What is up with Cheerilee being a bad teacher?

[Never2muchpinkie 211]

Despite Cheerilee's claim of of loving to teach and her cutie mark representing the smiling faces of her learning students, it bugs me that she has not shown the greatest sensibilities for the job.

 

Take Call of the Cutie.  Diamond Tiara passes her a note. The instant it touches Appleblooms mouth Cheerilee snaps at her, despite the other half still being in DT's mouth. Then, DT comments on how the blank note reminds her of AB, and all the kids start laughing at her. Not a comment from Cheerilee.  Though for that matter this was an episode failure for adults later on too, as when DT mocks applebloom at her party around a bunch of other adults, not a one calls her out on it and you can even see one smiling away and laughing.

 

Return of Harmony. The CMC are arguing, then get into a physcial fight.over something dumb. Cheerilee doesn't bat an eye. She doesn't try to break up the fight, she just gives them some extra homework.

 

Ponyville confidential has to be the worst example of it. Making DT the editor in chief was bad enough, but apparently she never once glanced at or read the school paper, despite it becoming popular enough to make it to cloudsdale. And even if she did, she didn't try to talk down the CMC from their scandalous work.

 

Family appreciation day: DT IN FULL DEFIANCE calls Granny Smith a cookie old lady. Besides a shocked expression, Cheerilee doesn't react or punish her.

 

I was about to lose my last bit of respect for her in the cutie pox when it looked like she was about to yell at applebloom while she was feeling so proud of 'earning her cutie mark'

 

 

She gets a pass for hearts and hooves day for underreacting to the CMC forcing a love potion on her and big mac and only making them do some chores.

 

She does have her good moments of course, like giving Spike a hat simply because she found it was his birthday, and I don't hate Cheerilee, but she just seems awfully neglectful and doesn't act appropriately.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Cheerliee might not know how to be harsh and give punishments to her students when they act rudely. So, that could be my theory.

[Ihei 713]

Huh.. now that I think about it, you may have a point! Sheesh, what's wrong with Cheerilee? Is she too cheerful to punish them or something? I guess the creators thought that the viewers wouldn't really care about Cheerilee's reaction to the scene so they don't bother acting it out. Besides, then wouldn't there be more haters against her?

[Wingnut 7,003]

Ponyville Confidential has always irked me.  She seemed totally oblivious to what the ponies were running in the school paper.  You'd think the first person the adults being scandalized would complain to would be Cheerilee herself. 

 

But those other infractions kinda went under my radar.  My guess is that she doesn't realize there are times students should be reprimanded publically for misbehaving. 

Edited August 27, 2013 by Wingnut

[Chain Combo 135]

Everything you said is valid she's just like a real teacher, she just don't give **** no more. I'm pretty sure this is what happens 

First year: Breaks everything up and tries hardest to keep thing in order

Fourth year: Teacher just accepts the natural pecking order 

[Melior 52]

If we look at it from an outside perspective it's often because it kills the plot. If she steps in the conflict ends. If she always stop DT from being a jerk the CMC would have been bothered by her vert little if at all. In Ponyville Confidential if she intervened the CMC could print namby-pamby stories and the conflict would be dead. Some situations such as at the start of the "Return of Harmony" and the remark at Granny Smith in "Family Appreciation Day" it could just be unneccessary in the eyes of the writers.

 

If we don't consider real life you make a very good point that Cheerilee never intervening.

[Evilshy 5,090]

One must suspend disbelief in order for the plots of a lot of those episodes to work. To address all of these individually...

 

The note passing Call of the Cutie was the old cliche of "popular antagonist passes a note to unpopular protagonist, only protagonist gets caught". Yeah, maybe it's not realistic, but it's a constant and is a good way to have the protagonist get in trouble in school when they don't do anything bad.

 

The fight in Return was just a quick visual gag, exaggerating one of two things: that proximity to Discord caused them to fight; or that them fighting in proximity to Discord caused him to awaken. The reason I say "one of two things" is because I'm not sure which was the cause and which was the effect. Personally, I think proximity to Discord (who was already Awakening) is what caused them to fight, since fighting over something so simple is pretty out of character for them.

 

There's no way a student run paper would get away with the stuff that happened in Confidential, but if they were stopped immediately, how would the CMCs learn their lesson?

[Never2muchpinkie 211]

One must suspend disbelief in order for the plots of a lot of those episodes to work. To address all of these individually...

 

The note passing Call of the Cutie was the old cliche of "popular antagonist passes a note to unpopular protagonist, only protagonist gets caught". Yeah, maybe it's not realistic, but it's a constant and is a good way to have the protagonist get in trouble in school when they don't do anything bad.

 

The fight in Return was just a quick visual gag, exaggerating one of two things: that proximity to Discord caused them to fight; or that them fighting in proximity to Discord caused him to awaken. The reason I say "one of two things" is because I'm not sure which was the cause and which was the effect. Personally, I think proximity to Discord (who was already Awakening) is what caused them to fight, since fighting over something so simple is pretty out of character for them.

 

There's no way a student run paper would get away with the stuff that happened in Confidential, but if they were stopped immediately, how would the CMCs learn their lesson?

I can perfectly understand the cliche if diamond tiara didn't still have her mouth on the other half of the note. It takes two people to pass a note. Both parties should have been scolded. On a side note I love your signature picture. That is an awesome username/evil poem. :wub:

[pinkiefan1287 610]

That has been something I have been thinking about for a while with Cheerilee. 

 

In cutie pox, I always thought she did not have a lesson plan ready that day and just went with the first thing she saw. 

 

Ponyville Confidential was another time were I just said, You are a bad teacher. Why in Celestias name would you let young ponies run a paper and you not being there. What as soon as 3 p.m hits your out the door. Also did she not read any of the papers they made? If anything Ponyville should have been mad at her for what she did.

 

The big problem I think I have with her is that she has done nothing to stop the fighting between the CMC and DT and SS. She see them fighting all the time and just lets the keep fighting. Be a good teacher and try and stop them.

 

So if you ask me, Cheerilee need to maybe rethink her cutie mark.

[Never2muchpinkie 211]

That has been something I have been thinking about for a while with Cheerilee. 

 

In cutie pox, I always thought she did not have a lesson plan ready that day and just went with the first thing she saw. 

 

Ponyville Confidential was another time were I just said, You are a bad teacher. Why in Celestias name would you let young ponies run a paper and you not being there. What as soon as 3 p.m hits your out the door. Also did she not read any of the papers they made? If anything Ponyville should have been mad at her for what she did.

 

The big problem I think I have with her is that she has done nothing to stop the fighting between the CMC and DT and SS. She see them fighting all the time and just lets the keep fighting. Be a good teacher and try and stop them.

 

So if you ask me, Cheerilee need to maybe rethink her cutie mark.

 

 

In terms of Call of the cutie I actually think that was one of the few times she was being a good teacher. Almost everyone in the class had a cutie mark, only Applebloom and Twist didn't. Instead of singling them out for their lack of cutie mark, she made it like a class lecture to hopefully aid in them discovering their special talent.

[Nol 1]

Maybe the writers were hinting that she was only a great teacher in the eyes of her students. I mean, given that the human world ponies are the equivalent in personality to their Equestrian doubles, this shot really shows off Cheerilee's true nature when nobody is looking.

 

The Equestrian equivalent of Grumpy Cat

 

My theory is that she's tired of dealing with student's problems (such is the life of a teacher) but acts like a caring and friendly teacher to keep her reputation clean to fulfill her role as a teacher figure (potentially for the sole sake of earning bits). Or, she still cares for her students deep down but has lost a lot of her patience over the years and forces herself to appear happy for their sake.