Could it be only my school teacher that makes mistakes while teaching in front of the students, or how many teachers make mistakes you know?
Is there any way to correct a teacher without being penalized? In some places, correcting a teacher could lead to unimaginable problems.
If you ever wanted to know how to correct your teacher and still remain safe, then you are in the right place.
If and only if we all are not bound to make mistakes, I don’t think there’s a need for writing this post. Nothing on earth would call for a guide on how to correct your school teacher.
Mistakes do really exist and you can see a teacher teaching wrong information, probably because they are humans too or maybe they lack professionalism.
Lack of professionalism is one of the characteristics of a bad teacher.
So how do we correct a teacher?
The truth is that many of us are drawn in the thinking that our teachers know it all, even the few who know that teachers are liable to make mistakes might still be afraid to correct their teachers whenever they make a mistake.
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The above could be a result of a teacher’s reaction if corrected. But the honest truth here is that you can correct your teacher politely, that’s what you will learn at the end of this post. Keep reading to find out how to correct a teacher.
In my school, we refer to our teachers as “lecturers”. However, this is peculiar to all the tertiary institutions in my country, if you have other names for your school teacher, you can also let us know through the comment below.
Guess what happened the first day I summoned the courage to correct my teacher?
Nothing bad happened 🙂
The first day I corrected my teacher, I didn’t die, rather it gained me recognition and the teacher was so kind to appreciate my corrections.
However this is tactful, I will share with you effective means of how to tell your teacher they made a mistake without landing yourself into a problem.
We all know that everyone is prone to mistakes, and professors make mistakes because they are humans too, but the truth is that not everyone would even want to be corrected in the first place.
From the words of Robert Green in the 48 Laws of Power, he said: “Do not disdain the master“, this will trigger an adverse effect if otherwise.
In correcting your teacher, you should adopt means that will not annoy your teacher. Whether you are a fresh or returning student.
Hey! Let’s dive in!
How To Politely Correct A Teacher
1. Be very sure
Before you think of correcting your school teacher, make sure that the information you have is correct or you have evidence to prove your points.
That you see a resource online, does not render what your teacher said invalid or wrong, some if not most of the resources online, are not accepted by many academia.
They are instances that can make you want to correct your teacher, it could be that your score was not properly recorded or maybe she spelled a word incorrectly, just make sure you know a teacher is wrong and you have proof before you can think of any correction.
Another way of being very sure is to ask questions and make sure you understand the topic clearly before you jump into any correction with your teacher.
2. Don’t be rude
Correcting a teacher is not rude and any teacher who has regard for his/her students will not take corrections to be rude. So don’t be rude to your teacher.
We understand that your mood can tempt you to do otherwise of the above, but you have to control yourself and approach correcting your teacher politely.
Don’t have an attitude to your teacher, regardless of how you feel.
3. Correct your teacher privately
Depending on how accessible your lecturer is, you can choose to take note of the mistakes during class and then suggest your corrections to the teacher privately.
Praise in the public and admonish privately.
Most people don’t like to be corrected in the public and your teacher even if he/she shows a smiling face, might still not be happy about a correction in the presence of his/her students.
In the case where you cannot get to the teacher’s desk for correction, you can meet your teacher immediately after class. You can start by saying excuse me Sir/Ma this is a polite way to stop your teacher for a question or correction.
If the two instances aren’t obtainable and you must correct your teacher in the classroom, you should do this with caution we seriously recommend.
However, we assume that you have a better understanding of who your class teacher is and the possible reactions the teacher can present for different reasons.
We trust the following methods of correcting a teacher in the classroom.
Start by saying:
Excuse me Sir/Ma, and wait until you are been asked to say something.
Let’s assume your teacher had said that Square tomatoes are the best, whereas in his textbook, it is Round shaped tomatoes.
Then start correcting your teacher by saying:
Sir, in your words, you said that we have square-shaped tomatoes and they are the best, this contradicts the information you provided in the textbook which depicts that round-shaped tomatoes are the best, could it be a typo sir?
Please do not try to spoil everything with your use of English, make it simple and be selective in your choice of words not to provoke your teacher.
4. Do not argue with your teacher
No matter how playful your teacher is things can be more serious than you think while trying to correct the teacher’s mistakes.
You actually don’t have to be absolute about your corrections, a nice way to avoid arguments with your lecturer is trying to make them see your point of view to be able to figure out their mistakes by their selves.
Don’t be too fast to say to your teacher you’re wrong. Don’t make your teacher feel threatened, you can say “Sir but I think that both Google and Bing are search engines because they both help us for searching content on the internet”, can you see my point? That’s a more polite way of correcting your teacher instead of trying to present yourself as someone who is right.
5. Accept defeat
Remember you’re the student and not yet the teacher.
It is possible that why trying to convince your teacher that she is wrong, all your evidence could be rendered invalid. Do not wear an angry look on your face or try to stress the point that you are right.
Be polite and accept defeat, remember to say nice words that show appreciation like: Thank you, sir, now I see I was wrong.
Conclusion:
At this point, we believe this post corrects students’ mistakes when trying to tell their teacher they are wrong.
It is not bad to correct your teacher, but you really have to be sure that your teacher was wrong and then, know how to correct your teacher so it won’t appear that you are setting yourself above your teacher and then earn a bad reputation for yourself.
In correcting a teacher, we find out that the best method to correct a teacher politely is by being deferential and non-confrontational.
You should always present your corrections in the form of a question, the teacher while trying to answer the question, will get to the stage where he was wrong and then do the correction himself.
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