The Skillful Teacher

Students’ Dislike of Teachers
This is a hard one to contemplate. The brutal fact though is that
sometimes students just take a personal dislike to us no matter how
credible or authentic we might strive to be. This may be due to any
number of factors, some of which (such as our race, gender, or per-
sonality quirks) may be totally beyond our control. At other times
the dislike is entirely justified. Teachers may use humor inappropri-
ately, belittle students, show up unprepared, make racist or sexist
remarks, dismay some by their informality and offend others by their
inapproachability, exhibit favoritism and discrimination, or appear
arrogant and cynical. Sometimes these behaviors and predispositions
are unclear to the teacher. Given that learning is a highly emotional
phenomenon, a student’s dislike of a teacher can become so over-
whelming that it permeates all their interactions with that teacher.
After all, teachers’ personalities are inevitably reflected in their ped-
agogic actions. If they like to use humor they will crack jokes, if they
feel like impostors they may be overly self-deprecating, if they are
dour or low key they will soothe some and bore others.