Do Teachers Make Better Parents? Why Parents Make The Best Teachers
Both parents and teachers play an essential role in the upbringing of children. While the role of a parent goes beyond simply educating children as is the role of the teacher, parents still play a key role as they’re considered their child’s first educators.
This brings about the debate about whether parents are the best teachers or teachers are the best parents. After all, no one knows children better than their parents, parental figures, or guardians.
Children are born into a new world with no understanding of their environment. They absorb everything they see and need someone’s guidance to avoid hurting themselves. And while this is not seen as formal education, parents can still be seen as their children’s first teachers.
Teachers also play an important role in the upbringing of children as they provide formal education and parental figures. Even outside the school environment teachers are still seen as parental figures and role models to children.
Looking at the role of a teacher, can we assume teachers make the best parents or rather parents make the best teachers. This article will try and look at the reasoning behind any debate on this topic.
Why Parents Make The Best Teachers
Let’s first take a look at the reasons why some believe parents make the best teachers for their children.
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Parents Are The First Teachers
While formal education is an integral part of a child’s development in our modern world, informal education takes the lead beginning when a child is born. Some even start reading, singing, and talking to their children when they’re not yet born.
Although parents do not use any curriculum in their training, they’re their children’s first teachers as they provide informal training beginning at the early stages of childhood. Most learning, especially in the early years of a child’s development, involves play, social interactions, and the development of personal interest.
Even before a child begins their formal education, they’re able to identify common objects and call names as a result of the training provided by their parents.
Parents Teach Children To Talk
Learning to talk is essential for much more effective communication and parents come into play here. Most children sent to school for formal education can already speak with the only exception being cases where there may be some challenges in that regard.
Parents teach their children to speak and even pronounce certain words the right way. They teach their children to alert them when they’re hungry and express how and what they feel around them. And all this is done without any specific curriculum.
Parents Teach Children To Walk
Parents also teach their children to take their first steps and walk without the parent’s aid. While a teacher might be paid to teach a child, parents enjoy teaching their children these early activities and even document them for posterity.
Parents Love Teaching Their Children
Teachers are employees who are paid to provide structured training to children. While a teacher might love their job, it still remains a profession and the source of wages. Like every other job, each employee has their own feelings about the job. Some might love the job while others might not like it.
This is different for parents who in most cases love their children and are happy to teach their children to walk or speak their names. They surround their children with love and are always ready to direct their children in the right way.
Smaller Group To Teach
Unlike teachers who need to handle classrooms full of children, parents only need to train a single child in most cases or a few children. This smaller number makes it easy for them to dedicate their attention to the child and their unique needs.
Irrespective of the child’s level of understanding, they can dedicate their attention to ensuring that the child understands the topic or concept. Knowing their child, they can better explain any concepts by relating them to objects and things the child would be able to understand.
Understand The Needs Of The Child
Teachers have classrooms full of students from varying backgrounds to teach on a daily basis in addition to other responsibilities. As a result, their understanding of individual students would be lesser than a parent’s relationship and level of understanding of their child.
Parents understand the challenges their children have and can therefore provide them with the necessary help when needed.
Educated
Most parents in our modern world have some form or level of education. As a result, most children would start school with some level of knowledge of the alphabet as parents leverage or even invent games to play with their children that indirectly teaches them these alphabets.
No Syllabus To Complete
Unlike formal education where teachers have to complete a syllabus within a specified timeframe, parents don’t need any form of curriculum for informal training, especially at the early stages of childhood.
Do Teachers Make Better Parents
Parent involves more than teaching, but do teachers have an edge over the majority of parents? After all, teachers deal with children from varying backgrounds on a daily basis.
Can the experiences and skills they’ve accumulated over the years they’ve spent teaching children make them better parents?
To determine the answer to this we’ll take a look at some of the points brought forward supporting the notion that teachers make better parents.
Professionally Trained
Parenting is difficult and while there might be books and other resources available to aid parents in this rewarding lifelong endeavor, each parent comes across unique situations at one point or another.
Fortunately, teachers are professionals trained to handle difficult children, noisy children, quiet children, and any type of personalities they might encounter. They are trained to help quiet students, help difficult students, identify any challenges students might be facing and overall serve as student mentors.
With years of experience dealing with students with different personalities and backgrounds, teachers have a better understanding of the challenges their children may be facing.
That said, professional training and experience can only go so far when dealing with your own children especially when they know your hidden weaknesses and might not be easily willing to see you as a role model like other students.
Knowledge Of Child’s Academic Needs
While education isn’t the only important part of a child’s life, it’s necessary and children need an understanding of good study practices that can help them excel in their academics.
Teachers can help their children to identify the appropriate study practice to aid in their academic success. They also have insight into the relevant skills their children need to survive in the workplace.
Unique Personalities
While a teacher may be trained to handle students, they’re still human like everyone else and have their own personalities and interests. Some teachers irrespective of their training may just not be parental materials.
Knows The Value Of Education
Even in our modern society, some parents have little understanding of the relevance of quality education for their children. They put little to no effort into helping structure their children’s time to make enough time for their studies.
Teachers differ in this area as they have a better understanding of the value of education and can allocate sufficient time for their children to learn and tackle their homework.
Well-Educated
Teachers are well-educated to provide their students with the necessary academic support to succeed academically. They can support their children by helping them understand any difficult or challenging concepts at home.
Because it’s a teacher’s job to explain things to children, they’re more likely to answer their children’s questions more accurately, in language that the children can understand.
In Conclusion
It is worth noting that teaching is a profession, while parenting is a lifelong commitment. Academically, teachers have an advantage as their knowledge of subject matter would enable them better support their children academically.
But parenting goes simply beyond academics. The child’s healthcare, lifestyle, and various aspects of their lives play a key role in their development. You’d expect a dentist’s child to have good teeth and that’s the advantage they’d have over others. Each parent has something to teach their child to help enrich their lives in the future.
