Effective English Teacher example essay topic

Krishna is an effective teacher. Discuss with close reference to the book. An effective teacher is a teacher that produces the result that is wanted. In The English Teacher the story is told in the first person so it is difficult to tell if Krishna is an effective teacher. Nowhere on the book does a student or students or even friends and colleagues say that Krishna is an effective English teacher. So we have to discern from the pages of the book as to whether Krishna is an effective teacher.

The book begins with Krishna mulling over "a sense of something missing". He was taking stock of his daily life and wanted to put it right. It is against this background that Krishna goes back to "Nature" by taking a very early morning jog and bath in the river. Being consumed by his renewed contact with Nature Krishna is recharged to the point that his whole day is put into chaos. One can even say Krishnan was given an "overdose of Nature and was in a drunken stupor" when he makes his way to class. When Krishna reaches class late he "decides" to waste time on attendance.

In the later part of the class, after the attendance taking, his sub-conscious and his conscience gets a hold of him. The book quotes him thinking to himself "These poor boys are now all attention, cowed by your superior force. They are ready to listen and write down whatever you may say". (pg 13) This proves that the boys' in Albert Mission College certainly feel that Krishnan is an effective teacher. They await with eager anticipation whenever Krishnan is teaching. If Krishna was not an effective teacher why would they bother to even listen to him, let alone "write down whatever he may say"?

On the same page in the book, it is also written "I noticed that some boys were already sitting up alert, ready to note down the pearls dropping form my mouth... ". This is evidence that the boys' in his class respect him and feel that whatever he is saying are like "pearls dropping out from his mouth". Krishnan later, gripped by his conscience of doing the right thing, is swayed into confessing to his students of his unpreparedness but but he caught himself lecturing.

Later on in the page it says that the "sheer poetry of it carried me on", which is proof that Krishna is a teacher that is a teacher that enjoys what he is teaching, which is poetry. Another quote that proves this is "I passed on the next scene without knowing it. I could not stop". He was so into the poem that he "nearly broke down". Later on when he had his composition class, there was a student of his, Rama swami, who was rather poor in English. In the book, it is written "My comments on the work could not be publicly shown or uttered".

This shows that he is a caring teacher and has respect for his students and instead of publicly embarrassing the student, he calls him aside and quietly discusses his mistakes and even offers him help. This shows that there is an understanding between both teacher and student, thus, he is effective as a teacher. We cannot be side tracked with Krishnan's "utterances" like the following passages in the Book:" ... and I hadn't prepared even a page of lecture""; ... I went in five minutes late to class, and I could dawdle over the attendance for a quarter of an hour"; and. ".. I did not do it out of love for them or for Shakespeare but only out of love for myself".

As explained above, taken in the context of his recent experience with Nature, Krishnan is too hard on himself, he seems a perfectionist, but his teaching of Lear even without preparing shows his passion for his job and his effectiveness as a teacher, and a caring one also. In my opinion I feel that Krishna is indeed an effective teacher as he loves and is passionate in what he is teaching. He also cares for his students although he might be a bit hard on himself. But this is a mark of a good and effective teacher who will crucify himself even if no one does. For this the students benefit.