More often than not it is the autocratic teacher who imposes fear among her learners thereby dampening learning. Learners are not fearful of the teacher who is often angry, strict and difficulty to get along with. When these learners develop fear to the teacher, they will probably not learn.
Usually the autocratic teacher was the traditional teacher of the older days when pupils/students were afraid of their cranky teacher who stands in front of the classroom with ferule of stick with which to whip misbehaving learners. There are still autocratic teachers nowadays as seen the television like those teachers feeding their students with chalk and pieces of paper.
These types of teachers this time find time in hot water because corporal punishment is now prohibited by the Department of Education.
A classroom is not supposed to be feared by his learners because if there is fear with the learner, they seldom learn.
On the other hand, the learners need an inspiring teacher and encouraging teacher who goes out of his way to bring out the best in his learner.
William Arthur Ward says, “The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates and the excellent teacher inspires.”
As teachers, we need to light a fire in our learners and not to merely pour in knowledge. Dr. Jose Rizal once said, “The mind of the child is not a vessel to be filled but a lamp to be lighted.”
The role of the teacher nowadays has been changed from a mere conveyor or transmitter of knowledge to a facilitator of learning. The teacher’s role now is that of a guide and it is up to the learner to discover his vast store of knowledge found in the books and other learning materials.
This time you can bring a child to the school but you cannot force him to learn if he does not want to. In like manner, one can bring the carabao to the river, but he cannot force the carabao to drink if he does not want to. Therefor, a good teacher should not use force or fear in the classroom but he should use encouragement and inspiration in letting the students to learn.