How People Perceive Teachers

I received three drawings that represent how the people in my group view the profession of teaching. All three of the drawings include the teacher up at the board lecturing. Most of the students are in desks. In one drawing the students are completely passive. In another picture all of the students are out of control and oblivious to the teacher (who also seems to be oblivious to them). Although this is not how I want my future classroom to look like, I am not surprised that this is how people imagine it. I think part of the reason for this view of teaching is that this portrays many of people's personal experiences with elementary school. I also think that this type of teaching is considered the norm or 'traditional' classroom. Teachers are often showed standing in the front of the classroom in movies, shows and cartoons. The other theme present in most of these drawings is the idea of teacher control over students. A teacher's control (or lack thereof) over his/her class seems to be a common theme. Once again, I think there is much more to being a teacher than discipline, but I am not surprised that people emphasized this aspect of teaching. I think many people's memories of teachers in their younger years involve chastisement. I also think teachers are portrayed primarily as disciplinarians by the media.