Does education need strict teachers or friendly teachers?

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpr1seRgKw1qe4zbno5_r1_500.jpg

In education since the 1960s onwards, the ethos has very much been placed on being on friendly terms with the children of a class and teaching them as near equal adults - the idea being that if you treat children with the respect of adults, they'll respond in very much the same way. From this period onwards, the traditional schooling practice of strict disipline has been dropped (along with corporal punishment) which many claim is a good thing in that the 'abuse' of often timid children has ended - whereas just as many say that this has led to slide in standards which has been borne out in the crime statistics concerning young offenders.

But whats your personal experience of school? did you work better with friendlier teachers or harsher teacher? or are you like me where I needed (and still do in university) fear put into me so that I kept to deadlines and did the work? Debate away!


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The debate is open to you.

[Aiden]

Well, school isn't a great topic for me but I have thoughts on this! I think softer, nicer, kinder and more helpful teachers are better for me personally. They understand kids better, and pupils tend to be more relax and less hyper in class if they have a little bit of free will and the teacher isn't harassing them. I know that my science teacher was one of the nicest women ever, that turned out to be my best class, followed by IT which also has an amazing teacher. He is strict but treats every pupil different. I had him as an IT teacher all through school. In the first year we didn't get on. I shouted at him after he took my phone because my Mom rang me :L. He said sorry to me in end and he then became nice, and it was easier for me to get help from him and I learnt more after. :)

So softer teachers which can still do there job and are understanding. :)

[Zak]

I think it's good to have a mixture of both, strict at times so that the kids don't walk all over you but soft at others as most kids will work better for those teachers they don't hate. I think it depends on what age range you're teaching as well, teaching older people I do not feel the need to be very strict with my class as they're mature adults.. If I was teaching 12-18 year olds then really I think it's best if they are on the strict side.

Obviously we have all experienced strict and soft teachers and I know I work better for softer teachers but then again I didn't try and take the 'michael like some individuals would.

[mrwoooooooo]

Friendly teachers, your parents are there to discipline you.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[Aiden]

Friendly teachers, your parents are there to discipline you.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

We finally agree on something *highfive* :L

Friendly ftw

[Kardan]

I've experienced both sides. When I did my further maths classes, I had a teacher, and he was the most fun teacher I've ever had. There were only three people in the class, so we moved through the curriculum nice and easy, and in the afternoons we'd watch the World Cup match that was on, or we'd start the lesson with just some internet trivia game, and we got the work done. We went over the past papers about 5 times each, and we got amazing grades. Obviously that's not going to work for everyone, and it was a really small class...

As for strict teachers, they just made me feel uncomfortable and made me worry about things other than schoolwork. I don't mind teachers that are strict, it's just that you do get some that go over the top. I always imagine that when I go into teaching I'd be of the more friendly type, but I imagine with the age group I'm going into, I'm going to have to be strict at times. You have to get the balance right. Too friendly, you're too relaxed and the work never gets done. Too strict, then the place isn't a nice environment to be in.

[bogan]

Generally speaking, I would agree that a mixture of both soft and strict would be desirable, not only enabling a teacher to deal with different types of issues that might occur in the classroom, but also adapt to the different personalities and behaviour of each student. Obviously it depends on the age group, but I agree with Kardan that you don't want too much of either trait.

[Mr-Trainor]

At secondary school you'd need stricter teachers, whereas at sixth form/college you need softer teachers. That's my opinion anyway, I'm in year 13 now and work much better than I did at secondary school, because all the teachers treat you like adults now etc :P.

[Empired]

Friendly is more important to me as I feel like I'd want to go and talk to them about something that is bothering me more if I knew they were going to be nice about it.

Also, if your pupils respect you because you respect them, they are more likely to work hard because you tell them to.

[Cerys]

I have a teacher in my school called Miss Langley.

She is honestly one of the best teachers we have ever had, and we work so well when we're with her. This is because she lets us have a chat and chats with us, asks us how we're doing when she's taking the register and knows how to chill out and have a laugh with us!
From this experience, I think that we work better when we're with her because we are more relaxed, therefore friendlier teachers are better.

My science teacher is awful ~ makes us work in silence and shouts at us LOTS if she catches us talking. This makes us want to 'rebel' and not do the work. So strict teachers are worse c:

[MKR&*42]

Prefer friendly teachers - ones that you can socialise with easier and you're not afraid to ask for help with and stuff. Strict teachers seem a bit demeaning to some people :P

Saying that, I had a German teacher in yr 8 strict as hell but I've never done so well in German with any other teacher.

[Chippiewill]

As with all things its entirely situational. Do I think that a students who are behaved and hard working need a strict teacher? Nope. They'll work plenty hard on their own and need someone who will encourage them on and satisfy their curiosity.

At the other end you have students who mess about and refuse to learn. Do I think they need a strict teacher? I think you'll be surprised to hear not necessarily. Before throwing them towards miss trunchbull it would make far more sense to find both a topic and a teacher who can engage them and pique their curiosity also. Perhaps they don't need to learn complex algebra and they may be happier with stuff like apprenticeships. What they certainly need are stricter parents.

On a side note the poll answers are loaded, since soft inherently comes with negative connotations.

[Yawn]

a teacher needs a bit of both and needs to know when is appropriate for each.

friendly so they are approachable if u need help and strict so that u get the work done. having said that strict doesnt necessarily mean unfriendly so u can be friendly and strict :)

[dbgtz]

I think to simply say strict or friendly is putting it too black and white. A strict teacher needs strength and a friendly teacher needs respect and without those, there would be chaos in their classrooms.

To have a strict teacher, in my opinion, they would also need to be feared. One of the best teachers was my english teacher who, 90% of the time, would just act so demanding, ****** and scary that we would work (though when she was soft, she really was soft like this one time where we watched Family Guy all lesson). Personally, I think these are a necessity for at least years 7-9 (I'm going to ignore any years before that as I do not remember it well). I think after those years, it's a more subjective matter and the teacher should then act depending on how the class are. For example, I had the same maths teacher in years 7, 8, 10 and 11 and he was noticably stricter in years 7 and 8 but by the time year 10 came there was a general element of respect for him and therefore the need for a strict teacher was no needed, so he was far more friendly.

I partially blame the increasing rise of weak, friendly teachers for the poor education most people receive nowadays. Actually reading that over again, that's not strictly fair as they're there to teach more than discipline, but the head of departments etc. need a backbone which they generally do not have. But if we had fiercer teachers then I believe more people would benefit from their education.

[Shockwave.2CC]

I think in the middle as they need to be strict (but not to much) but also friendly

So yeah, in the middle as I think people will learn more if teachers are friendly

[Calum0812]

Ok. I will chip in here. I think that teachers who are relaxed and calm have the ability to make students like them. When students like them, they get respect. By shouting and screaming and being 'strict' they only make the students annoyed and then the students end up having no respect for that teacher. I personally learn better when being able to discuss the work with my classmates and to do that, you need a teacher who doesn't mind a little bit of chatter.

I like teachers who can take a joke too. The teachers in my school have a really good sense of humour which makes the lessons more fun because they are constantly making us laugh while also teaching us. I think this makes it stick in my head better. Teachers who also treat students as equal get a lot of respect too. Teachers who think of students as another life form tend to be disliked in my school.

Some of you may think I am completely off. Oh well :P

[Mr-Trainor]

Ok. I will chip in here. I think that teachers who are relaxed and calm have the ability to make students like them. When students like them, they get respect. By shouting and screaming and being 'strict' they only make the students annoyed and then the students end up having no respect for that teacher. I personally learn better when being able to discuss the work with my classmates and to do that, you need a teacher who doesn't mind a little bit of chatter.

I like teachers who can take a joke too. The teachers in my school have a really good sense of humour which makes the lessons more fun because they are constantly making us laugh while also teaching us. I think this makes it stick in my head better. Teachers who also treat students as equal get a lot of respect too. Teachers who think of students as another life form tend to be disliked in my school.

Some of you may think I am completely off. Oh well :P
Yeah particularly one of my economics teachers is like that, she's able to have a conversation with the class and make us laugh, but then we still get the work done. And she must be doing something right, as I got an A in January whereas last year I was on B-C :P.

[Calum0812]

Yeah particularly one of my economics teachers is like that, she's able to have a conversation with the class and make us laugh, but then we still get the work done. And she must be doing something right, as I got an A in January whereas last year I was on B-C :P.

My point exactly :)

[Mr-Trainor]

My point exactly :)
Yep :D. And she still has control of the class as well, like last week when we were all talking a bit too much and she just told us to be quiet, and we did :P.

[Calum0812]

Yep :D. And she still has control of the class as well, like last week when we were all talking a bit too much and she just told us to be quiet, and we did :P.

We have so much respect for good teachers like that :)

[Zelda]

For me I have always found soft teachers the best, one of my further maths teacher's is honestly the nicest person i've ever met and never punishes for anything ( which might be a bit far when she's not giving detentions or anything when people are owing over 6 homeworks lmfao ) but we all do astoundingly well and really like her and just do all the work in class properly really cause of it. My physics teacher is also like the nicest woman I've ever met and no-one ever takes the michael with her at all, and she's like the best physics teacher the school has ever had tbh.

Strict teachers I just find make me really dislike the subject and get put off it really. Especially at the moment with my chemistry teacher who is the head of 6th form, he's just like the most ridiculously strict person ever and I just get stressed over it tbh. Was always the case for me right through school too with my DT teacher in year 7 to 9 being like so horrible that I just always hated the subject completely and he was never accomodating to how bad I was just telling me off for using the wrong tool or technique instead of helping me choose the right tool or helping me to saw the wood properly or whatever. Was the same for my german teacher in year 9 too being the least helpful person ever, just basically punishing us for not knowing something when it was our first year ever learning it and not even teaching us anything, we actually got in trouble for like just being 1 word short of what he wanted in homework or whatever it was ridiculous.

[karter]

oops chose the incorrect option in the poll

I personally feel that a teacher's duty is to kill ignorance, doubt, inferiority complex and fear. But teachers who are exta strict with their students kill curiosity and individual worth. There is little scope for a child to learn something which opens their mind and develop creativity

[Ardemax]

"Friendly" teachers do not mean "soft" teachers.

It is not a mark of how good a teacher is or a sign of weakness if a teacher is particularly friendly (though if they have ever worked at the BBC, you should be asking some questions).

The best teachers in my school actually hold general conversations with their students whilst getting the job done.

It attracts interest from the students to learn more and thus it is a win-win.

[Red]

I'm not motivated by fear at all. I'm already a really conscientious person who wanted to get the best marks. I put enough stress/pressure on myself without the teacher doing so too. We had this really strict phd tutor for one of my first year uni modules tutorials, and she actually put the fear into everyone. I had to move tutorials, because I really couldn't have put up with a semester of her! But others in her class did the work for her because they were too scared not too, so I guess it did encourage people who would be lazy to work harder. I can't imagine going to school and constantly being on edge and afraid that you were going to do something wrong and get caned. Would of been awful!

[GommeInc]

A happy mix of both. At my school, one of the previous Head of Seniors was a very strict teacher in the class room, but outside he was kind and incredibly helpful. In a way, I learnt more from him than the strict teachers or the friendly teachers. The strict teachers didn't teach humanity, and the friendly teachers didn't teach manners or control.

The Head of the Senior School was really good at controlling students, teaching them respect and in response showing them the same respect. Outside of the class room, he was very supportive and I remember when my my eldest brother was doing GCSE art, there was a problem with space in the classroom. Students could do their life-size 3D models at home, and if students couldn't get their work into school, he would come by with his car and pick it up for them, something I wouldn't expect from other schools in this day and age.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I always worked best with teachers who were strict and were friendly provided you did the work. Indeed, I noticed the tactic of my Maths teacher - he was incredibly harsh on us all in the lower years, and as we grew up and matured he was softer - but by then he didn't need to tell anybody off as everybody knew the limits, knew the game and didn't dare cross him. By being harsh in the early years he earned respect amongst the pupils.

[4Fraider]

I think a balance of both elements would be the best. Friendly to students but strict when they have to be.

[Matt]

Depends on the the class, the people in the class and your personal opinions. I got on better with the more approachable teachers at school as I knew I could speak to them if i were unsure and know they wouldn't think I'm ridiculously stupid. However when i was in the lower classes and generally were with the other kids that didn't want to learn, then i think the nicer teachers have no chance in controlling that class. In so many of my classes have i seen the uncontrollable kids ignoring, insulting and being rude to the teacher and then they sit back and effectively give up. But then the stricter teachers, in my opinion, get no where either. I suppose there does need to be discipline with all classes and as the teacher it is their job to help kids learn in a good and safe environment. However when you get them teacher that almost want to make you drop out of school because of how strict and intimidating they are it does make you think about if their methods of teaching are worth it. Last year I had this teacher that was decent enough but got to the point where he would actually bully students so that they did their homework and so that they would know the answer to all his questions. He was the worst teacher I've ever had, not because he hardly had a friendly side, but because his method of discipline was to bully the students. To cut the story short mum reported him to the education department because she thought he was on some sort of drugs and got him suspended.

Answering the question: I think a mixture of both is good. If you get on the good side of you teacher who also has a stricter side you know you'll be able to get good grades. However if they're too nice or too strict, then it will get you nowhere.

P.S - You should add a "Both of these are required in a teacher" option in the poll :D

[chantellehugs]

I've experienced both types of teachers and I think as a whole my class did better with the teachers who were strict but reasonable.

From year 9-11 my Maths teacher was really strict, to the point where I'd dread going to lesson because I knew I might get picked to do a question or I might fail the weekly test. But that meant that I did my homework, studied hard for the tests and got good grades. My teacher pushed my class because she knew we could do well. As the years went on people got used to being pushed, started aiming for the high grades and got on better with our teacher. I think all but 4 people in my class got A or above in Maths and lots of us agree it was partly thanks to her.

[myles]

strict because we need the whips and canes back to beat them childs asses

[Negativities]

I believe there should be a balance. A strict teacher will be a good disciplinary education to straighten up an individual from the differences of wrongs and rights of society. However, a softer teacher will education through connection of emotions. There are 2 completely different methods of teaching that I feel a student could benefit from in-taking both types of attitudes in a teacher.

Lack of a strict teacher can lead to children growing up with lack of respect and drive to becoming something bigger than they were yesterday. Lack of a soft teacher can lead to a child growing up without being able to connect through emotion and communication. This can be negative because it can alter a child's social lifestyle.

I can't really see myself voting on this poll, however I did, but I do want to state that an ideal professor/teacher would be able to manage control through strictness and teachings through comfort.