What were/are your relationships with teachers/lecturers? [Archive]

Daniel

11-26-2007, 12:31 PM

The Many

11-26-2007, 02:47 PM

Which country are we/you talking about?

Anyway, I usually got along quite well with my teachers. I was always good at my subjects and did everything on time, so no problems there. I can only think one teacher I didn't get along with, and she was probably an ISTJ whose solutions to problems were less than satisfactory... not to mention that she always kept the class in the classroom, even when we could have been doing more important things.

Amaranth

11-26-2007, 03:13 PM

I went to private all-girls Catholic school, where most of the teachers were nuns. They did not necessarily appreciate my free-thinking nature. Counselors were especially put off; I guess students who know where they're going are a threat to their job description. There was (were?) a handful of science teachers, however, who encouraged my free-thinking. So when I graduated from high school, I applied to public universities (likely in search of the opposite educational environment: big, diverse and inclusive) and I majored in science. My experience in college was similar: some teachers didn't know what the hell to do with me, some teachers had the hair on the back of their neck stand up when I spoke, and a few teachers thought I was awesome. In terms of my career, I try to seek out employers who would fit in the latter group.

thegnat

11-26-2007, 04:46 PM

I've *always* had good relations with my teachers. They all appreciate that I do my work and that I participate sometimes. I know I saved one's sanity by being smart. I also communicate early and effectively about conflicts that I may have with tennis, I'm always on time, never late. If for some reason I am, I make it up and ask the prof what I missed...(though I know I can get it from someone else, I just like to let the prof know). I go to chem department things, too, office hours sometimes... I'm not a suck up really I just do things profs appreciate. I feel it helps if you need any help with their class - they're more willing to give it to you.

HarleyQuinn

11-26-2007, 06:00 PM

Most of my teachers respect me a great deal as I tend to be that student who is constantly "flirting" with being on the A level but never quite pushing myself to hit it (Usually around a B+/A-), instead being content to push the class forward over my own individual achievements. I find an engaging debate in class far, far more stimulating than showing that I understood the material and can write a very good 5 page paper.

The one teacher I kinda dislike I see sometimes and will say, "Hi" but leave it at that. I hold a grudge against her because she was one of those teachers who assigned us one of those, "Give me your life history/opinions on topics" papers at the end of the semester and promptly gave me a C while remarking how she didn't think my answers were good, etc. even though they were my truthful opinions. I felt like just screaming, "Why the F did you bother to assign us such a personal paper than?"

She just came off miffed, constantly picking at my wording and phrasing simply because she didn't agree with what I had written.

ushop

11-26-2007, 06:27 PM

I've had good relationships with my professors; they appreciate that I go to class prepared and have interesting things to say. But I've also had experiences like yours, with professors who take my different opinions personally. There was one woman in particular who really pissed me off. She was a English new teacher at my high school, and basically acted as if she could have written an authoritative book guide. (I tend to doubt guides too, which didn't help our relationship at all.) Her teaching method was to tell us that this symbol meant x, and to assign vocabulary homework (define a word, use it a sentence, etc) as if seniors didn't have the responsibility to look up words on their own.

Amaranth

11-26-2007, 10:09 PM

I took a music class in high school, but the entire class was about classical music. One day I asked my teacher why we didn't study any other kinds of music, since the class itself was "music" class, not "classical music" class. (Now, I don't have anything against classical music, but I'd been looking forward to learning about all kinds of music, including foreign music.) She responded in her thick European accent that classical music was the only REAL music, that any music that came before it wasn't really music--it was just "beats", and that any music which came after it was built on classical music. When I expressed my confusion over this revelation, she got so spiffed that she told me "Go back to Japan and you'll see what I mean." :yuck: (I'm half Asian, by the way, so I guess she presumed I was Japanese.)

Henry

11-26-2007, 11:59 PM

In my case, I had conflicting relationships with 60-70 percent of my teachers.

1.The majority hated that I constantly asked questions and wanted to know everything in detail (perfectionism, analytical thinking).
2.They hated that I always had my own opinion which didn't necessary agree with theirs.
3.The problems arose as early as elementary school, as I would dare to argue, "but I read in a book/heard on tv that it was different than you say..."
4.They hated that I was systematic and organised.I wanted to know the dates of tests and exams, the topics we are going to cover.That bothered them.I believe they saw it as me limiting their freedom.
5.I sometimes noticed errors of my teahers (for ex. in maths calculations)
6.They hated that I had my original ideas that were different from that they were told to cram in our heads.Some saw that as arrogance-arrogance to be yourself and not part of the crowd.

Thay made my life miserable at school by constantly sabotaging my creativity.I was glad that school ended.However the situations appears to be identical at the unversity.I hope bosses in work are not like teachers.

Howerever this might be a result of educations system in my country being crap.A serial killer released from jail could easily get a job as no one wants to work as a teacher.

Unless you come from a independently wealthy family, you're going to spend a significant portion of your life in positions where you report to people less sophisticated, articulate and intelligent as a well-developed INTJ is.

As such, I recommend you take the situation as an opportunity to improve your EQ and social skills, because these are critical to real-life success in virtually every field, and it doesn't sound like she's doing anything inappropriate. Yes, she's probably not fit to teach, but she has a significant amount of power in this relationship. And if you she perceives you as trying to step on her where you hold the edge, you can bet she will do the same when she does. I will guarantee you that you will run into this exact situation in the workforce, only there this type of positioning may get you fired.

Daniel

11-28-2007, 11:05 AM

Unless you come from a independently wealthy family, you're going to spend a significant portion of your life in positions where you report to people less sophisticated, articulate and intelligent as a well-developed INTJ is.

As such, I recommend you take the situation as an opportunity to improve your EQ and social skills, because these are critical to real-life success in virtually every field, and it doesn't sound like she's doing anything inappropriate. Yes, she's probably not fit to teach, but she has a significant amount of power in this relationship. And if you she perceives you as trying to step on her where you hold the edge, you can bet she will do the same when she does. I will guarantee you that you will run into this exact situation in the workforce, only there this type of positioning may get you fired.

I like that you see this situation as challenge. I did have a goal to improve my EQ. Actually in a way I tried to do it all my life.
But think of it this way - all personality types have their weaknesses and strengths. High IQ- low EQ, high EQ –low IQ...It’s a utopia to be both socially intelligent and intellectual. If I‘m naturally good at thinking, why should I waste tremendous amount of time and energy to adapt to someone I consider less intelligent, to learn to understand them (the thing I‘m naturally bad at).I would rather devote that time to my intellectual pursuits or talks with my like-minded friends.

The paradox is that despite 60 -70 of conflicting relationships, there re those30 – 40 which are amazing relationships – humorous, laid back , stimulating socially and intellectually..

So isn‘t it better to quit from 60 percent of the jobs until you find the 40 percent that are right for you.

However I may be wrong. I’m still a student, my views on life are very idealistic and I jet didn‘t have any job experience.
The most EQ as I imagine myself getting is learning to identify MBTI types very fast as a strategic way of avoiding conflicts with dangerous types as ESTJ ESTP .Like chess-see a potential future threat and avoid it.
That would also be useful to identify INTJ friendly types, as that would enable to spend time only on people that a worth your attention. However I find that INTJ friendly types are easy to spot intuitively. The not friendly ones are harder, as they can be adaptive parasites, hiding their true self.

Amaranth

11-28-2007, 11:44 AM

So isn‘t it better to quit from 60 percent of the jobs until you find the 40 percent that are right for you.

You'd need to be independently wealthy or have patient parental sponsorship in order to be allowed so much leeway with career trial and error. This wouldn't be practical in terms of financial stability and reputation. You did mention, however, that you're still a student and have no job experience; acknowledging your idealism seems wise--that way it has less of a chance of clouding your judgment.

I've learned to make nice with people who...for lack of a better description...act like idiots. At the very least, they can be added to your list of references.

The Rose

11-28-2007, 11:50 AM

I liked learning and school. I liked my teachers.
The nicer they were or the handsomer they were, the more I paid attention and the better grades I got.

Daniel

11-28-2007, 12:05 PM

You'd need to be independently wealthy or have patient parental sponsorship in order to be allowed so much leeway with career trial and error. This wouldn't be practical in terms of financial stability and reputation. You did mention, however, that you're still a student and have no job experience; acknowledging your idealism seems wise--that way it has less of a chance of clouding your judgment.

I've learned to make nice with people who...for lack of a better description...act like idiots. At the very least, they can be added to your list of references.

I do have hope abut my career. I will be an architect. And according to personality types INTJ‘s and INTP‘s are the only two types dominant in this career. Paradoxically these types are very rare among architecture students.

I am very tolerant, but I hate when a less intelligent person is on purpose conflicting with me, because I‘m different than he is. This drives me mad and disbalances my life – I react to conflicts very sensitively.

Maverick

11-28-2007, 01:19 PM

I can relate to many things said in the OP.

Teachers have had a love/hate relationship with me. I have been in conflict with many because I would challenge their knowledge, ask many critical questions, and try to prove that they were not as competent in their subject as they pretended. I would score the maximum on one test then refuse to do the next and hand out my paper blank just to get the average to pass. I have also being adored by others for being more creative, smarter, more interested and more competent than my peers.

I have led classes to rebel against some teachers I dissaproved. Once, I got the whole class to get up and leave because I didn't like the fact that the teacher mistreated a friend.

Daniel

11-28-2007, 02:44 PM

I have led classes to rebel against some teachers I dissaproved. Once, I got the whole class to get up and leave because I didn't like the fact that the teacher mistreated a friend.

That’s where extroversion kicks in..:]

Although I have tried to organize an election about whether one teacher should even teach in our school (everybody hated her).However I think my Intro determined that I never finished the project – two much organizing, talking to people.
Now I’m even happy I didn’t. That really would have created some serious confrontation.

Amaranth

11-28-2007, 03:08 PM

I do have hope abut my career. I will be an architect. And according to personality types INTJ‘s and INTP‘s are the only two types dominant in this career. Paradoxically these types are very rare among architecture students.

I am very tolerant, but I hate when a less intelligent person is on purpose conflicting with me, because I‘m different than he is. This drives me mad and disbalances my life – I react to conflicts very sensitively.

I worked as an architectural consultant for two firms near NYC for more than a year. I loved the work, hated the interpersonal dynamics. In my experience, architecture *in practice* is more about red tape and meetings and office politics than it is about design, unfortunately. I was constantly expected to comply with decisions that didn't make sense because most architects don't seem to take criticism well (and maybe it's related to what you said about most architects not being INTP/Js). I entered architecture wanting to design, and all I discovered was that it's 98% red tape and BS, 2% design. Maybe your experience will be different than mine - in fact, I hope so - but please don't be surprised if you encounter a load of nonsense. Have a backup plan. There might be a very good reason that INTP/Js stay away from architecture.

Paul V

11-28-2007, 03:20 PM

Constant conflict with 90% of my teachers. I always thought they perceived me as a threat, and therefore treated me different. I was ordered by many of them not to participate in the class, as I was keeping the other children from learning.

And they say I have a problem with authority...

Daniel

11-28-2007, 05:01 PM

I worked as an architectural consultant for two firms near NYC for more than a year. I loved the work, hated the interpersonal dynamics. In my experience, architecture *in practice* is more about red tape and meetings and office politics than it is about design, unfortunately. I was constantly expected to comply with decisions that didn't make sense because most architects don't seem to take criticism well (and maybe it's related to what you said about most architects not being INTP/Js). I entered architecture wanting to design, and all I discovered was that it's 98% red tape and BS, 2% design. Maybe your experience will be different than mine - in fact, I hope so - but please don't be surprised if you encounter a load of nonsense. Have a backup plan. There might be a very good reason that INTP/Js stay away from architecture.

You didn't understand me - INTJ's and INTP's are found in architecture more often than other personality types.
INTP's are even called "the architect" type.

Amaranth

11-28-2007, 05:23 PM

You didn't understand me - INTJ's and INTP's are found in architecture more often than other personality types.
INTP's are even called "the architect" type.

I misread this statement: "And according to personality types INTJ‘s and INTP‘s are the only two types dominant in this career. Paradoxically these types are very rare among architecture students."

So INTJs and INTPs are common in the field, but not in architecture school? Implying that non-INTJ/Ps drop out or just don't practice as architects once they graduate?

Either way, I still think architecture is a very EQ-demanding field. I hope you have more patience for it than I did. There was too much red tape involved for my liking! :yuck:

youngblooded

01-31-2008, 07:38 AM

I was quite a student because I was constantly challanging the teachers. Not in a sense of using vulgarities that sort of stuff. Because I believed that as long as my point was valid and supported with evidence , I was correct. And as usual, most dumb teachers were pissed except for a few who gained my respect for their acceptence of such behaviour.

PortInStorm

01-31-2008, 09:27 AM

In college and university I got along with most of my teachers because I was interested in learning- *gasp*. My only real clashes have been either with teaching assistants who would engage me in battle because they needed to be right (I should have known better than to make them lose face), or with professors who 'flew by the seat of their pants', and due to their free-for-all attitude or lack of preparation/consistency, I lost marks. That ruined my 3rd year. Otherwise, I've loved knowing them. I wish I could engage them as friends (though I think I have with my thesis advisor- very fun!)

Zilal

01-31-2008, 02:28 PM

Good relationships.

If you're interrupting the class and getting into arguments, a teacher's disliking you doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your having your own opinion. I have my own opinion too, but I know how to be thoughtful about expressing it.

I did get into (brief) arguments a couple times with a professor last semester, though, I admit. But it was a small class and we were all discussing the issues. I wouldn't do that in a standard lecture. What's the point?

Antares

01-31-2008, 02:58 PM

In my case, I had conflicting relationships with 60-70 percent of my teachers.

1.The majority hated that I constantly asked questions and wanted to know everything in detail (perfectionism, analytical thinking).
2.They hated that I always had my own opinion which didn't necessary agree with theirs.
3.The problems arose as early as elementary school, as I would dare to argue, "but I read in a book/heard on tv that it was different than you say..."
4.They hated that I was systematic and organised.I wanted to know the dates of tests and exams, the topics we are going to cover.That bothered them.I believe they saw it as me limiting their freedom.
5.I sometimes noticed errors of my teahers (for ex. in maths calculations)
6.They hated that I had my original ideas that were different from that they were told to cram in our heads.Some saw that as arrogance-arrogance to be yourself and not part of the crowd.

Thay made my life miserable at school by constantly sabotaging my creativity.I was glad that school ended.However the situations appears to be identical at the unversity.I hope bosses in work are not like teachers.

Howerever this might be a result of educations system in my country being crap.A serial killer released from jail could easily get a job as no one wants to work as a teacher.

I spot errors so easily. I'm always the first in the room to point them out. Yesterday, my teacher asked: "What's wrong with this paragraph?" and I answered: "Middle of the page: 'and they did.' You forgot the 'Y'." It took him a while to register what I was saying, because he was actually expecting an answer more along the lines of: "The adverb was used in place of the adjective." Sometimes my History teacher judge a culture or an event more readily than he should, meaning that he doesn't know both sides of the story and mainly stuck to one version of this. I was tempted to point this out, but he would win the debate anyway and it would waste class time.

HEY. I got points off because I was 'too' creative! When I build on their ideas and my project extended them, they said to me: NOOOO! You were supposed to do THIS!

I don't think I'm on bad terms with most of them, but last year, my French teacher and I openly hated each other, but it was with reason, because I dared to challenge her. She hated my best friend without a reason at all! During our discussion, she told me to look into the dictionary becaues I didn't understand her question where there were vocabs. I was looking up the word when she suddenly called on me and mocked me for looking in the dictionary- exactly what she asked! "Oh. Now she's finding the dictionary more interesting than our discussion." (Rolls her eyes, sneer) I was so pissed I yelled at her: "Excuse me? I was under the impression that you told me to look it up!" I didn't get detention because she had nothing to counter that. Sometimes I can't hold my tongue if someone gets to me, and that's exactly what she did. The anger slowly builds.

ElstonGunn

01-31-2008, 03:16 PM

I've had little to no personal interest in every teacher I've ever had. Not that I thought they were stupid jerks or anything. I think that a small part of it is due to my extreme introversion. Even if I knew the answer to a question in class, I almost never bothered saying it. I never liked it when teachers asked questions out loud and expected answers. I just didn't see the point in doing that. I preferred it when they just stuck to lecturing.

But the main issue for me was that I never did like schooling at all, which might be odd for an INTJ. All the way from preschool to finishing my bachelor's degree (which I just did recently), I probably studied for a cumulative two hours. It wasn't necessary for me, for whatever reason (and not because I'm extraordinarily smart). I wasn't interested, but I got straight A's throughout middle school, high school, and most of college with next to no effort, beyond perfect attendance paired with paying attention. Sometimes I didn't even pay attention. I fell asleep in some classes. Nevertheless, that's all it took to get some Latin on my diploma.

So I guess the point is that I thought school was a dumb waste of time where I learned next to nothing. It was easy enough to do for the most part, but I saw no value in it. That's not to say that I don't like learning, knowing, and applying things. I like doing those kinds of things, but school always seemed like a pretty bad source for an education to me.

ginandsour

02-04-2008, 05:29 AM

I disliked feminist professors the most, because they would never, ever shut up about gender and I simply disregarded it after the arguments lost any coherency (once you start spelling "women" with a Y, and sit in drum circles drinking herbal tea while talking about your vaginas, any glimmer of respect you might have held goes away).

That being said, I got along much better with men and considered at least one of my teachers as close as family.

coffeeloverfreak

02-04-2008, 04:12 PM

I got along much better with my teachers than I did with my fellow students, most of the time. Yeah, I was *that* kid. You know, the dweeb in the front row with her hand always in the air knowing the answer. I look back and cringe a little now, but I guess I just had "teacher's pet" written all over my forehead.

By university I learned to challenge my profs, but most of them liked me even more for it. Maybe it was the way in which I did it. I'd argue the point, not the person. And I liked to play devil's advocate, just for the exercise of it. But my profs could tell I was genuinely interested in learning, so they were cool with it for the most part.

AresX9

02-05-2008, 05:44 PM

Apparently I'm lucky as I've had intellectual teachers for nearly all of my school life. I didn't really get into subjects until my Sophomore year, when I had an absolutely amazing AP European History teacher.

iMiki

02-06-2008, 09:47 PM

I'm always the "teacher's pet".

The principal of my school is like a mother to me. She treats me like I am her child. She's an INFP, by the way. If I have a problem with a professor, I just come up to her. I don't argue with the professors so I don't have any conflicts. I pretend that I like the teacher but when I go to my "mom", that's when I'm really honest.

INTJgal

02-07-2008, 03:10 PM

blue tie

02-08-2008, 08:21 AM

I'd say I was all over the place. Some teachers, mostly high school, I looked up to a lot. Other teachers. mostly college, I hated with a burning passion. That whole INTJ thing about authority/respect based on merit? Yeah... Totally.

In high school, I didn't know much. Or we were forced to learn topics that I wasn't a specialist in. So of course I'm more than willing to yield to the expert.

But in college, studying computer science in a university with a very poor program, there's no hiding anything from a computer nerd. The instruction was horrible and they knew shit and I could smell it a mile away. I spent most of my time in CS classes very grumpy and angry, and even got one teacher fired. He was trying to teach about Jewish history in a stats/CS class.

coffeeloverfreak

02-08-2008, 09:40 AM

Funny, Blue Tie, I'm the exact opposite of you. I had a great deal of respect for many of my college profs, but most of my high school teachers were terrible. Like, beyond terrible. I found I had very little respect for someone who was just trying (not too successfully) to disciplie rather than to teach. On the rare occasion that we got someone who actually taught something, they stood out. My high school had about 4 good teachers in total - a grade 8 French teacher, a grade 9 math teacher, a grade 10/11 Hebrew teacher, and a grade 10/11 math and physics teacher. Pretty much every other class was a total waste of time, and I spent most of my days in high school watching the clock hoping they would end.

Race

02-08-2008, 10:08 AM

I get along great with the most intelligent of my teachers, who can relate to me and vice versa. I don't like the teacher who just quotes from the book.

gillyweet

02-09-2008, 12:12 AM

my favorite teachers have been those who recognised my intelligence and challenged me to think for myself. i had a few who refused to spoonfeed and asked the tough questions just because they liked to see the cogs in my mind work and come up with my own ideas. they themselves had their own opinions but still respected mine and appreciated the thought process behind it.

i couldn't stand those who taught by the book and refused to entertain any other way of thinking. i challenged authority a lot because they couldn't justify what they were saying, what they were teaching and the way they were teaching it so i ended up in a counsellor's office giving the poor woman a headache.

American Quest 1983

02-09-2008, 07:58 AM

For the most part I got along with my teachers. Most teachers saw me as a dedicated, reliable, and respectful student.

Snuggles

02-09-2008, 09:23 AM

I'm kind of upset at how my college professors viewed me prior to the completion of my teams senior project...

I was just kind of that student that no one noticed... I did quite well, not outstanding. I also was kind of class-clown-ish in some courses which, I guess, naturally puts you in a lower opinion of teachers.

I also think a lot of them thought I cheated (since there wasn't a strong relationship, they didn't know how hard I actually did work). They did know that I formed a lot of the homework groups, so maybe even more so, they thought I was just using my peers for the assistance.

BUT!!! When it came to crunch time on my teams senior project... I pulled out all the stops and completed something I don't think any of them saw possible from a student 'like me'... sometimes when I go up to visit friends in that area, I'll see some of them around, and one in particular, my lab professor who thought I was particularly useless now tells me I was one of the best my university had to offer in electrical engineering.

It's quite flattering... but seriously, what the hell? Go three 3.75 years before people know you're competent? I kind of feel like this is happening at work right now... I need my break through moment!

Gabrielle

02-10-2008, 12:03 AM

I first thought this was a confession thread to "I slept with my Physics lecturer back in the days when I was a sophomore in college"... oops.

I generally have very bad relationships with my teachers. Most of them are incompetent, so I don't respect them... sometimes I even stop coming to lectures then ace my exams, which apparently annoy the profs.

Nightelf

02-10-2008, 02:59 AM

In secondary school (it is a little like high school in the U.S.) they adored me, because I was attententive, prepared, knew more about the subject as it was written in the books asked though questions and dared to think. Some of them hated me, because I could spot when they were unprepared or made a mistake. As we prepared for graduation I made my classmates revolt against one of them because she was not though/prepared enough and gave us poor help in the preparation process. She was later fired (partly because of this affair).
I study in university right now where my relation with lecturers is at least balanced, some of them even helps me in my researches. Even if some of the subjects are indifferent to my interest I give them the necessary attention and lecturers appreciate this.