It is not nice to insult people. But still people do it, a lot. Especially when they are exasperated. Teachers get exasperated with students and they tend to insult them in those situations. It is not nice of them, there might be better and more efficient ways to deal with the situation, but insults are minor things. If my daughter were to complain to me that a teacher insulted her I would try to figure out what else this teacher is doing. If it turns out the teacher knows hir stuff and makes a serious effort to impart hir knowledge, makes a reasonable effort to keep the class disciplined, avoids wasting time then I would tell her that as unpleasant as the experience of being insulted in public by an authority figure can be, it is sometimes worthwhile to endure (as well as good preparation for later in life).
In most of my school years I can recall teachers who insulted my class in general, specific students (sometimes including myself), groups of students in the class (sometimes I was part of the group in question). Insults on their own are not the reason to consider a person a bad teacher or boss and they hardly figure in considering the morality of a person in general.
Rowling loves Remus, she considers him the best teacher at Hogwarts and the one she would have wanted to teach her children. Remus is the exact opposite of Severus. He is nice mannered to students (at least to the Gryffindors in Harry's year, I can imagine him being his passive-aggressive self with the Slytherins) and avoids overt hostility (but just look at his interactions with Severus in POA, or how he talks about Severus when he thinks the latter can't hear him). He is supportive of Harry and Neville (who just happen to be sons of his friends and comrades - how did he deal with Crabbe or Goyle?). But he fails completely with the very basic matter of student safety because he can't stand it that the management of his condition depends on the work of a former enemy. An additional failure in this department is his non-disclosure of Sirius' status as Animagus and his knowledge of secret entrances to the school - not because Remus knew Sirius was in fact not dangerous but because he did not want to admit rather serious past misdeeds. What is his nice classroom conduct worth when his deeds and inaction could have gotten students killed?
Severus is good but not nice, Remus is nice but not good. I know which one I choose, for myself and for my daughter.
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Date: 2009-08-13 06:39 am (UTC)It is not nice to insult people. But still people do it, a lot. Especially when they are exasperated. Teachers get exasperated with students and they tend to insult them in those situations. It is not nice of them, there might be better and more efficient ways to deal with the situation, but insults are minor things. If my daughter were to complain to me that a teacher insulted her I would try to figure out what else this teacher is doing. If it turns out the teacher knows hir stuff and makes a serious effort to impart hir knowledge, makes a reasonable effort to keep the class disciplined, avoids wasting time then I would tell her that as unpleasant as the experience of being insulted in public by an authority figure can be, it is sometimes worthwhile to endure (as well as good preparation for later in life).
In most of my school years I can recall teachers who insulted my class in general, specific students (sometimes including myself), groups of students in the class (sometimes I was part of the group in question). Insults on their own are not the reason to consider a person a bad teacher or boss and they hardly figure in considering the morality of a person in general.
Rowling loves Remus, she considers him the best teacher at Hogwarts and the one she would have wanted to teach her children. Remus is the exact opposite of Severus. He is nice mannered to students (at least to the Gryffindors in Harry's year, I can imagine him being his passive-aggressive self with the Slytherins) and avoids overt hostility (but just look at his interactions with Severus in POA, or how he talks about Severus when he thinks the latter can't hear him). He is supportive of Harry and Neville (who just happen to be sons of his friends and comrades - how did he deal with Crabbe or Goyle?). But he fails completely with the very basic matter of student safety because he can't stand it that the management of his condition depends on the work of a former enemy. An additional failure in this department is his non-disclosure of Sirius' status as Animagus and his knowledge of secret entrances to the school - not because Remus knew Sirius was in fact not dangerous but because he did not want to admit rather serious past misdeeds. What is his nice classroom conduct worth when his deeds and inaction could have gotten students killed?
Severus is good but not nice, Remus is nice but not good. I know which one I choose, for myself and for my daughter.