High school

You may argue that students in higher grades do require specialized education. The higher you go, the more specific the knowledge that is required. At the highest level of specialized education, teachers must have the most advanced knowledge. They have to be more than one step ahead of their students.

This is all true. However, there is a different point of view on the issue.

In younger, elementary school grades, children develop their attitudes and skills towards learning. A student with a positive attitude towards a subject is likely to succeed in future study of that subject.

Thus, an excellent elementary-school French teacher will engender a love for French in a child. That love will remain with the child as he grows older. Thus, the good teacher is needed in the initial stages of study, and it is much less necessary when the child already has a basis in French.

Those who do poorly in mathematics can often trace their failure to the negative feeling engendered by their their early elementary arithmetic teacher. They may then pass on this feeling about arithmetic and mathematics to their own children.

True, people should do all that is necessary in order to succeed despite their instructors. Perhaps. People should be blamed for their own lack of self-control when they are young. Perhaps they should receive the necessary private assistance at that stage or at a later stage so that they can succeed. Perhaps.

But most people receive their training from their teachers, and not from their own self-control, self-discipline, or from private tutors. They do not take the initiative to compensate for the lacks evidenced by the teachers. They blame the teacher or the subject, and then they push it aside like yesterday's spinach. Rightfully or not, their interest and attitude is spoiled from that time on.

You may also argue that children should be able to succeed despite their teachers. After all, it is questionable whether a knowledge of mathematics is an innate skill or whether it is learned. Children should just try harder if they have poor teachers.

Again, perhaps. However, parents do transfer their feelings about problematic courses to their children, whether intentionally or not. Perhaps they should be more careful. However, parents are people, and they act like people. One bad teacher could destroy the future of several generations of students.

Clearly, a good elementary school teacher could help a child want to study her subject for the rest of his life. Many teachers do not create that feeling, and as a result some people do not relate properly to subjects today.

Does this mean that we are simply passing on the blame in an unfair manner? Perhaps. Are we, as parents, making excuses for not taking a more active role in our own children's studies? Should other teachers have encouraged students and compensated for the problems created by previous teachers? All of these are possibilities. However, the bottom line is clear.

If students have a positive approach in lower elementary classes, then they would be able to succeed later on - despite their parents, and despite other influences.

The conclusion should be clear. Our priorities are reversed. Backwards.

The best and most educated teachers should instruct the youngest grades. They should be trained to do so.

Yes, they have to learn to give love and warmth, and to teach certain human and classroom skills. However, they also have to do more. They must set the tone and create a positive feeling for the subject matter, so that children will be able to succeed in that field for the rest of their lives. They should make the job easier for the teachers in later years. Those later teachers should face motivated, excited children who want to learn their subject matter. The lower elementary teachers should have engendered this feeling.

That means that the best teachers should be in the lowest grades.