Generally, a student’s academic development is influenced by several aspects.
However, the greatest factors being considered today are teachers and parents. Whether parents or teachers or parents have more effect on students’ academic performance is a topic for debate.
Parental Influence
People favoring parents to have more effect in students’ progress in school believe that parents who are involved in their children’s studies encourage students to perform well in school. If parents are motivating their kids, these children will likely to attain higher grades. In contrast, children who are unsupervised by parents are likely to fail in school. It is a common in among children to please their parents by doing well at school but if their parents do not notice this, children will be demotivated and will have an impression that their achievements do not matter.
Furthermore, there are parents who put too much academic pressure on their children. They have high expectations from their children, especially if they are achievers when they were students. Because of this, children are forced to study hard and surpass their parents’ achievements. There are also cases wherein children see their parents as their inspirations and would want to someday be what their parents have become.
Teacher’s Influence
On the other hand, there are also arguments supporting the idea that teachers have more influence on students’ performance. One is that teachers are the ones providing the knowledge and skills to students. So, students’ academic development is based on whether or not teachers have sufficiently taught students. The content and the manner teachers deliver knowledge also affect students’ progress.
The way students learn varies and if teachers fail to identify that for every student, their teaching will not be effective. There are instances wherein students fail because they did not understand the lesson. The real reason is that the lesson was not delivered in a way that they can easily understand it. Some students learn quickly just while some learn by using visual aids or illustrations.
Who has the Greater Influence?
The influence of teachers and parents to students’ academic progress is not mutually exclusive. Both aspects are always parts of a student’s life. Parents will always be with their children and how they treat their children will affect them. Teachers are also inseparable to students as students need them to hone their knowledge and skills. If parents are the first teachers of students, teachers are considered as the second parents of students. Hence, the effects of parents and teachers to the academic development of students are interrelated.