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The Advantages and Disadvantages of Private Tutoring
Private tutoring is “in”. A recent investigation shows that about 80 percent of pupils have private tutors. While private tutoring has both advantages and disadvantages, I feel that we should give more thoughts to its negative effects.
Such a popular practice clearly indicates that people are attaching greater importance to education. Many parents either missed the chance of obtaining a good education themselves or have been too busy with their own business. When their children meet with difficulties in study, they are helpless. Private tutoring seems to be the only solution. As private tutoring is usually given on the one-to-one basis, the teacher knows the strong points as well as the weak points of the pupil; and teaching is, in most cases, directly to the point. Private tutoring benefits a lot of pupils, indeed.
While on the other hand, private tutoring has its own disadvantages. For one thing, it takes up so much of the pupil’s time that they can hardly find enough time for rest or entertainment, which is essential for kids’ physical and mental health. Besides, some teachers, busy “shuttling” from one family to another, tend to neglect their regular teaching duties. What is more, some teachers are eager to help pupils do well on the test, offering the so-called tips for test-taking instead of helping them acquire
what is most needed.
Generally speaking, for private tutoring the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Greater emphasis should be laid on classroom teaching and regular practice, on the improvement of teaching quality and on the tapping of the pupil’s potentialities. As educators, teachers’ foremost responsibility is to encourage pupils to be curious about what is around the bend, over the horizon, and to show them the doors to knowledge are always wide open.
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Self-confidence is, without doubt, the most important factor for success in school or at works.
The importance of self-confidence is self-evident. If we don’t feel self-confident about our ability, we will not be able to take up a task and get it done. If we don’t have confidence in our competence, we won’t be courageous enough to face up to a challenge. Only when we think we are capable of doing something, will we be able to succeed in doing that. Self-confidence is different from complacency. It is solidly based on our knowledge, judgment, abilities and skills. To develop it takes years of learning and to consolidate it needs years of practicing. Self-confidence means more than mental preparedness. It serves as an indication of professional readiness. It is also an expression of intellectual maturity. As we all know, many great people emphasize the crucial role of self-confidence as “the first requisite to great undertakings.” Dr. William
A. Nolen, a well-known American surgeon, believes it it self-confidence that makes a good surgeon. Walt Disney, the well-known American cartoonist, describes self-confidence as “the greatest of all secrets of making dreams come true.”
With self-confidence, we are able to firmly take each step in our journey of life and it is self-confidence that has been paving the way to the ultimate goal of our professional careers.
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A Random Remark on Teaching Methods
I’ve noticed that there are, basically, two teaching methods existing in our educational insitutions today. One is the traditional lecture method our teachers are used to; the other is the group learning method adopted by many of our guest teachers at college.
In a lecture classroom, the teacher dominates the class by doing most of the talking. Students listen and take notes. The method is best at passing on content to students, whose brains are seen as vessels to be filled in. And the rigid class schedule helps prepare students for a society tht values discipline and self-control. But generally, students remain totally passive, given little responsibility for their own learning.
In contrast, the teacher of a group learning classroom appears to have no definite role at all, and students are not required to memorize any information. Instead, they are encouraged to actively generate their own ideas, each contributing insights for the success of the group. This method best prepares students for a society that values creative ideas. The disadvantage is, however, that students are apt to overemphasize practical experience, lacking in necessary basic skills and background my opinion, a “hybrid” method might work better. On the one hand, teachers should spend considerable time preparing their lessons but leave more room for students to display their creativeness. On the other,
teachers should provide more interactive activities in class---designing challenging group tasks and encouraging different opinions. It is important that teachers get themselves involved in the lives of their students, fully aware of what they think and what the society really needs. Only in this way can students become active yet well disciplined, creative yet self-controlled.
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Why a Sense of Humor Is Important
A sense of humor, God’s greatest gift to mankind, is universally considered the most valuable personality asset. Everyone is born with it, but we still have to cultivate it. A person without humor is just like a spring without flowers. In a sense, your personality lies in your sense of humor.
Humor can enhance physical as well as mental well-being. It helps us bear our burdens, lessen our tension, overcome our frustration, relax our body muscles, and dissolve countless trifles and irritations. With a crack of joke, all our worries, sadness and tension and tiredness disperse like mist and smoke, and we are full of vim and vigor once again.
Humor helps us live in harmony with others. It is unavoidable to have misunderstanding and tension with others during work and study, but humor is a rubber sword—it allows you to make a point without drawing
