By Emma Hierholzer ’15

We’ve all had them before—teachers who we just can’t stand. As hard as we try, even the most valiant efforts to reconcile some sense of understanding fails to be achieved. Some people just don’t click.

Teacher-student relationships have always been a key factor in the distinction between classroom success and failure. Although some would argue that a student’s maturity plays an overarching role in his/her liking towards a teacher, it’s never one-sided. Tempting as it is to blame the younger party, the older mentor is just as responsible for fostering a productive and meaningful partnership. This is why making sure students are put with teachers they appreciate and giving them the option to change teachers is so important.

At Sherwood, there is a stated policy that requesting class changes because of a conflict with a teacher is not a viable reason. Some counselors honor this “code” while others do not. This inconsistency on the counselors’ part only creates an even more frustrating situation in which some students get the teachers they work well with, and the others are stuck with whoever they receive. Although I don’t agree with the school’s policy, it’s only fair that counselors try to be more consistent in their decisions to either let students modify their assigned instructors or not.

However, this is only a small part of the larger issue at hand. In the ideal situation, we wouldn’t have to worry what’s fair or not. Instead, students would be given the freedom to make a choice about one of the biggest influences in their academic achievement—their teachers.

But this privilege will undoubtedly never be fulfilled. We should focus on making the policy that counselors follow more well-known to both students and instructors. Whether it is decided that there should be teacher changes allowed or not, consistency is key. Although students will never be given the full ability to change teachers themselves, a good compromise between absolute freedom and complete restriction would be the evaluation of each situation on a case-by-case basis. This way counselors can have their say while students feel like their opinions are heard.

With all of this in mind, the administration should reevaluate its rescheduling policy. Inevitably, students will want to change their teachers, but with a more efficient approach to dealing with these requests, there will be less confusion along the way.