My first issue essay - Please give me honest ratings

myt

Analysis of issue

The best teachers are those whose classes include a large amount of discussion between teachers and students

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Some people believe that the best teachers are those whose classes include a large amount of discussion between teachers and students. Others believe that the students duty is just to listen to whatever the teacher presents and make the most out of teacher's time. I would definitely choose the former over the latter.

The chief reason for my stance is that I believe that only through discussions, a teacher can understand and gauge the level of understanding a group of students have. Ask any student who their favourite teacher was and the answer most likely will be a teacher who encouraged discussion during and after the class. For example, Warren Buffet, one of the most richest men in history, attributes his success to the classroom discussions he had with his mentor Benjamin Graham. He is said to have learnt more from the discussions than from the text books. And he regards him as his best teacher.

The other reason why the best teachers consider discussions as an important aspect of teaching is that, sometimes they learn something from students. The students might be exposed to newer problems or technology which the teacher might not have had the chance to use or undergo. This would further increase the knowledge base of the teacher and in turn making him better than his or her counterparts. For example, Benjamin Graham teamed up with his students to start a very successful business in Secutity analysis.

However, not all kinds of discussions are productive. If the discussion is irrelevant to the subject of the class, it may well be worthless. It may be a waste of valuable time where the teacher could have productively taught new concepts. Further, the discussions, although relevant, might not be of interest to other students thus wasting their time and interest in the subject. So, even though the teacher might be the best for the subject at hand, the "useless" discussion will lower the percieved quality of his or her teaching.

In sum, the best teachers are those who realise the merits of classroom discussions and they know when to stop the discussion when it deviates from the general interest of the whole class.

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I know it is BAD Sad

Please help me improve.

Thanks a lot

myt · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:38 am Post subject:

bump ...

Please help me by reviewing my post above

myt · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:58 am Post subject:

anyone !!?? Sad

LSB

sanjaysmart

Hi MYT,
firstly, your response is not 'bad'- it is quite decent in fact. However, you have to realise that absolute agreement or absolute disagreement with the claim does not showcase your analytical abilities. The best perspectives are partial agreement and partial disagreement and pointing out why the claim is valid in certain areas and invalid in other areas or cirtcumstances.
You may also evaluate points of view that are contrary to your own or qualify a term that is used ambiguously in the claim. You may also comment upon the evidence(if any) used by the author and list the assumptions it is making.
All the best
Cheers