TOEFL: Teachers were more appreciated and valued by society in the past than they are nowadays

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Teachers were more appreciated and valued by society in the past than they are nowadays.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

teachers are vital for our society

Teachers are very crucial for students. However, in my view, I agree with the statement that teachers were more appreciated and valued by society in the past than they are nowadays. There are several reasons including different historical background, different parents' views and different relationship between students and teachers.

First of all, from the perspective of the history, I consider teachers were more respected and valued in the past. For example, around 70 years before, my country was ruled by an authoritarian party, so the teacher symbolized the knowledge and the right. Therefore, students could not say anything wrong about teachers, and parents did not doubt the teachers' decision. They were appreciated by parents and students. However, in modern time, in the democratic country, students will doubt teachers when they teach something wrong. The society does not think that teachers are always right, so they are less valued now.

Additionally, as time goes on, parents' views change. For instance, in the past, they always thought that teachers were right and could help them to teach the children. They also gave teachers right to hit children when they did not listen to teachers or they got the bad score on exams because they considered that teachers had the higher level education than the general public, so teachers could always do the right decision Nevertheless, more and more people get the post-secondary education so parents do not think that teachers can make definite decisions, and they also will not let their children hit by teachers. Therefore, I consider that the status of parents and teachers are equal now, so they do not think that teachers are highly valued.

Lastly, the relationship between teachers and children changes, too. For example, in the past, students always needed to follow what teachers said. If the student did not follow teachers, the student would be punished seriously. By contrast, students nowadays can discuss with teachers when they consider that teachers' points are wrong. As a result, the connection between students and teachers is more flexible than before, so teachers may not be appreciated and valued by society now.

In conclusion, I think teachers are still vital for our society, but the time changes, so teachers were highly appreciated and valued by society in the past than in the modern society. I consider the reasons may be the different background, changing views of parents, and different relationship between students and teachers.

P.S I'd appreciate if you could help me revise my toefl essay. Thanks!

Lee, your topic line is not in accordance with the prompt. You jumped the gun and actually misfired in the way that you presented your opening statement. The topic line should be representative of the original discussion provided. You accidentally changed it in the presentation that you made. Always remember that the accurate paraphrasing of the topic should come at the very start of the opening statement. You could have made your presentation stronger by saying something similar to this:

In the past century, teachers were given more appreciation and value for the work that they do. However, at the start of this new century, it seems that the considerations for teachers, as previously mentioned, have dwindled. That is why I agree with the statement that level of appreciation and value given to teachers in general has decreased. I believe that there are several reasons related to history, differing parental point's of view, and an evolving relationship between students and teachers that caused the change in perspective about teachers to happen. In this essay, I will offer supporting explanations and points of view to prove my discussion points.

I see that you based you evidence and supporting statements on the historical context of the discussion. Since the examiner will be some random person who does not know who you are and where you came from, you need to be more specific in your presentation. Give the name of your country since you are referring to a point in its history. This will help the examiner better understand the reasoning behind your discussion. Without the name of your country, he will be hard to convince that your example and reasoning is accurate or believable.

Try to use consistent examples as examples in your essay. So if you discuss that corporal punishment was previously used, then follow that up with the fact that parents no longer believe in corporal punishment in your country and frown upon teachers who practice it as one of the reasons why the respect for teachers has dwindled over time. In any English test, the fluidity of your discussion is being considered so your examples and reasons need to connect to one another in a convincing manner. Focus on only one example and reason per paragraph as that will make it easier for you to write a stronger essay.

Please be careful with your punctuation marks. In the the 4th paragraph, you have a comma after saying that the relationship between teachers and students change. There was no need for a comma or the word "too". You need to make a strong statement in your declarations. The certainty in your writing will help portray you as truly knowledgeable regarding the matter. Adding words like "too" when it is not necessary makes your statement sound weak.

Your essay is based on good reasons and has potential. The problems you have in writing are minor when compared to others. I know that you will be able to improve over time. Just keep writing and I'll guide you towards a passing score (at the very least) in your TOEFL test. That is guaranteed.