Students as Teachers

By Ian Parker

If students were asked what single thing they would do to make school better, many would probably respond with their plans to cut homework, get rid of tests, or maybe even to replace teachers with amusing trained monkeys. Not very many people would include the method of teaching of having students play teacher for the day with their list of things to change at our school. I have had many teachers who would, at the first opportunity, abandon their responsibilities and assign a student to take over their duties. While these teachers may be a minority at our school, they do exist, and they subject their students to the well-meant but harmful lessons taught by another student. Some students see it as a break from the effort and rigors of school when the teacher appoints one of your fellow students to attempt to teach the class. In measured amounts, this delegation of responsibility is considered perfectly all right. It is hoped that when the students hear the explanation from the mouth of one of their comrades they will be able to understand the intricacies of the material at hand. World History teacher Ms. Caudill said, “I find that when I do this, the class pays more attention. I’ve also found that it’s more interesting to the kids when I do this.” This well-meaning but naïve strategy for getting the student to understand the subject material might seem like it works in the short run, but in the long run it only contributes to a class’ eventual ignorance of the subject.

When a teacher asks a student to come up and teach the class, a flurry of hands is usually raised. At first this might seem like a lot of different choices for the very important job of temporary teacher, but with a closer look, one finds that the people in question are exactly the same. They all volunteer for the job, not to help their fellow students, but to have a free day where they do not have to work, study, or do anything that requires any thought or determination. Instead, they look forward to a day where they can talk with their friends, goof off, or just sit there and do homework for another class. The volunteers never seem to represent the serious, hardworking part of the class that actually might make a good teacher-for-a-day. This part of the class is either too shy, too self-respecting, or just does not want to take part in such a travesty.

Also, such people are never as knowledgeable as the teacher. If a student in the class has a question, the “teacher” often cannot answer to the student’s full satisfaction like a teacher would be able to. If a student had a question about some subtle subject in the Industrial Revolution, the “teacher” might not be able to answer beyond what they could read in the book. Even if they were able to answer the question, the answer would never be as detailed or understandable as if the teacher were answering. Even a few students who are normally in full support of such “free days” are complaining. Sophomore Trevor Wiltz said, “It’s their responsibility to teach. Teachers should have to earn their paychecks.”

A teacher takes at least a few years researching the very subject that they teach. Their abdicating their responsibility to some student who does not have the expertise or the knowledge base of a teacher is irresponsible, however much some students may like it. The student usually knows no more about the subject than they read in the book earlier that day, and much of the time starts teaching with no idea how to do the equations, conjugate the verbs, or discuss the history that they are trying to teach. If we really want to be able to go to college and be on an equal footing with the students already there, we need to get rid of this stupid custom of sending an ignorant kid up to do a teacher’s job. This well-meaning but naïve strategy for getting the student to understand the subject material might seem like it works in the short run, but in the long run it only contributes to a class’ eventual ignorance of the subject.