Narcissists
(and those who are Narcissistic) make terrible Teachers! They don't
make good teachers, they make terrible teachers. The former student who
reports that a Narc. teacher was "the best teacher" was almost always
either one of the teacher's "Golden Pets", or the student was
conditioned to be co-dependent (respect Controllers/misinterpret the
flags).
~
A teacher, coach, professor or instructor
who is Narcissistic does the same behaviors with students as with any
other relationship: It's all about HIM or HER. The only students the N.
Teacher "likes" are those who fit in with his or her expectations,
comfort zone, and ego for whatever reason. Any students who DON'T FIT
are ignored, cast aside, dismissed, and even sabotaged, depending on the
severity of the particular teacher's Narcissism issues.
~
Consider a music instructor with Narcissism: He already believes himself
superior, right from the get-go. He's most likely teaching because it
gives him automatic "subordinates" who are subject to his scrutiny,
judgment, and criticism, and who SEEK HIS APPROVAL, quite literally;
they have to get it in order to pass the class!
~
How does he
conduct his class... He assesses which students he LIKES, first, and
actually coaches those particular students along (hopefully, for their
sakes). He makes "normal" eye contact, giving them neutral and positive
feedback, giving them accurate feedback (hopefully). He may allow the
ones he really favors to receive extra instruction after class. If there
is a student that he really favors, he may REALLY "coach" that student,
trying to mold them into a prodigy, his personal "project". That
student will get "First Violin", or be featured regularly in solos. The
N. Teacher will focus his or her instruction often directly on that
student, as if there's no one else in the class, or as if that student
is a "fellow Peer" to the Teacher, and they are "among novices". That
student will be put in the awkward position of "Leader Of The Class"
whether they like it or not. That is the "Golden Student" of the class.
~
Being the "Golden Student" is NOT that student's fault, not in the
least. Yes, some students are also Narcissistic, so they would JUMP on
the chance to lord over the other students and be the Teacher's "Pet" or
"Assistant", but it's still the N. Teacher's doing. The relationship is
authority/subordinate, the student is in the subordinate role. That
student is actually in the most danger of sabotage of all the other
students, because if he or she makes any "wrong move", he or she is
going to receive the wrath of the N. Teacher's injured ego. Also, if
that student, say, writes a brilliant new song, the odds of the N.
Teacher claiming it as his own are pretty high, and then the N. would
probably "cover it up" by discrediting the student with a smear campaign
and bad grades. Or, the N. teacher might try to use the student as a
Trophy or a Winning Horse, and parade him or her around as much as
possible, which means the student can't do anything else and must be at
the N's beck and call, or be REJECTED.
~
There are other
students in the N. Teacher's classroom that are also in direct danger.
Those are any student who fits the profile of the N's personal
prejudices. So if the N. is racist against white people, all the white
students are probably going to get treated poorly. If the N. is racist
against Asian students, same result; African-descent students, same
result, and so on.
If the Teacher has prejudice against female
students, then the male students will get "normal" or favored treatment,
and the female students will be treated like "losers" and "idiots". If
the N's prejudice is anti-male, then the result will be the opposite.
~
Narcissistic Teachers don't TEACH OBJECTIVELY, or with caring, or with empathy, or even sympathetically. Their goal is not to educate
the whole CLASS, and treat all of the students with equal respect, and
be a positive, respectful ROLE MODEL and MENTOR for all of the students.
He or she is ONLY interested in the life and future of him or her SELF,
and perhaps a little bit in chosen "Golden Students", but only because
he or she wants their attention or company, and also wants them to
reflect well on him or her.
~
If a Narcissistic Teacher finds
ANYTHING "unlikeable" about a student, that student WILL BE TREATED with
disdain, dismissal, or worse, literal sabotage or abuse. A student who exhibits anything that the N. Teacher feels uncomfortable about, annoyed by, prejudice against, or threatened by will cause the N. to treat them with disdain, just like a classroom PEER might. It could be anything at all, something like a facial scar, or a certain last name, or a certain hair cut or clothing, or their family's "wealth" or "poverty", their family's Political Party, the student's tone of voice, the student's mannerisms, body type, height, face, etc, Ad infinitum.
~
A student with
a high level of talent, capability, apparent intelligence or "good
looks" will immediately catch the attention of a Narcissistic Teacher,
and the Teacher will either make that student "Golden", or make that
student a TARGET, to be "knocked down" and "put in place", or just generally sabotaged. There will be no in between, no neutrality;
Narcissistic people don't have neutrality with other people. It's either
"good" or "bad", "winner" or "loser", "Favored" or "Rejected".
Obviously, the more savvy N. Teacher will be keen on hiding his or her
real motives and behaviors, just like any other Narcissist, especially toward other adults. So if a
student complains about them, the student will be ignored.
~
There is NO field of work that is immune to Narcissists. Any jobs that place one in a position of authority over other people, and that also place one in a position to receive admiration and recognition from others are very attractive to Narcissists.
