Hi Ray, (REH) <<<< Karen, Keith, Good job on this. I would make a couple of points which you may or may not use. 1. Poor teacher performance and attitudes did not originate with the Unions which originated in the 1960s and which no one likes but is the only alternative to a management system that is usually mediocre and suffers the necessity of meeting the Democratic needs of educating the parents as well as children for any advances in education that occur. >>>>
I agree. The unions are "merely" acting as job protectionists. The fact that the quality of teacher is going down (at least in England and America) is because the bright graduates are going into other better-paid jobs with far less daily stress (in the case of teaching in inner-city schools). (REH) >>>> 2. Many teachers can't do what Keith points out but neither has Keith proven that he can do what they teach and excell in either, as well as the critical thinking that our children do that is closer to college level logic than anything that we encountered in school. It is just as likely that we are experiencing an explosion of knowledge where older forms, which were good but just too much information, are forced to be dropped in favor of that which is more appropriate to the information age. My daughter is not less prepared for that than I and she handles information considerably faster and more easily than I. >>>> I agree that many of the more able students today have subtle skills that the older generation don't possess. How many of these are acquired on the wing -- a product of today's environment -- and how many specifically taught, is another matter. It's to be remembered that the young today are acquiring many attitudes (such as deep scepticism about politics) which are not formally taught. (REH) <<<< 3. To compare this to schools where drugs are high & immigrant or low income parents are alienated from the greater knowledge of children that more and more refuse to even listen to parents who don't know what they know, seems insensitive at best and incompetent at worst. I don't find that the teachers that taught my daughter in New York City K-12 are ignorant, poorly prepared, or haven't done the work required. But I did find incompetant questions on the Intelligence tests that were baised and historically inaccurate and more appropriate to the upper class pretensions of the people who do well on those tests than students on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. >>>> I'm not sure what you mean -- unless you are referring to the huge differences in the quality of schools between the inner cities and the suburbs. Can't think what to say on the rest of your post. I tried to figure out what you meant when you wrote: "As for your outrageous statement about pedagogy and its necessity, you are way out of line" -- but had to give up, I'm afraid. There are many outrageous things in this life (such as CEOs' salaries) but surely nothing I'm able to write. Keith ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
