Miss Brodie As A Poor Teacher example essay topic

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Is Miss Jean Brodie a good teacher? Why or why not? Miss Brodie fails to be a good teacher because she teaches on her own accord, gives her students wrong impressions, and displays unprofessional behavior towards her staff and pupils. As a schoolteacher in Edinburgh during the 1930's there were many rules and regulations that teachers had to adhere to in order to successfully feed the minds of their young pupils. Schoolteachers had more of a responsibility during this period than today because school was the only source of information and education that people could receive. Due to this fact, the government set strict policies and curriculum's (and still do) that teachers must follow so that students could grow up to become well round individuals.

Miss Brodie seemed to side step, insult or simply ignore some of the curriculum that was given, and teach her students on her own conditions. An example of this is when Miss Brodie is telling the girls that she and Miss MacKay have a radical difference in their principals of education. Miss Brodie has told Miss MacKay that the girls will be equipped with the necessary information needed to pass the end of term exams. After she says this to the headmistress, Miss Brodie says to the girls: I trust you girls to work hard and try to scrape through (the exams), even if you learn the stuff and forget it the next day. This statement is telling the girls that she does not believe in the required curriculum and she wouldn't care if they have forgot it after their exams. She only wants the girls to study of these exams so that she can have an excuse to boast to Miss MacKay, seeing the girls do well in them is not her primary concern.

Another example of Miss Brodie teaching on her own accord was her lesson under the Elm tree where she told her students about her holiday in Egypt. It is evident that Miss Brodie is pretending to teach her students but trying to make it quit believable for all who look upon her shaded class when she says to her students: Hold up your books, prop them up in you hands, in case of any intruders, we are doing out history lesson... our poetry... English grammar. Although Miss Brodie's lessons were somewhat educational and her students learnt new concepts and ideas, the schools during that time would not allow "freestyle teaching" because it made the students too. By setting her own curriculum Miss Brodie lead herself to her own termination. Miss Brodie new that there were rules that needed to be followed in order to get along with the Headmistress and maintain an extensive and successful teaching career.

She chose to ignore these mandatory guidelines and pursued her own fashion and material when instructing her students. This is why Miss Jean Brodie fails to be a decent teacher. Miss Jean Brodie is a very self-centered person who likes to talk about herself to her class. She mentions to her class on several occasions that she is in the prime of her life and that it is the best time of ones life. Although she states that 'ones prime is when they are born', Miss Brodie contradicts this statement and leads her class to believe that life is no good until one reaches their prime, which is at her age. This is misleading for the students who are at a susceptible age.

By giving this wrong impression her students are left to believe that they have nothing to look forward to until they reach Miss Brodie's age. Another example of how Miss Brodie gives her student the wrong impression was her repetitive attacks on Miss MacKay. It was obvious the two teachers did not like one another, which is bound to happen in any profession. However, advertising this dislike to her classroom only leads to problems. The first time that this occurs is when Miss Brodie was leading here class out to the elm tree for the 'imaginary' history lesson.

On the way outside she stops her class in front of Miss MacKay's office, points to a picture of the old Prime minister and states: Miss MacKay retains him on the wall because she believes in the slogan 'Safety First'. But safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth and Beauty come first. This gives a few wrong impressions to the class. The first being that safety can be over looked, which is a dangerous statement to make to eleven and twelve year old girls.

Although goodness, truth and beauty are virtuous beliefs, safety is a fundamental element in everybody's life, without safety, the world would be too dangerous to enjoy Miss Brodie's three primary beliefs. The second wrong impression that Miss Brodie gives her students is that Miss MacKay has wrong beliefs. The passing comment that miss Brodie makes to her students discredits the Head Mistress, and leaves a lasting impression. Having a classroom of children who think that the Head Mistress is disreputable does not help the children or the school in any way. Although Miss Brodie may care for her students, her ego and open display of her rivals gives her students wrong impressions. This reason also classifies Miss Brodie as a poor teacher.

Miss Brodie is a poor teacher because she repeatedly displayed unprofessional behavior towards the students and staff. Her affair with Mr. Lloyd illustrates some of her unprofessional manner because Mr. Lloyd is married and also a colleague. What really show that Miss Brodie has minimal professionalism is when Monica Douglas catches Miss Brodie and Mr. Lloyd kissing in the art room. For two teachers to be involved in this act during the school day is unacceptable. Her weekend retreats to Mr. Lowther's house also demonstrates her lack of professional principles. Miss Brodie is involved sexually with not one, but two teachers at Marcia Blaine School.

Having her students witness her display of lust with Mr. Lloyd only creates a poor image for the students to have of her. Miss Brodie's hostility toward Miss MacKay also demonstrates her inability to maintain a professional manner. She is constantly telling her students indirectly the she does not like Miss MacKay through various tactics. When Miss Brodie lashes out to Miss Mackay for trying to make her resign, she makes matters worse for herself because is only creates more tension and frustration between the two teachers. Miss Brodie unprofessional manner and inability to maintain her lust gives good reason for why she is a poor teacher. As a person, Miss Brodie does have many positive qualities that she seems to have used in the classroom.

Her students did take interest in her teaching, but only because they were so different from what they were used to. Miss Brodie was a very smart and well-traveled woman, which was another positive aspect that she brought to her classroom. However her inability to teach the given curriculum, giving her students wrong impressions, and her numerous affairs and arguments with the staff leads one to believe that even though Miss Brodie was in her prime, she was still a poor teacher.