The real student

By Dan Paul Rose

I was recently asked by an elderly Korean woman what makes a good teacher? I presumed she meant English teacher since it is safe to assume from my appearance what subject I teach.

I didn’t have an immediate answer, such as empathy for the students’ welfare, a big dose of patience, being fair or being a master of the subject matter. So, I asked Mrs. Lee to give me time to come up with an answer.

After some reflection, I determined this wasn’t a question I’m comfortable answering. That is, with any real certainty. I feel more equipped to address the notion, “What qualities make a good student?” Since I never did answer Mrs. Lee’s question directly, I will attempt to do so here.

As I sit on a bench in southern Thailand overlooking a deserted beach at dusk, it takes only moments to conjure up the faces of my favorite students ― both young men and women. Significantly, these fresh Korean faces are not all A+ students. What are they? What makes them a joy for the teacher?

My best students are individuals like Terry, nicknamed for my brother. Though someone who visibly struggled to understand simple classroom direction, he was never impolite, late and on no occasion did he put up his hands in a sign of surrender.

Then there’s Jin, who never had the opportunity to visit an English-speaking country, and whose verbal skills were subpar, but who constantly asked if she could do extra-credit projects to boost her grade.

A teacher’s worst nightmare is not a student who is dim-witted but someone who lacks sufficient effort – someone who is always tardy, offers a stack of doctors’ notes as an excuse for chronic absence, speaks while others are speaking and acts ignorant when asked why they missed their poetry presentation last Friday.

Quality students do one simple thing ― they try.

No student of mine will ever fail for his or her lack of ability or natural intelligence. Lack of effort? Yes, failure is possible.

I realized long ago people are not responsible for their intelligence, nor can it increase. But we can control our character and work ethic.

Again, the best foreign-language students are those who show up with book in hand, pen and paper, cell phone off and with a pleasant demeanor and an open mind.

We are not impressed by a student who gabs in their native tongue. That seems simple enough, but some students make learning harder than it actually is.

The idea of higher education, a privilege in any culture, is to excite students to learn. That is, to make them want to edify on their own, so when the salad days of university are over, they have a ready instilled desire and discipline to continue their education away from the classroom.

As with the study of chemistry or economics, piano playing or oil painting, learning English is not a finite pursuit. There’s no true mastery; only gradual and, hopefully, steady development and improvement.

Therefore, as a teacher, encouraging all students with positive reinforcement is most crucial. Small steps are what progress is; learning is not a race.

So maybe I have answered Mrs. Lee’s initial inquiry. Maybe a good teacher inspires students to enjoy learning, and for no other reason than the accumulation of intriguing and applicable knowledge they can use down the road.

I write a lot of poetry, and oftentimes grapple with putting the right words in the best place. I think of one poem in particular, a sonnet of fourteen lines, I have reworked at least thirty times. It’s still not right. Clearly the teacher is still learning.

The writer is working in the Department of English Language & Literature at Hanshin University in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. His email address is danpaulrose@hotmail.com.