Types of Teachers You'll Come Across at School

Blogosphere, get prepared for some minor ranting! Teachers, am I right? There are so many of them in schools across the world, but somehow, they all pretty much manage to fall within the same few categories. How? I do not know. But what I can do for certain is identify some of these categories in order to make your lives easier, and hopefully help you to recognise what kind of teacher you're dealing with. So without further ado, here are the authority figures you are bound to come across in your years of schooling . . .

The Overly Nice, Super Patronising Teacher

You know those teachers who constantly treat you like you're 5 and monitor everything you do? Odds are, you've had one of these, and you're probably filling with rage right now at the very thought of them. Condescending teachers are super common, and no matter how old you get, you'll never be able to rid yourself of them. I'm sure deep down they all mean well and everything, but when you're in high school, the last thing you want is someone questioning your intelligence and prohibiting any and all of your independence. Hiding your offence as they talk down to you really is one of the biggest struggles you'll have to face with these teachers, so as they slowly and patronisingly explain concepts to you that you learnt several years ago, you're just like:

But of course, for the sake of your reputation as a cooperative student, this must be kept internal, and you'll just have to keep sucking it up.

The Easily Manipulated, Bludge Teacher

There's no doubt about it, these teachers are phenomenal. Doing nothing during class is a virtue that us students do not often get the opportunity to experience, so if you get a bludge teacher, be sure to savour it. With these teachers, you can pretty much get away with anything, because they're generally either super, duper nice, or have totally given up on caring about their job. Either way, take full advantage. The only drawback is that come exam time, you may not exactly be as prepared as you could be, but let's face it, a little extra independent study is totally worth a free period. 

The Frazzled, Totally Unorganised Teacher

Although these teachers can also often be easy to take advantage of, if you end up taking the opportunity, you inevitably feel super bad about it (you know, if you have a conscience). Totally disorganised and overwhelmed teachers try super hard, and yearn to be respected and taken seriously, however the workload obviously becomes too much, and the prospect of controlling 20, snot-nosed adolescents morphs into something terrifying. As a result, they totally lose all authority and end up with a rowdy, majorly disruptive class. As I say, it's really hard to dislike these teachers, because really, they need more help than you do.  

The Hard Line, No-Nonsense Dictator

Ugh, just thinking about some of these teachers makes me angry! Seriously, I don't understand how super strict teachers are even allowed in schools. I know that in the past children were thought of as inconvenient commodities who should be seen and not heard, but surely society's progressed far enough to know that showing a little compassion to people under the age of 18 isn't totally out of the question. As a student, I think that I'm pretty level-headed when it comes to how we should be treated. Yes, I do understand that discipline is important in making sure that classes don't become overly disruptive, but teachers should still be able to be approachable and rational while maintaining order. Please, if you're one of these teachers who suffers from totally illogical outbursts of rage, do us all a favour and tone it down a notch.

The Sneak Attack, Secret Assassin

These are honestly the most sneaky teachers you will ever come across. I'm sorry, but there is no getting around these guys. Secret Assassin teachers are the ones who seem all nice and easy going, until one day they explode and unleash their wrath on the entire class. Honestly, I think these types of teachers are the most dangerous, because students are lead to believe that they're rational and of sane mind, until they attack and become totally unpredictable. They're mood swings are seriously tedious, and unfortunately, no student will ever be able to work them out. They can go off at any moment and be triggered by the most trivial things, so one day they're all:

And then the next, they morph into this:

The 'Cool' Teacher

Whether these teachers are good or bad, I have not yet decided. The 'cool' teachers you come across are those who put themselves on an even playing field with the students. Traditionally, they have to be somewhere in their 20's, and have something that draws kids to them, whether it be their fashion sense, or their totally relatable, laid back attitude. Somehow, these teachers manage to connect with pretty much every student in the class, and even stem the behaviour of the most rowdy teenager. However, when it comes to actually teaching us the content, it's generally hit and miss.

The Wannabe 'Cool' Teacher

You can't help but feel sorry for the teachers who fall into this category. All they really want in life is to be accepted by the youth, and embrace all of our popular culture. However, they don't quite get a grasp on it, and instead of being the teacher that everyone looks up to and thinks is awesome, they end up crashing and burning spectacularly. Un-ironic references to teenage culture really are cringe-worthy, and considering I haven't even got a grasp on this generation myself, I don't know how they expect to do it. Yet, despite all of this, they continue trying, and for that I suppose I have to give them credit. 

The Genuinely Fabulous Teacher

Although these tend to be a rare breed, you really have to hand it to the teachers who are actually doing their job because it's their passion, and not because it's a fallback. Seriously great teachers are those who manage to strike a perfect balance between being firm and incorporating some humour into class discussions, and you know, actually care about the betterment of your education. Sure, they can be hard on you, but they're also the teachers who motivate you to do some of your best work even though you may not want to. They're not afraid to stray from the status quo, even if it means they're not going to be liked by every single student in the class. But seriously, they're doing a pretty awesome job, and although they may be difficult to find at times, we should definitely appreciate them when we manage to nab one.

Well this pretty much brings us to the end of the post! Hopefully next time you're stuck with a substitute, you'll be able to identify which slot they fall into instantly, and then from that, figure out how to act accordingly. Teaching is a tough gig, so I guess we really should thank all of the above for putting up with us horrible students, but then again, there's no doubting that some definitely do it better than others, and we don't exactly have an easy gig either. If you are a teacher yourself and you fall into the last category, keep doing what you're doing, and if you don't, well, that's a bit awkward. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx