Nowadays, adults make the kids sing "I am special, I am special, look at me, look at me" and other such egomaniacal nonsense.
To all of them I say, "The world needs ditch-diggers, too!"
Posted on 05/28/2008 7:01:23 PM PDT by tj21807
"The bursting of our collective bubble comes quickly. A few weeks into the semester, the students must start actually writing papers, and I must start grading them. Despite my enthusiasm, despite their thoughtful nods of agreement and what I have interpreted as moments of clarity, it turns out that in many cases it has all come to naught.
Remarkably few of my students can do well in these classes. Students routinely fail; some fail multiple times, and some will never pass, because they cannot write a coherent sentence.
In each of my courses, we discuss thesis statements and topic sentences, the need for precision in vocabulary, why economy of language is desirable, what constitutes a compelling subject. I explain, I give examples, I cheerlead, I cajole, but each evening, when the class is over and I come down from my teaching high, I inevitably lose faith in the task, as I’m sure my students do. I envision the lot of us driving home, solitary scholars in our cars, growing sadder by the mile."
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Unfortunately in public education they preach high standards, but increasingly cater to high graduation rates....you can't have both.
Not a troll - but if they can't read, then why do you call them "students"?
You might as well say, "Half of the warm bodies I babysit each day can't read a sentence".
As Kingsley Amis put it, “More will mean worse.”
Someday soon there may be a Presidential Candidate who doesn't even know how many states there are.
I read the article. It was more of a long winded whine. If you want to have educated students then start teaching. Having read the article I wouldn’t hire the professor to trim my lawn.
You can’t ignore the fundamentals from first grade through high school and then expect the student to suddenly gain the basics in college.
The education system is about having your ticket punched. Students remember just enough to pass the test and then forget it as soon as it was over. I found this out early when I had to proofread the paperwork from a guy with a masters in English.
LOL! Thanks, I needed that. ;-)
“Kingsley Amis”
One of my favorites.
Then society bought into the whole "equal outcomes" malarkey. Now we are supposed to believe that everyone can be a leader and that no one need ever stoop so low as to hoe a turnip (that what illegal aliens are for, right??).
Now, if the position is: My father was a leader and therefore (of course!) I shall be a leader as well -- and you (my poor fellow) come from a long line of turnip hoers and so it would be foolish for anyone to allow you to ever be anything else ... well, that sort of thinking is certainly bad.
But I'm so sure it's quite as bad as the idea that everyone ought to go to college and be positioned for a career at the top of the heap. That sort of misapprehension does no one any good. Simple fact: some folks aren't fit for much more than turnip hoeing.
The other problem our Republic is facing is that the publik skool system pushes kidz out of their system in an effort to get them out of their hair.
Educated or not, they are going to be pushed through that wretched public school system. Ultimately, they will then be thrust into the hands of the college professor who is simply aghast at the gross lack of ability in their students.
Nowadays, adults make the kids sing "I am special, I am special, look at me, look at me" and other such egomaniacal nonsense.
To all of them I say, "The world needs ditch-diggers, too!"
(In my best Klem Kladdiddlehopper voice) Naaaah! Dew Tell!
Same here. The authors brings up some good points, but much gets lost in the sighing and whining...
All work is honorable. If someone is going to hoe turnips, then I would encourage them to be the absolute best at that job.
I bet a lot of us (teachers) wish we got paid as well as babysitters! I know I wish I did!
If half of these idiots didn’t attend college, half as many smart kids would not be priced out of attendance.
I went back to school myself in the last couple of years, to get the 2-year degree to go with experience I already have. (i.e., get a Networking assoc. degree to raise my salary in the field I’m already in).
In the single English class I had to take, we started with 24 people. By the end of the class, there were about 8 left, I think 4 adults (all 30+), and 4 right out of high school. The rest of the young ones had either dropped the class as ‘too hard’, or had plagiarised a paper, and had left rather than automatically flunk. There were a couple adults that just couldn’t ‘get it’. The teacher was not grading the class hard at all. I was writing papers in an hour and getting A’s on them. (Yes, I write well, but I’m no lit major) So, it wasn’t that the bar was too high. It was simply that a large part of the class didn’t read or write well, and didn’t understand why it might be necessary down the road. They didn’t put in the work necessary to the class, to put it very bluntly. The ones who did the work, and were willing to learn, all got decent grades. Yes, a couple of them had to work hard, and stretch their abilities a bit, but they put in the effort, and got rewarded. The teacher went out of her way to help them, too.
The two adults that just couldn’t be bothered to do anything new went home complaining that it was ‘too hard’ and “I don’t need to know how to write”. Now, some may think they had a point, but, seriously, the teacher was really only requiring good high-school level work. Where is this country going when adults—*adults over 30*—can’t be bothered to learn how to read and write and communicate effectively.
I was rather surprised by all this, really. I know that I sometimes expect too much of people, but, until taking this class, I didn’t realize it was this bad.
Horribly depressing.
The truth that must be repeated and repeated and repeated: This tragic horror is PRECISELY what government schools were designed to produce. Just read John Dewey. It’s all there. The GOAL has always been a semi-literate, dispirited, passive herd—rather than the independent, unruly, free-thinking populace the U.S. had in 1789.
I cannot blame the teachers - that is way too easy.
My nephew (I have custody) attended a RC parochial school 1 through 6 grades. Even though I helped tutor him, taught him to read, and drilled him in arithmetic, he still showed no interest in learning. All he wanted was to play. His grade average by the end of 6th grade was D-.
I began home schooling. Within two-and-one-half years he was reading and comprehending on a college level but his math skills were still lousy.
He failed his freshman year in high school due to laziness. Back to home schooling we went and now, at 16-years old, he is studying for the GED.
He has no interest, at this point in his life, in academic pursuits. Maybe he never will. But neither did I, until I was 24-years old, which is why I haven’t given up hope.
I never, ever blame the teachers. The student is the one ultimately responsible for learning.
By the way, notice that the downtrend in student scores coresponds with the increase in television viewing.
My nephew is addicted to the boob tube.
My wife, who is an intelligent woman, graduated high school without ever writing an essay. It just wasn’t required.
When she started her freshman year of college her grades were horrible because she didn’t know how to do the work. Fortunately she met a good looking guy who was a whiz at writing.
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