Is having a bad teacher REALLY an excuse?

umcp11
Sun, 30 May 2010 15:41:03 +0000

it’s usually because they never asked or thought about what he or she would like to see written



Untrue, sorry.

Bad humanities professors come in all shapes and sizes, just like bad technical profs do…

Sometimes they are blatantly “stupid or wrong” or “not open to alternative ideas” - and in that case, you can just write down the “wrong” or “as said in class” answers. That is, what they want to hear.

But sometimes, just like bad technical teachers, they are poor at communicating their ideas or inconsistent in communicating their ideas. Therefore, it’s entirely possible students wouldn’t have a clue what a bad English prof “wanted” to hear, in the same way a technical major wouldn’t understand how the prof wants them to do a problem set.

Alternatively, it can be said that a right answer in a technical class is a right answer. You can use the textbook, tutors, etc. But if a teacher doesn’t like your essay, after a point there’s nothing you can do about it. You can pick their brain as much as you like, but some profs just make no freaking sense. True, I’ve had VERY FEW profs like this. Maybe one out of tens of English and history classes. But they exist, and sometimes they’re impossible to overcome.

However, if you are consistently getting “bad profs” then maybe the problem IS with you But one or two? In either a technical or humanities major, that’s life. Everyone (well, some people get awfully lucky, so let’s go with most everyone) gets a C or two this way.