In school, you will meet many different teachers and go through many different experiences. High school especially can be a difficult time for some. What could make that worse? A teacher who destroys your mindset. I have had many teachers who have improved along with worsened my mindset. Many teachers just have one focus, informing their students on what they are supposed to learn. But that shouldn’t be all of what school is about. In public schools, we have many different electives we can choose from, which helps us grow as students and find our passions. But in other countries, and even at private schools in our country students are not given these opportunities. 

In countries such as Germany, teachers are harsh and typically only care about the education of a student. Which of course is the main purpose of school, but the harsher a teacher is on a kid, the farther it pushes that kid away. I interviewed a few teachers here at Bothell on their opinions on this issue.

First I asked BHS’ German teacher, Mr. Fisher-Rodiguez if he has had a teacher who has changed his mindset. He responded, “I had a professor whose mindset was to look at things that made you uncomfortable, not anything gross or anything like that, […] going deeper in German history such as the holocaust and WW2. […] But I think they are important to learn about” (Fisher-Rodriguez). This question is a good way to demonstrate how to help kids come out of their comfort zone so they might be able to learn new things. Even if it may be an uncomfortable subject, it can lead to someone liking a topic even more than before.

Next, I asked a BHS science teacher, Mr. Elliot, if he had ever helped change a kid’s mindset. He replied, “Sometimes I have found that students overly focus on attempting to understand things as I understand them rather than building their own understanding” (Elliot). Mr. Elliot made a very good point, not every kid is going to learn the way he does. Teachers have to connect with their students if they are going to teach in a way that is actually educational.

Finally, I asked the BHS Orchestra teacher, Mr. Mcnamara, his opinion on harsh teaching methods. He responded with, “I think it’s just an old school way of teaching, I think for a long time, and this comes a little bit from classes I would take in college, teaching isn’t about making an emotional connection with students” (Mcnamara). Mr. Mcnamara and I talked a lot about the connection between teacher and student. This goes past academic classes, the connection between teacher and student can be the catalyst for many things. Such as students being open to coming out of their comfort zone to perform or present in a safe environment.

In conclusion, we need to normalize teachers being able to connect with their students more and discourage resorting to harsh teaching methods to get it done.