two rows where the more studious lot sits.”

Some male students are particularly venomous towards female teachers. “It’s simply male chauvinism,” declares Nayyar Khan, an undergraduate student. “These guys assume that just because a teacher is female, she is automatically disqualified to teach science or engineering subjects. They never take such teachers seriously and take on an air of superiority when they are around them. They never miss a chance to put them down in any way. Ask some of these students what they think of their teachers and they will always give you an extremely negative response.”

Then, there are students who never appreciate the intellect of their teachers. They love to discuss their personal problems and make snide comments. Instead of thinking of ways in which they can actually benefit from the expertise of teachers, these students are more concerned about their physical attributes and personal issues, which more often than not, feature as convenient fodder for gossip. But since it is the teachers under fire, who’s going to tell these students to mind their own business?

Another way in which students actually make their teachers feel derogatory and unworthy is when they are asked to fill in evaluation forms at the end of the semester. Instead of filling these forms accurately, some students search for reasons to write critical comments. Those institutes which take such forms seriously can make life very difficult for the teacher concerned.

“I was shocked to see the evaluation forms after a semester,” explained Dr Farah Salim, who teaches post-graduate students. “Some comments were so unbelievable I was stunned. For instance, one student had written that I simply take lectures from the internet when the reality was that my colleagues and I take hours to note down the latest facts and figures to keep our science students updated. I think students are never satisfied.”

At the end of the day then, it is all about attitude. Students who themselves are concerned about their education and achievement will have problems with teachers, but only with those who genuinely hamper their objective of proper learning. Those who aren’t concerned with their own education in the first place, will have problems not only with teachers but with anything and everything that makes up the educational system around them. And this, ultimately, determines how good or bad a student appears in the eyes of a teacher.

(Names of certain teachers and students have been changed to ensure their privacy)