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the teacher is always right, even when s/he is not.

It is all about the students who get penalized by teachers even if they are not guilty for any sudden reasons in school premises and the school authority undertakes it as offence for involvement without knowing the reason correctly

All the Yes points:

  1. Just curious, are you still upset about your hat and the ensuing suspension/detention?

All the No points:

  1. A teacher can make mistakes just like any other human being and needs to be corrected before s/he takes action on the basis of a misunderstanding
  2. Part of the process of growing up to realise that adults aren’t always right.
  3. Teachers need to admit they are wrong

Just curious, are you still upset about your hat and the ensuing suspension/detention?

Yes because…

Yes, she shouldn’t have tucked it under her arm when you told her in no uncertain terms that you wouldn’t like that, but your reaction of snatching the hat from her was dis-proportioned and inappropriate.

Generally, teachers do have the final word even when students are in the right. If a teacher claims you cheated, you will be treated as though you cheated, even if you didn’t actually cheat.

No because…

If a teacher levies a false accusation on a student, then the student in question, has the right to appeal to his/her parents and/or the school principal or admin so that they may resolve the issue.

All teachers play favorites and some teachers are genuinely prejudiced against certain students and more and more schools are taking measures to keep teacher-student bias in check.

When a teacher is wrong, s/he is wrong: To err is human. Even if the teacher has inadvertently misjudged a student, s/he should be rectified lest the student would have to bear an undeserved scar on his/her record.

A teacher can make mistakes just like any other human being and needs to be corrected before s/he takes action on the basis of a misunderstanding

No because…

A teacher can make mistakes just like any other human being and needs to be corrected before s/he takes action on the basis of a misunderstanding. Teachers are human being and as such aren’t perfect, If a student feels that a teacher has mistreated/misjudged her/him then that student should refer her/his case to a neutral authority , so that the confusion can be resolved.

The best teachers admit to their mistakes when corrected and apologize if s/he finds that s/he was in the wrong.

A teacher is not an autocrat/dictator and is there to aid your learning experience, if you feel that the teacher picks on you, has mistreated you(for example, by slapping an open palm with a steel ruler) and/or deliberately sabotages your work, then you must bring this to the proper authority’s attention.

Teachers are not sacrosanct and it is always up to your parents and/or the school authorities to put your needs and protection first.

Yes because…

When it comes to a student’s word over a teacher’s word, most times the teacher’s word trumps that of the student, as there is no evidence to present nor witnesses to call upon.

A lot of schools permit teachers to hit, yell at and defile their students, and many parents consider such behavior to be a necessary means to achieve discipline.

Sometimes in certain schools, there is no authority to turn to and teachers are always right.

Part of the process of growing up to realise that adults aren’t always right.

No because…

Pupils question teachers because they are starting to realise that adults aren’t always right – maybe they saw the teacher spell a word wrong or they’re learning in Science that something they were taught earlier is technically wrong but they were taught it for simplicity. If you don’t let children discover that adults aren’t always right, they’ll believe any old lie you tell them, even when its dangerous or makes no sense to believe it, and are easily misled by an authority figure who doesn’t deserve their respect. This isn’t the same as pretending the pupils are equal to the teacher – children also need to learn to obey authority figures if they want to get on in a job – but they should know they are respecting the teachers because they are older and know more and have earned their position, not because they are infallible.

Yes because…

In certain situations; teachers are rigid and have the final word. For example, if a teacher marks your test/exam,(this is especially true for qualitative subjects but applies all around) often times only s/he can mark it or change your marks after an appeal.

Whatever the teacher/examiner decides will be final, even if s/he decides not to raise your marks when you(and anyone else you’ve consulted) thought you deserved more marks and even if s/he punishes you for questioning her/his judgment by cutting marks.

So while teachers should be neutral, flexible and mature, they aren’t and neither are students. In practice however the teacher is right even when democratically wrong.

Teachers need to admit they are wrong

No because…

A perfect mind set to have for this topic is to actually think what the teacher is doing for a job. In the simplest form, what if a teacher was teaching their students to say “Cat” but had them pronounce it “Cot”. Is it wrong to correct the teacher, or is the teacher always right?

I have seen a case where a teacher gave false information to a class, a student corrected her and she insisted he was wrong and she was right. In the end she did her research and discovered she was wrong, however, she insisted to the parents of the student that he should serve his detention for disrupting the class.

^This is wrong! Horribly wrong! If said student had to serve a detention for “disrupting the class” he should also receive some kind of credit toward his final grade for helping teach the class, because in the end the kids would have been taught incorrect information and would have left that classroom poisoned. Just like in that “Cat/ Cot” Issue i stated above, we would not want our 3 year olds to come home pronouncing all their words wrong because the person who was correcting the teacher was forced to stop, thus allowing the other students to be poisoned.

Yes because…

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Deborah
6 years ago

Some of us US born citizens spend decades taking a class here and there where ever we go. Time changes education in what we learn and the way we learn it. Even the homemaker needs to keep up with with the latest standards of nutrition and safe housekeeping. Some of us spend years waiting in lines and never get a college degree or accepted into graduate school. We don’t have criminal records but get treated like criminals by some instructors. I have seen many times in my life where the ex-convict has a far better chance at a prosperous career than us trusting females who are older and have never been anywhere. Why punish us with wasting what precious time we have left in our lives repeating classes with a college instructor who avoids, reprimands constantly, and makes ugly remarks? No witnesses you say. You are right about that. I am not perfect and a little slow. All I think of is to keep trying to learn. I make friends other places and not on campus.

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