Did a Teacher Ever Tell You That You Are Not Talented?
My high-school math teacher was certain that I was not and could never be a mathematician. When he found out, that I was planning to study physics at uni he decided to help and talk me out of going. He spent some time convincing me that I was not smart enough to keep up with the mathematics needed to get into the program I wanted. And even if I did get in, I would not be able to understand anything… Long story short, I ignored all of that “advice” and received a master’s degree in physics. Now I tutor maths to help kids overcome their ignorant teachers’ opinions.
One of the traits of bad teachers is believing that there are talented students and not talented ones. And for the latter group, there is some sort of limit that will be beyond them no matter how hard they work.
This type of thinking often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you keep telling a person that they will never be good at something, they will start believing you. Especially because students are vulnerable and the teacher keeps repeating it regularly.
A teacher does possess a certain level of authority. Supposedly they know the subject better than you. Probably this is not their first time teaching, so they have some experience. They have worked with a lot of students and allegedly, they know what they are talking about.
Share responsibility
Bad teachers often don’t take enough responsibility in the education process. It is much easier to say that a person doesn’t have talent than to figure out what the problem is.
For example, with math there are 2 most common issues:
1. The person is too young (before 13) so their abstract level thinking might not be fully developed yet and this is why they might struggle at the moment;
2. Some time ago there were a couple of topics that the student didn’t fully understand (or just forgot by now) and these gaps are the reason for current confusion in the subject.
Getting to the source of the problem takes time, effort, and most importantly — desire to help. It’s easier to say that the student has no abilities to learn maths. This removes any responsibility from the teacher and provides a very simple solution to a complicated problem.
I had pupils who were convinced that math was not for them. They had teachers tell them and their parents to stop expecting any success and settle into being a C (at best) student… While nothing could be further from the truth!
In all of those cases, the problem could be traced to a particular set of gaps in understanding. Once we filled those gaps most problems went away. And the remaining problems were largely psychological and related to the current teacher and the way they graded and talked to the kid.
One of the most common first conversations with new pupils (or their parents) is:
“I don’t expect to be good at this. Please help me to get a passing grade”.
The fun part is that during the lesson there are (almost) no issues. The student solves every problem and is capable of explaining difficult concepts. And in the end, it turns out that they enjoyed maths. The actual issue was that they are emotionally bullied by a teacher and they just freeze up during school classes. This breaks my heart every time.
Bad teachers can be found outside school or university
You can encounter them in any learning scenario: short courses, online classes, lectures, and seminars.
I took an online Jazz voice class once (from a very famous music college). I was very unlucky with one particular instructor (this was my 3rd course there and the first two were just incredible).
As part of the process, we had a weekly group call with the instructor. On one of those calls (I happened to be the only one attending that day), we somehow ended up discussing the idea of talent. I was shocked at how passionately this instructor was trying to convince me that if one doesn’t innately possess “the talent” then there is no point for them to work hard to achieve greatness.
At that time I had 7 years of teaching experience and had yet to meet a person who was limited in their capacity to understand maths (now I am at 13 years and this still stands true). I shared that with the instructor. Yet she still kept repeating that she taught a lot of talentless people and how they never amounted to any musical success.
Oh, how I wish I could realize that this was an alarm and that I had to get out of that class. Instead, I kept working hard and stressing over each assignment. It felt that in the mind of the instructor I did not possess “the talent”. No matter how hard I worked there was no point. There never was constructive feedback that could help me identify my mistakes and understand where to apply my efforts.
After that class was over I was emotionally shattered and did not come close to music for several years.
Learn to spot bad teachers and protect yourself
It is important to recognize bad teachers. Once you know that your teacher is not there to help you, you should (if possible) leave the course and never look back. If you are not in a position to do that, then protect your self-esteem from that teacher and do your best to ignore their opinion. They do not want to help you. They are just playing out their insecurities by putting you down. It is not worth your energy to listen to them.
I worked hard to be better at maths, still for years I felt like an imposter. I was constantly afraid that soon I would reach the ceiling of my natural abilities and fail horribly.
If you are right now or have ever before been told by the teacher that you are not talented, I am so sorry. You are not alone. Have a hug and know that it isn’t your fault. You are a capable person and you can do anything. Don’t let a bad teacher define the way you think about yourself. You can recover from this. It will take effort but it is worth it. At the end of the day, you will be able to prove to yourself that there are no limits to your abilities.
I believe in you!
Thank you for your time.
