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Is it possible for a teacher to have more of an influence on a person than their own parents? I ask this because I believe I had a teacher in high school who was able to impress upon me the value of work ethics more than my parents. Both my parents were hard workers however they did not take the time to explain to me why it was needed. I had a chance to let my teacher know how I felt he helped me, just told me he was glad but that is how he raised not only his kids but how he tried to raise all of his students. My teacgher passed away a few years ago, and I feel sad for the younger kids who never had a chance to sit in his class.
Is it possible for a teacher to have more of an influence on a person than their own parents? I ask this because I believe I had a teacher in high school who was able to impress upon me the value of work ethics more than my parents. Both my parents were hard workers however they did not take the time to explain to me why it was needed. I had a chance to let my teacher know how I felt he helped me, just told me he was glad but that is how he raised not only his kids but how he tried to raise all of his students. My teacgher passed away a few years ago, and I feel sad for the younger kids who never had a chance to sit in his class.
A good book to read on parental/peer influence is "The Nurture Assumption". I believe teachers can have more in fluence than parents but that peers DO have more influence than parents. It's the peer group that has the greatest impact but since teachers can become leaders of that peer group, I believe we can be more of an influence than parents. I don't believe it's automatic. I think we have to give the student something they need but are not getting elsewhere to do it.
I think most adults can look back and remember a specific teacher that had an impact on some aspect of their lives. Sometimes it's in a negative way, and other times it's in a positive way.
However, I don't know if a single teacher can have a profound impact on MORE aspects of a student's life over the course of a single school year. I think parents have more of an impact on a larger variety of things, though in some cases it may diminish a bit as a person grows older.
Depends on the child, parent, teacher and so many things. However, in general:
In traditional schools, I think a teacher can have some true influence on a child, but it fades to a degree because they often have them for only one year.
In montessori school, which runs in 3 year cycles, I find that my kids were HEAVILY influenced by that teacher. 3 years in a family styled class room really places a parental emphasis on the teacher.
Finally, I went to boarding school for a few years. Those teachers were like parents to us. For kids who did not have regular, good contact and visits with their parents the teachers absolutely had more influence on them then the parents.
Absolutely. A good teacher can get a kid interested in careers (I teach Psych, among other things, and as of this past Spring my 5th kid is in a PhD program for it). We serve in place of parents sometimes, especially with kids whose parents are disconnected. We teach some kids manners. And for some kids just "being around" is enough. I tend to connect well with the "odd" kids who have few friends for whatever reason. In that case a good teacher can guide those kids to a better understanding of themselves and maybe give them a haven occasionally, all it takes is a little bit of time and decent hearing.
Not before the age of 12, but yes possibly after that.
I have to, totally, disagree with this. My 4th/5th grade teacher did so much damage that there was nothing my parents could to do even get me to care about school again. I was described by my 3rd grade teachers as "an intellectual sponge". After two years with Mrs. C, I was a D student who didn't give a crap about school.
There were teachers who tried along the way. I had two in 6th grade who really tried but the wounds were too fresh. My senior year I had two teachers who cracked the veneer. It would be a few years before I'd act on their advice but I, eventually, did and discovered, in college, that I actually have a brain.
I almost crashed Mrs. C's retirement party just to tell her off but I decided I'd probably say/do something I'd get arrested for and she wasn't worth going to jail over.
Unfortunately, my parents never realized the teacher was the problem. She had them convinced I was the problem. She was out to break my spirit and she succeeded. You'd think someone would catch on when a student who did so well is, suddenly, the problem child. I'm convinced she just hated smart kids. My troubles with her started when they gave us IQ tests and I scored highest in the class. From that day forward, I was supposed to have all the answers and no questions but I was the kids with all the questions and no answers.
Ivorytickler, I really feel bad for your experience of that teacher.
Here is a perspective from Temple Grandin who is autistic and who had a very rough time. Her mother was her primary guide and influence, but her science teacher had a profound effect on her life.
Throughout her writings and presentations, Temple Grandin gives credit to some very important caring and understanding people in her life, and, in turn, points out the very positive influence that those people around the autistic individual (or savant) can have on that person. One such person in her life was her high school science teacher, William Carlock, whose philosophy is reflected in Temple’s life, and in all of her writings and presentations. That teacher “didn’t see any of the labels, just the underlying talents. Even the principal had doubts about my getting through tech school. But Mr. Carlock believed in building what was within the student. He channeled my fixations into constructive projects. He didn’t try to draw me into his world but came instead into my world.”
I went to boarding school and was thus far more influenced by my teachers and peers than by my parents. (I loved boarding school and, provided it's a good school, would recommend it to anyone.)
I think it is more probable that a teacher can be an additional role model for values that have already been learned at home.
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