The diversity of pedagogical behaviour patterns in three novels

Abstract

In our study, we explore the question of what makes a good, effective or efficient teacher. To review the possible responses, we examined the main elements of the role of teachers. Our aim was to present the main characteristics of teacher quality, as defined by literature, using examples from fiction. We have chosen three novels, each featuring a positive teacher, who are in the focus of the novels. Despite negative environmental influences, they stick to their educational principles. In our research, we read books written in different styles, shedding light on the topic from different angles. Louis Sachar’s There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom is a work for young people, Nancy H. Kleinbaum’s The Dead Poets Society is a negative development novel, and finally Frank McCourt’s novel called Teacher Manis an autobiographical prose. The analysis is based on research by Sallay (1995), Suplicz (2012) and Nikitscher (2015). Finally, five criteria were identified: personality, pedagogy, teacher-student relationship, life skills and teacher authority. We believe that all of these are important elements for effective teaching and educational work. We found both negative and positive examples of all five aspects in the novels, which support what we have read in the literature. In our study, it has become evident that it is worth reading fiction from the above described perspective and that it is important for teachers to read novels about teachers, as we can improve ourselves through them.