Bad Students or Bad Teachers?

Hello everyone!

I know that it's been a while since my last post! I guess I've just been pretty busy :)

Have you ever heard the expression that "There are no bad students, only bad teachers" ? On the way to my school the first day, my adviser told me that our work is ... a difficult one because the students ... aren't well motivated. Like I've said, my role in the school is to teach "conversation" lessons. I get 16 classes for one hour each week for them to profit from my native English language skills and cultural knowledge. The idea is to interest them with lessons on American/pop culture so that they will speak and participate. I can relate to a younger generation's interests more than an older teacher can.

I realized soon after my first couple of classes that I would not be able to enter a class every week with a "discussion topic" and expect the kids to start talking. Immediately, the teachers told me that these students have a low level of English. These students are not interested. These students don't speak in class. So, are they just bad students? The teachers have difficulty doing the same thing they are asking of me. The teachers seem to not have a real curriculum or syllabus for any class and seem to be scrambling themselves to figure out how to teach kids with such low levels of English and interest. So, are they just bad teachers?

I've been teaching at the school for four weeks now and I'm no expert in education. Here's what I think: they're not all bad students and they're not all bad teachers, yet bad students tend to have bad teachers. There are students who really do want to learn and teachers who really make an effort to engage the students. Yet, it is up to the teacher to set the tone in the classroom. Behavior is the biggest battle. All students want to chatter amongst themselves instead of listen to a teacher lecture, all students have anxiety about speaking in front of a class - but a teacher who doesn't set the tone in the beginning of the year to battle bad behavior just reinforces it. Sure, there are unmotivated students in every class, but if they have a good teacher they will learn more. Unfortunately, the motivated students who have a bad teacher who won't discipline the other students won't learn as much. Some classes take my "conversation" lessons as a joke, while others really appreciate them. Interesting, how the classes who fool around the whole time are all with the same teacher ... regardless of being in the third or fifth year.

In the end, I already see myself with more energy and excitement to teach the appreciative or "better" classes and more dread to teach the misbehaved and "challenging" classes. I hope this realization helps me to give all the students the same tools and opportunity to learn and speak English regardless of what teacher they have usually by setting my own tone for my lessons and demanding good behavior!