Is it possible to be a ‘perfect teacher’. Why/why not? In your answer, please refer to the writing of Britzman.

The contents of the debate concerning a “perfect teacher” lie not with the methodologies, strategies, or personalities of those teaching, but rather with the nature of perfection itself, and whether or not perfection can be achieved in any facet of life. In accordance with Britzman’s “Practice Makes Practice”, I will put forward an argument that undermines the possibility of a “perfect teacher” existing, and I will exemplify how the constant desire to reach perfection in our education systems could have a negative impact on the well being of our children, our teachers, and our societies. Britzman promptly dismisses any likelihood of a teacher achieving perfection, as the “structures of learning to teach are fundamentally flawed.” Britzman critically probes the collectively traditional conception that practice makes perfect, and thwarts this false wisdom by detailing the continuation of “contradictions” , “cultural myths” and “oxymora” within the teaching profession.

“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it” – Perfection is what drives the most ambitious of the human race, yet even the most enlightened fail to see that it cannot be achieved on any scale. With regard to the learned profession of teaching, Britzman points the finger at the malaises that tarnish the current education system, and it’s on this premise that I shall build my argument on perfection. She illustrates how the dichotomy between the preconceived notions of teaching and the de facto practices of teaching can allow for teachers to be hoisted by the petards of the paradigmatic training institutions from which they embarked. In other words, teachers are expected to achieve perfection in a frame of imperfection. No theory, methodology or grading rubr...

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...false sense of security by abiding with the myths they are being presented with, there is no way that perfection can be possible. The potential positive changes to an already erroneous education and teacher training system are “dependent on a simultaneity of changes in the larger culture.” For us to “open the pedagogic imagination” , we must accept as educators that perfection is a cultural myth. It is a dangerous zeitgeist that prevents any chance of us creating an educational Utopia. We must muse on the bigger picture and examine the nature of perfection in education under the microscope. We are bound by the limitations of an imperfect world, so who are we to change the status quo? Excellence, we can achieve. Perfection, is out of our hands completely.

Works Cited

Britzman, Deborah P, Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach, Suny 2003