The best teachers are compulsively heroic--damning the torpedoes of
the scum-sucking bureaucrats that have a strangle-hold on "the
system"--and put the kids first. They live lives of quiet
fulfillment, enduring the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune
that characterize the whole mistaken notion that the purpose of
education is to "turn out" "useful" members of society. This kind of
teaching don' need no respect frum nobuddy, especially some gd
Authority. They ain't got the time to resuscitate the system--minds
lie before them, yearning to be freed from the absurdity of an
educational system that is "directed" at making sure that "students"
are ". . . carefully taught, before they are six or seven or eight .
. .", grading them on an idiot-minded scale of A, B, C, D, or F, and
later on an "advanced" arithmetical formula, the GPA, that
arbitrarily determines a "score" based on the degree to which minds
conform until they are dead, dead, dead. Or else!
The best teachers inspire and facilitate, and the last thing they
want to do is to reduce the minds in their charge to some mean and
hilariously simplistic arithmetic. How arrogant, (and how utterly
stupid) can a "system" get that presumes to measure something as
complex as a mind with such stone-axe "technology?"
But this absurdity is only the beginning. PUNISHMENT is the central
driving force of the system. Error is not regarded as the entree of
intellectual achievement, a mind-stretching opportunity, it is
regarded as a Mark of Cain to be carried to the grave. Never mind
(of course!) that the kid might be onto something that doesn't fit
with the "answer" du jour, or that the kid was coming down with a
cold or his grandmother died or the dog actually ate hisher homework,
subject the student to institutional ridicule, and let that ripple
through the social network, dismantling opportunity and any tendency
to "stray" into inventiveness. Presume that the student is
"challenged" (more hilarity) and issue tests that conveniently
fulfill their own prophesies.
Teaching might very well drive away some of the most "talented"
individuals, but it will, perhaps because it IS such a thankless
crucible, suck IN the most dedicated. That's because, I suspect,
that teaching IS a PROFESSION. Professionals have a way of putting
the WORK first, letting the money flow as it will, even though hoping
it will be "commensurate" with their contribution to society. But,
with the other kind of "professional" (who put the money first)
clogging the breathing-pores of society, they accept their lot of
just leaving their finger in the dike. And they strongly resist the
insistence by "professional educators" who want them to hammer down
the exceptions every time they are on the threshold of discovery and
lift up those who have had the spirit of learning beaten out of them
by "the system." The best teachers find a way--beyond the manuals
and curricula--to stoke the fires in the bellies and minds of those
who should be able to trust them to trust themselves, and share The
Quest for understanding with them, in joy and devotion.
If my view from afar is closer rather than farther from the truth,
real teachers will continue to invent ways of inspiring and
facilitating, never swapping their simple concern for the students
for climbing the academic ladder or sucking up for security. They
will continue to form a protective shield between minds and the
opportunistic and intellectually sclerotic pathology that infests
institutionalism itself. Of course, there always will be the
insecure who seek refuge in Authoritarianism and authoritarian
institutions, but without the dedicated to take up the slack for
them, they would crumble. There is, after all, no substitute for COMPETENCE.
The bright side is the persistence of life and its ability to resurge
when the millstones of self-serving institutions are lifted from its
back. So if the institutions can't themselves maintain, say, a 2.5
GPA, perhaps it is fitting that they sink, taking the incompetent
pretenders with them. Those institutions that serve rather than
"direct" will survive without artificial propping-up by spin-meisters.
To paraphrase my wife paraphrasing somebody else plagiarizing
somebody else, "It takes an institution to leave a child behind."
I am an optimist. Cheer up. Children's (and all malleable) minds
are like sponges. They want to learn. Because they instinctively
know how to think, they don't want to be "taught." They want to
learn, and they want to explore. Most of all, they don't want to be
"instructed." Good teachers celebrate these characteristics, and
they stretch rather than confine minds. The distinction is not
casual, it is CRUCIAL. It's what makes life worth living. And so
damned much FUN!
This has become too long a "post" already, and I didn't even get to
the "degree" part. Oh well . . . my apologies.
WT
At 03:20 PM 3/2/2008, Chris Noto wrote:
I have been bothered for a long time by the commodification of not
only university degrees, but the entire educational system itself.
This country's obsession with "free market" ideology may ultimately
be its downfall. The problems with our system start at the earliest
levels of learning and extends all the way up to college. Expecting
schools to behave like businesses and shut them down because they
don't "produce" a good product at a low enough price is a recipe for
disaster. Having an educated and skilled population is a long-term
investment that doesn't seem to coincide with the current mentality
of immediate gratification (both socially and economically). Other
countries that see this are invariably going to outperform us over
time. I am constantly amused by the stories of charter schools
failing or the scandals regarding unaccredited teachers, grade
inflation, etc. The fact that we lack national education standards
in itself is a disgrace. In addition, the attitude that teaching is
not a respectable job makes it unattractive, driving away some of the
most talented individuals. The thing that continues to bother me is
that the presidents of many universities are business leaders or
political figures; hardly the kinds of people who know about
education? Furthermore, the very people who are supposed to do the
teaching at the college level, i.e., faculty, are rarely formally
trained in education. Most of us pick it up on the fly through TA
experience--but rarely is there teacher development. In many
departments (at least in the sciences) teaching is not a priority.
Again, perhaps this market-based concern with productivity has
blinded us to the larger problem, that we are simply not training
students very well any more? In order to attain tenure, faculty have
to spend so much time working on grants and papers to show their
value as producers that they must let something else slide in the
interest of keeping their hard-earned jobs. Our university system
right not is still among the best, but is also populated by talented
foreign students (who may then leave...although right now they seem
to stick around). Perhaps I am biased, as the child of a high school
teacher and now myself a grad student planning on a career in
academia. But I am also pessimistic by nature. Unfortunately I'm
afraid the problem will only get worse, probably starting with a drop
in foreign-student enrollment in US universities, and then perhaps
even a loss of our own academic professionals as they are lured away
by the growing quality of foreign schools. Amid the current economic
downturn (when domestic spending is invariably cut), and if the
situation remains like this for a while, this may come sooner than we
think.
gloomily,
Chris
On Mar 2, 2008, at 3:31 PM, Chris Creese (Czerniak) wrote:
Hi Mike,
I agree with your sentiments - great to see an increase in
contributions from other countries and global integration towards a
common goal (e.g. sea turtle conservation).
I think you've touched on a really critical issue here too. I'm not
questioning the validity of the question, but the utility of
framing this problem in such a way that either non-Western
countries are "catching up" OR we are falling behind. It seems both
forces are at play here.
I'm with you on concern over the ebbing economical stability and
intellectual capital of the country. I also worry about educational
standards slipping and the commodification of university degrees.
But I found that youtube clip especially inflammatory in how it
plays on the notion that "improvements" in other countries threaten
America's power and prowess. Agreed that having jobs outsourced to
other countries is not great for our economy, so perhaps this will
help inspire us to put more energy and resources into the
development of our own intellectual capital?
Cheers
Chris
Quoting "J. Michael Nolan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
Chris....
Am on many lists like Ecolog-l that span the globe.....C-Turtle
which promotes Sea Turtle Conservation and the Coral list. It is
great to see contributions and requests for literature, other
resources from all corners of the Earth on these lists. I have
seen an increase each and every year. Obviously the web and
internet have made much of that possible.
We do hear American Education get slammed almost daily. I was
actually raising the question of whether the non-Western
countries/scientists are catching up or are we falling behind. In
the end, Americans should be concerned when jobs are being
outsourced daily to lower cost, equal or better quality options
around the world.
Thanks.
Mike Nolan
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Sincerely,
J. Michael Nolan, Director
Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit
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--
Chris Creese (Czerniak), PhD Student
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California Los Angeles
621 Charles E. Young Drive South
Box 951606 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606
http://czerniak.bol.ucla.edu
<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>
Christopher Noto
Dept. of Ecology and Evolution
Stony Brook University
650 Life Sciences
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5245
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/~crnoto
"Every person is a fool for at least five minutes a day; wisdom
consists in not exceeding this limit."
-- Elbert Hubbard
