What is your opinion on Miss Caroline Fisher's teaching in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Miss Caroline is a bit of an outsider in Maycomb. She is from Alabama but she's from Winston County which, according to Scout, is notably different that Maycomb. 

Miss Fisher is a new, idealistic teacher. Apparently, she is a proponent of John Dewey's theories on education which stress the importance of experience and education as social interaction. (We get this information from Jem who mistakes John Dewey's educational theories for the Dewey Decimal system.) However, Miss Fisher, being a new teacher, is too single-minded. She chastises Scout for having learned to read on her own, even though this would have fit one of Dewey's criteria that education teaches one how to live and interact with others. Miss Fisher is also oblivious when she tries to give Walter Cunningham Jr. a quarter for lunch, saying he can pay her back tomorrow. It doesn't dawn on her that Walter might not be able to pay her back. Scout takes it upon herself to educate Miss Fisher about the Cunninghams: 

The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back—no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. 

Scout tells Miss Fisher that she's embarrassing Walter. Miss Fisher pulls her aside and smacks her with the ruler. As they leave for lunch, Scout notices Miss Fisher apparently crying. The class will also have to "educate" Miss Fisher that the Ewell children come to school on the first day and never come back. Miss Fisher's surprise and concern shows that she does care about her job and the children. 

Miss Fisher seems like an idealistic, first-time teacher who had come to her first job with high hopes, only to find that she (the teacher) still had much to learn via the actual experience of teaching in a new place. 

Miss Caroline is portrayed as a young, inexperienced teacher who struggles to control her class and offends Scout when she tells her not to read or write outside of school. Miss Caroline is also depicted as an outsider from Winston County, and Scout describes her as an attractive young lady who "looked and smelled like a peppermint drop."

On Scout's first day of school, Miss Caroline begins by reading a fictional story about talking cats, which bores the entire class. Miss Caroline then attempts to teach her students the alphabet and makes an example out of Scout when she discovers that she can read. Miss Caroline proceeds to tell Scout not to read with her father outside of school and says that she will "try to undo the damage." Miss Caroline then chastises Scout for writing, attempts to give Walter Cunningham Jr. a quarter, punishes Scout for trying to defend him, and loses control of her class when Burris Ewell becomes disruptive.

Given Scout's description of Miss Caroline's class and her negative interactions with her on the first day, the reader might perceive Miss Caroline as a naive, rigid teacher who is inexperienced and lacks perspective. Miss Caroline cannot see that her classroom activities are boring the children and does not facilitate Scout's advanced abilities. She is also unfamiliar with her students, lacks a certain amount of sympathy, and has ineffective classroom-management skills.

Throughout the story, Harper Lee continues to critique the education system through Scout's negative classroom experiences and contrasts Scout's formal studies to her moral education, which she receives from Atticus, Miss Maudie, Calpurnia, and Aunt Alexandra.

Miss Fisher is not a good teacher, at least not in the context of this novel. She insists on applying a mode of instruction that will undo learning that has already taken place in her students. For this reason, she does not seem to have her student's best interests in mind. 

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout meets Miss Caroline Fisher on her first day of school. Fisher is Scout's teacher, and they do not get off to a good start.

After finding out that Scout can read, Fisher tells Scout that her father, Atticus, is not allowed to teach her anymore. Later in the same chapter (two), Fisher smacks Scout's hand for trying to explain why Walter Cunningham will not take money from Fisher.

Today, there are two problems with Miss Caroline Fisher. First, many modern teachers would not think of hitting a student--jobs would be at stake. Second, many teachers would love to find that a student loves to read and is already ahead of the curve.

At the end of the novel, Scout sees Fisher crying and states that she would have felt sorry for her if she would not have treated her so badly. I would have to agree with Scout's feelings here--ultimately, she deserves her sorrow.

I simply thing that Fisher is not a good teacher--if regarded in light of the modern teacher. If one were to look at Fisher within the time period, I am sure that my feelings would be very different. Teachers could take different allowances with students during this period. It was a time where schools were very strict with their students. Teachers were simply right, even if they were wrong. Students did not have the "right" to challenge them.

If nothing else, this scene in the book demonstrates the importance of a teacher knowing her students and the need for teachers to be knowledgeable about the district within which they teach.  Miss Caroline seemed completely unprepared for the group of students she had.  THough perhaps she was a good teacher in terms of content, she clearly demonstrates a very old model of what a teacher had to be, which did not emphasize the need for an open mind, awareness of the surrounding environment, and sincere acceptance of her student population. 

It appears that Miss Caroline did not fully understand the dynamics of her classroom. For example, Walter Cunningham had no shoes on, should the fact that he had no lunch been a surprise to her? When she offered Walter a quarter in front of the entire class to buy some lunch and becomes impatient when he does not accept it shows ignorance on her part (the boy had no shoes, would he have the quarter to pay her back???) Scout tried to explain the dynamics of Walter's situation and Miss Caroline struck her with a ruler, perhaps out of frustration, or perhaps as a way to make her mistakes someone else's fault. Miss Caroline is not a teacher. Teaching is a gift and if one possesses that gift it can be crafted. Whether deliberate or not, Miss Caroline's only success was a belittling the children.

Describe Miss Caroline Fisher's irrational teaching methods in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Miss Caroline has been a student of theories of education to which she fervently believes she must adhere.

Miss Caroline Fisher does not notice that the class fidgets during her reading, and she displays her lack of insight when she fails to recognize that most of the class knows the alphabet. Her negative reaction to Scout's ability to read demonstrates that the woman is a programmed product of her educational institutions. It is also irrational that Miss Caroline believes in experiential learning, but when Scout demonstrates her experiential learning, she is critical of it, telling Scout to inform her father not to teach her.

Clearly, she feels threatened by the precocious Scout. This is why she asks Scout to read the stock market reports--an irrational request made just to cause Scout embarrassment. However, she is defeated in her attempt because the child is able to read such reports, and so Miss Caroline embarrasses herself. All she can do is tell Scout to have her father not teach her any more.

Atticus displays the best understanding of Miss Caroline's treatment of Scout when he talks about education in his summation at the trial of Tom Robinson:

The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious--because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority. (Ch.20)

Not wanting the other children to be embarrassed by Scout, perhaps, or not wanting any student to get ahead of the group, Miss Caroline makes efforts to embarrass Scout into being quiet. Scout does not fit neatly into a box; no one in first grade is supposed to know how to read so well or, certainly, to write in cursive. She does not want Scout to possess more knowledge than the average first-grader. After all, she lacks experience and seems to lack the imagination to consider what to occupy the girl with if she already knows the things that others will take a year to learn.

What is significant about Miss Caroline Fisher in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout mentions that her teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, is from Winston County. This county in the northern part of Alabama sided with the North during the Civil War. Many in Alabama viewed Winston County's decision as a betrayal of the state. This mention of Caroline Fisher's birthplace highlights her outsider status.

Miss Caroline Fisher is a new teacher and, more significantly, a newcomer to Maycomb. She is from Winston County in northern Alabama, which might as well be the moon, at least from Scout's point of view. Miss Fisher's lack of insight into Maycomb affords Lee the opportunity, through Scout, to communicate to both Miss Fisher and the reader some of the social dynamics of this small town.

For example, when Walter Cunningham comes to school without a lunch, Miss Fisher tries to lend him a quarter. However, Walter won't take it. Miss Fisher doesn't understand, and it is left to Scout to explain the situation. She tries to tell her that although very poor, the Cunninghams are proud and will never accept money they can't pay back. Since Walter knows he can't repay the quarter, he would rather go without lunch. We begin to understand that poverty is an everyday aspect of life in Maycomb and that pride is an important and accepted social trait.

Further, the students laugh when Miss Fisher hits Scout's hand with a ruler, seeing this as impossibly wimpy. They are used to real whippings. We thus learn that Maycomb is a rough and tumble, old-fashioned place, one not filled with fragile people.

Miss Caroline plays a significant role in depicting Harper Lee's feelings about public education. Instead of encouraging Scout to continue reading with her father and facilitating her advanced reading ability, Miss Caroline chastises Scout. Miss Caroline tells Scout that she is not allowed to read with her father anymore and also forbids her from writing in cursive. Miss Caroline has a rigid view of education and strictly follows the curriculum. She also fails to take into consideration the needs and interests of her students. In regards to discipline, students like Burris Ewell openly disrespect her and her methods of punishment are ineffective. Following Scout's first day of school, she dreads returning to Miss Caroline's class. Through her portrayal of Miss Caroline's class, Lee suggests that public education is inflexible and actually deters students from authentic learning experiences.