When our education system cultivates students who are smart but full of anxiety, overconfident but unable to lose, and only move toward one goal mechanically, a good teacher can help students do it more rationally. Make a choice.

So, how much influence does a good teacher have?

In the book "The Road to Your Purpose", author William Damon emphasizes that adults outside the family play a key role in a child's growth. One of the very important roles is the teacher.

As the old saying goes, "Once a teacher, always a father."

It can be seen that a teacher may play a decisive role in a student's life. But good teachers can be found but not sought.

For students, it is very lucky if they can meet a foresighted senior who can give them an understanding that even their parents are unable to care about or even oppose.

01

From elementary school to high school, parents will consider two factors every time they choose a school: one is the school’s learning atmosphere, and the other is the school’s teaching staff. In the eyes of many people, good teachers are more important than good schools.

In yesterday’s *** reading, we mentioned that liberal arts education will help students gain more. However, there are two prerequisites for liberal arts education, one is humanities as the center, and the other is small class teaching led by dedicated professors.

Teaching cannot be quantified or automated, and excellent teachers are a necessity for quality education.

Education is never simple. It does not exist to solve substantive problems, nor does it exist to impart vast amounts of knowledge. The Latin word for "education" means "to inspire."

The essence of a teacher’s job is to stimulate and awaken the dormant energy lurking in each student’s body. Otherwise, it would be said that teachers are engineers of the human soul.

We have repeatedly emphasized that students should develop the ability to think in college. However, thinking is not about sitting quietly and meditating alone. It needs the guidance of a "guide", and a good teacher is that "guide".

Take writing a paper as an example. Writing a paper requires students to analyze other people's opinions and explain their own opinions. First, you need to get relevant education, and then start writing a clear paper.

In this process, you need the teacher to discuss your logical ambiguities, structural errors, lack of argumentation evidence, opportunities for refutation, and foresight of opposing viewpoints point by point, etc.

The teacher may ask further questions and suggest that you explore it from a new angle. This "small but refined" teaching model allows students to truly learn.

02

Lectures are already a backward teaching method. Because a real teacher teaches students, not lessons.

When I was in college, there was a beloved teacher on campus. How popular is he?

In his class, students always filled the entire large lecture hall; at the graduation ceremony, when his VCR was played, the cheers on the scene made it difficult for us to hear what he said.

In his class, we don’t have to copy long paragraphs of notes. He likes to lead us to explore and discuss issues.

He will ask new questions, prompting us to expand on our vague answers.

He helps shy students discover their inner confidence; he accepts and encourages students, but at the same time guides and challenges them.

He challenges students' abilities and focuses on students' personal development. His courses are not simple and easy to score, but he is an excellent professor in our hearts.

However, such good teachers are rare in universities.

In today’s universities, there are very few opportunities for students and teachers to interact one-on-one, let alone have in-depth ideological collisions with teachers.

As a Brown University student gave the author feedback, the value provided by college instructors today is generally superficial. They do nothing more than tell you how to choose courses.

What is the reason why university professors are so careless about teaching? The problem is academic research.

03

Today, the main job of university professors is not teaching, but doing academic research. This phenomenon is inseparable from the overall design of colleges and universities.

In order to be famous, schools need to use academic research to demonstrate their strength. Therefore, the overall design of colleges and universities is not based on teaching. The more prestigious a school, the more its design deviates from teaching.

In this case, professors can only be recognized if they make progress in research. Even in top universities, professors who value teaching will not only be looked down upon, but will also be questioned about their attitude towards academic research because they spend too much time on teaching. Every minute spent teaching means time sacrificed in academic research.

Gradually, a "hidden rule" has been formed in the professors' circle - publish a paper or be eliminated.

Therefore, the professor has to allocate his time to colleagues, master's and doctoral students, attend field conferences or professional organizations, submit articles to academic journals, etc. He has no time to take into account those who cannot contribute to his academic research. undergrad.

Of course, this does not mean that academic research is not worthwhile, but there is no doubt that excessive attention to research will have an impact on the quality of classroom teaching.

What we need to note is that excellent scholars do not equal excellent teachers.

Excellent scholars specialize in a certain field, they divide labor carefully, they are good at using professional terminology, and they are quite deaf to what is happening outside the window.

In the classroom, if the academic routine remains, the information students receive will be boring.

But a good teacher should be able to bring life into the classroom, draw parallels and help students release their thoughts.

As critic Leslie Fullard said: "A teacher is not an expert in the field. He is not teaching a class, but sharing his life. He can turn decay into magic. . Teaching is an art. ”

04

If a university is loyal to its educational mission, its investment in the teaching team must not be taken lightly.

The most thorough way to solve the problem of teaching quality is to respect teaching and give teaching a higher status.

First of all, the school must have the willingness to change, and secondly, it must have sufficient funds. Only by working together can the long-established academic research-dominated model be reversed.

What the school needs to do is to treat teachers' teaching and academic research equally, so that teachers can spend more time teaching and less time on scientific research, and have time and energy to lead students.

Through exploration and discussion, students gradually become familiar with thinking skills, instead of letting students spend time copying courseware and taking notes.

Teaching is not about instilling confidence, nor is it an entertainment program; teaching is about interaction and motivation. This kind of experience can only happen in a small class discussion environment that is deliberately guided by the teacher.

Blindly choosing shortcuts will lead to the current consequences. After all, whatever seeds are sown, will bear fruit.