When teacher won’t teach

“So many of our teachers don’t even bother to teach. What do we do?”

I must confess I was taken aback when a young friend asked me this question. One of the highs of student life is finding inspiring teachers and when that does not happen, it can be most un-stimulating. The subject itself becomes lack-lustre.

Of course, as a student, one has no control over the quality of teaching and it can be trying to stay doggedly on course. Whilst attending college regularly can bolster the intangible skill of commitment (so important in the real world of employment), there is no doubt that boredom can set in.

While there is nothing to replace a great teacher, maybe one way of dealing with this is to concentrate on learning to learn. What is important is the process of ‘thinking through’ in the chosen subject; having original, personal thoughts and ideas together with gleaning knowledge towards obtaining ‘good marks’.

Look at what are the benefits of pursuing the course, and what value it has to you, personally. Then you will know how important the course is for you, regardless of how it is taught. It may be helpful to form a small study group with friends. Each person in the group could research an aspect of a topic and share it with the others. This way you encourage each other to ‘think through’. This may include researching current trends in the field towards developing individual thoughts and ideas. Identifying a do-able experiment and sharing your results and experiences of it can encourage application–oriented knowledge and improve your confidence in the subject as well.

Setting up email contact with an expert in the field or with students in other countries can be extremely motivating too, given the ease of communication these days.

Inspiration can come from many sources – a conversation, a poem, a book, a film, a song, a painting. In the humdrum of everyday living it is vital to remind ourselves to explore other areas of that can help us positively maintain a committed effort towards achieving desirable goals and grades.

(The writer is a clinical psychologist based in London, with an interest in working through adjustment issues with young adults.)

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