Poor teachers or poor students?

Question:Based on the number of questions that say: "I'm taking a photography class and I'm totally lost/confused about f-stops and shutter speeds and how to use the meter" or some similar sentiment, one must wonder if the person teaching the class is that poor of a teacher or if the person taking the class is that poor of a student.

You may think I'm bragging here but I honestly believe that if I know something and you want to learn it I can teach it to you. From 1976 to 1982 I taught a basic photography/darkroom class - 3 hours for 6 Friday nights. It was intense - my students processed film at the 2nd. meeting.

Perhaps the people I taught were more motivated. I doubt it was because of my teaching ability. A lot was likely due to only having 8 to 10 students.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Based on the number of questions that say: "I'm taking a photography class and I'm totally lost/confused about f-stops and shutter speeds and how to use the meter" or some similar sentiment, one must wonder if the person teaching the class is that poor of a teacher or if the person taking the class is that poor of a student.

You may think I'm bragging here but I honestly believe that if I know something and you want to learn it I can teach it to you. From 1976 to 1982 I taught a basic photography/darkroom class - 3 hours for 6 Friday nights. It was intense - my students processed film at the 2nd. meeting.

Perhaps the people I taught were more motivated. I doubt it was because of my teaching ability. A lot was likely due to only having 8 to 10 students.

No doubt there are some poor students, but I can say from experience that there are poor teachers too.

I recently did my second photography course. The first half of the course was bitterly disappointing for me, as the lecturer was masking his lack of content in the course by padding it out with jokes and long talks about his holidays which had no bearing on photography.We were learning nothing. In one three hour lecture, the only photographic content was 15 minutes on focus, the rest was his gibberish. It got to the point where I was intending to put in a formal complaint.

Suddenly it turned around, the content improved dramatically, he stopped the constant unfunny jokes. It was so dramatic that we could only presume that he had received a warning, so someone must have beat me to the complaint.

At the completion of the course, he suggested to me that I spend X dollars to do his photoshop course. I've seen his website (so have some of the others who frequent this section) and I can tell you that I could teach him a few things about photoshop. He does some very bad select color and some dodgy burning, that's about it.

This guy runs course after course. Yes, there ARE bad teachers.

i think your right about small classes...most classes now days are rather large and there is less one on one time with the students...i think its the teachers...probably moving a bit too fast for such a large group, there is no room for questions and such

I think there are a few factors here. First, many take the course thinking "easy A", then find it isn't always. Second, instant gratification, they can ask here, why study to find the answer?

It sounds as if you were teaching adults, and entirely different scenario from teaching in a school where the students are there because they HAVE to be, not WANT to be.

even if the teacher is great but if a student is not really paying attention, he will not learn. if a student has enough interest and motivation to learn something, he will surely find a way to know.

other than teaching, teachers are there to help students become motivated to learn, . i think.

I teach at the local school and run the beginners course for our club, and it's definitely the student that vary.

With the brightest you explain it once and they've got it instantly, others struggle, but get there eventually, but the worst by far are those that think they've got it, but haven't. These are usually 'mature' students who have to 'unlearn' what they have thought for decades, boy is that a hard slog!!

Chris

It's a bit of both.... I've taken classes, where the instructor just brushed over the information, and never explained further, even when asked...

As for the students today, they are taught in school to pass tests, not to learn. Today education is stressing he MCASS tests that each child has to take in order to pass on to higher grades. They are not learning how to learn at all. As soon as these tests are over, they forget what they've been taught.

Another factor is, everything is instant today. They want to know everything in a nanosecond. They can easily turn that dial to automatic and get their desired results, so why do they bother with f-stops and shutter speeds... they just take the shortest route, again not learning anything. It's not just photography, it's in every aspect of their lives. They are not being prepared to live in the world, they are being prepared to be dumped from the educattional system, sadly without any tools for life.

Neither in my opinion.

Photography is a combination of scientific and technical material. Before one can fully appreciate f-stops the student needs to learn the science regarding light and the camera has to be de-mystified for them.

Many students battle with the concepts and technical aspects of photography, some more so than others. Teachers and lecturers guiding students need to be patient and keep answering questions. Students need to sit down quietly and make a concerted effort to understand how things work and speak in photographic language.

Only once everything is fully understood can the student move forward and use the photographic equipment properly.

I always advocate anyone embarking on photography to begin with analogue and learn all the science and the technical stuff before using a digital camera. Students who go directly to digital photography never fully understand photography.

My first photography teacher was the the drama teacher. His main focus was theater, not our class. He tried to teach some, but was not very good at it. The photography 2,3,and 4 teacher was MUCH better. She was a pro herself and knew what she was talking about. Even though I had a great teacher after my first year, I still had a hard time grasping f-stop. I kept on getting confused about depth of field and what f-stop to use. After some practice, I finally got it. It just seemed like a confusing concept when I first learned it. Now, I got shutter speeds right away. That was the easy part. Metering required a lot of practice, but I understood the concept. These people probably just learned about all of this and are still a little confused. Even a good student with a great teacher could become confuse for the first time. They just need to experiment themselves to learn better.

Actually Edwin, YOU are an amazing teacher.
You have helped me to understand NUMEROUS concepts relating to photography. Not only with the questions that I've asked and you've gracious answered but also the TIME AND PATIENCE you have with others (you're on my list so I get to see other Q's you've answered).
Here's the thing...it's clear to me that when you take the time to answer people's questions (which to you might seem very very basic)...you still take the time to ensure that the concept behind the question is understood.
When people (like me) take courses, teachers forget what "beginner" means. They skip things like understanding WHAT the light meter is supposed to to.....they focus on things like WHERE the light meter is....it's like saying here are the KEYS and HERE is the vehicle and here is the steering wheel.....HOW to use it is a completely different thing.
So, no, you're definitely not bragging...you really are a great teacher and I'm thankful to you for taking the time for people like me to better understand the art, technology and components of photography.

Just on the base subject of teachers, I really think that teachers start out wanting to make a difference, but learn that once their tenure is established they cannot be fired and after a while they also learn that school boards and politics are disheartening.

On the other hand, some students think that thigs should be easy. I'd say 90% of the questions asked here by students could easily be answered by a web search of the subject. not bragging, but I learned the majority of my photography skills from book learning, web site lookups and experimentation. I have worked with some other professionals...but if I can learn everything I need to be a professional photographer without takinga formal class, then these students should be able to pick it up. Some may require more study than others, but that is no different than any other subject.

Having a good teacher helps accelerate the learning process.

I really have no idea! If someone wants to learn photography, then you'd think they'd be paying attention in a class.

Maybe it's an elective they took to fill a space, and they thought it would be easy and fun.

And with all the questions from kids asking how to goof off more efficiently in school by getting around the school's blocks on websites or sneak in their cell phones and ipods, well I can imagine there are students who sit in the back texting instead of paying attention.

If there are teachers who can't teach this stuff, then they need to find a new job.