Dealing with unsupportive teachers

Teachers have one of the most important jobs in the entire world. The whole way a generation thinks can partly be down to teachers and the knowledge that they are passing down to their pupils. And this can be a wonderful thing as they may instil into their pupils that they should try and always reach for their potential or even better, make you realise their potential. A great teacher can change your life. However, this works both ways, a not so supportive teacher can in some ways hinder our life. Of course, your life is ours and you cannot blame your teachers for the hardships that life may bring, but some teachers seem to make it their goal to somehow make things even harder for you. I’d just like to point out that there’s a difference between bad teacher and an unsupportive teacher. A bad teacher may be bad at conveying certain theories or grasping your attention when teaching new topics. An unsupportive teacher may be great at capturing the essence of a subject and making it really engaging but once the teaching is over and you ask them for help, they discourage you from pursuing their subjects for some unjustified preconceived notions or assumptions. So how do you deal with these teachers?

1)Understand that a teacher is there to teach you. Don’t let their discouragement dictate anything else about you.

Even though it’s not ideal, where you are dealing with teachers like this, you are going to have to be the mature one. When teachers have decided for whatever reason that you can’t do something without any real justification, you have to understand that that’s not actually your problem, it’s theirs. So you need to start seeing your lessons as you just acquiring information and that’s all. That is how you saw your lessons before but if you’re being actively discouraged, the teacher is trying to make it personal. By just going to their lessons to collect the notes and get out, you’re making it as impersonal as possible and working on yourself to do what you need to do and to do what you believe you can do. You are not letting this teacher hinder your studies or your goals.

2)A teacher may tell you historical or scientific facts, but they cannot tell you facts about your own life.

A supportive teacher may try and talk to you about your life in a sense that they are trying to give you a little bit of guidance. They may see that you have excellent potential but the way you are treating your academics and your attitude/behaviour is going to lead your life down a path that is unfortunate. So they may encourage or spend more time with you. An unsupportive teacher may tell you that no matter how hard you try, you will never succeed. This is not useful nor true. This is not a fact, it is an imposed opinion that could seriously affect your life if you believe it. This is because you may carry on with this mentality once you’ve finished your education and as a result discourage yourself just like you were discouraged by said teacher. A teacher like this wants you to believe you can’t do something so then you will not succeed. But you see, first they had to convince you of that before it happened, so it wasn’t going to a fact unless they perpetuated it, it actually worked the other way around. When they say things like that to you, they are actually just saying it to themselves.

3)Don’t expect an apology if, or basically, when you prove them wrong.

The nature of teachers, and just people like this in general, is that when you prove them wrong suddenly they’re silent. You don’t get an apology and you definitely won’t get any congratulatory remarks. And that proves something. It proves that you didn’t need them all along, just like you don’t now. You believed in yourself so you don’t need acknowledgment from them. Your goal was never to prove them wrong, it was to prove yourself right. They had no right to treat you that way, so they just dwell in their silence as you thrive. It’s up to you if you want to call them out.

4)Not to be cringey, but believe in yourself. If you think you can do it, no one can convince you you can’t.

When I started doing A level physics the support I got was… debatable. I really had to have my own back and I was just lucky to have supportive parents. I had a particularly discouraging parents evening in the first year of my A-levels but I didn’t let it get me down because I knew that I was capable. You have to believe and know that too.

5) Look for support elsewhere.

You might be surprised to find that many people feel the same way you do. So seek support from others like your family or friends, or even the internet. Be around people that make you feel good about yourself.