Throughout the course of your life, you are going to run into difficult people. Usually, you can turn tail and walk away, effectively avoiding the conflict. However, when a student is stuck with a difficult teacher, running is not an option. There are two main types of “bad” teacher: the inexperienced/clueless teacher who has good intentions but doesn’t teach as well as he/she needs to, or the plain malicious/mean teacher who knows what they have to do but stands in the way of her/his students’ success instead of wanting them to succeed. Thankfully, there are strategies that you can employ for both types of teacher.
Bad Teachers
I say “bad teachers” meaning teachers that don’t necessarily act in an unprofessional or cruel manner, but that don’t teach their material as well as they should. These are the teachers that get drawn off topic often, and don’t take the time to make sure all of the students grasp the current material before moving on. I had a difficult teacher my freshman year in highschool; he would spend half of the class period talking about irrelevant topics, and he wasn’t able to explain the material very well. If a student is in this situation, there are some things they can do to make up for the inadequate teaching. First of all, the student should go to the teacher. Explain that you are not quite understanding the material, and ask if the instructor would please slow down and explain topics thoroughly before moving on. This is often enough to set a bad teacher or difficult teacher on the right track, but sometimes additional steps are required.
If the bad teacher still has not gotten the message after being approached by several students, you may need to take the class into your own hands. In that freshman class I previously mentioned, most of the class ended up teaching themselves directly from the book. This is often a student’s only option when confronted with an inadequate teacher, and while it may take time away from leisure activities, it’s sure to produce desirable results. Oftentimes the tests in a certain class are taken directly from the book, in which case this strategy works beautifully. Sitting around whining about your teacher while subsequently failing the tests seems to be a popular strategy for dealing with incompetent teachers, but this is no way to proceed if your goal is to do well in school. Simply studying from the book can be a valid and even necessary way to succeed in a particular class.
Difficult/Mean Teachers
This category of teachers is much harder to deal with than the incompetent teachers, as these teachers often stand in the way of a student’s academic success. This category includes the teachers with especially strict and sometimes arbitrary rules and grading systems, teachers who act condescending and cruel to his/her students, teachers who seem to delight in deducting points from students’ grades and teachers whose goal is not to ensure the academic success of their students.
The first way to deal with these teacher is the same as previously mentioned; going directly to them and confronting them about their actions. Sometimes a teacher may not be aware that they are being condescending or unfair, so letting them know that you are upset is a good start to improving their attitude. However, it must also be noted that going to a teacher can make things worse, by causing them to dislike you further if they feel your accusations have no basis.
If you talked to your teacher and his/her attitude still has not improved, there are several things you can do to ensure or at least help you achieve academic success. The first strategy is to become one of your teacher’s “favorites.” This can be done by diligently answering as many of the teachers questions as possible, and volunteering whenever you have a chance. Exchanging pleasant banter with the teacher is also a fine idea. This kind of behavior may draw contempt and criticism from your fellow classmates, but if the alternative is to do poorly in that class then sucking up is well worth it. Even if you do not want to become the “teacher’s pet,” at least try to stay on your teacher’s good side. Many teachers pick favorites, although few admit it. Oftentimes it may even be subconscious. Being on a teacher’s good side means you will be called on to volunteer more than usual, and your teacher may even be more lenient when grading tests and projects.
If you’ve tried all of the above strategies and your teacher is still presenting problems, it might be a good idea to meet with your principal or assistant principal and voice your complaints. If a teacher truly is being more malicious/unfair than is deemed acceptable, a possible reprimand by his/her superiors might cause them to ease up a bit.