The state of education.....Warning, long grumpy ramble.

[Elizabeth N.]

I'm using this guy for an intro.

 

[Kate]

THEN there was the phone call I received this morning while commuting to the other school job.

Student: *silence* then: I just wanted to borrow the textbook.

Me: I don't have the textbook you want. You need me lots, though. Here's when I'm available. Trust me, you flunked the midterm, but depending on your grade, we can MAYBE pull you through this course. Otherwise you'll have to take theological or philosophical ethics, and you'll do better for having flunked this course. Really, it's okay to flunk. You learn from flunking.

Student: But I need an A!

Me: Won't happen. Give me the secretary.

TDS: So can you get him the book?

Me: His problems are lots worse than the book on my desk. *I hang up and cuss lots*

This reminds me of a situation I faced in culinary school after I graduated from college. First semester, first course, there was a notebook that we were required to put together containing pictures, recipes, homework that we had done in class that counted for 40% of our final grade. The teacher literally took an entire class period to go over what the notebook was supposed to contain, how it was supposed to be presented etc. He went through it step by step. The classes were set up so that during finals, half the class would cook and present the dish we were assigned, while the other half took the written exam, turned in our notebook and then the next day it would switch. There were several students that swore that the teacher NEVER went over the notebook at all much less told us that it would count for so much of our final grade when they were confronted with the fact that it was impossible for them to get higher than a "D" and that was if they absolutely aced the written and practical exams...*headdesk*

 

[Elizabeth N.]

YES YES YES!!!! It's oh, so much like a culinary course on how to scramble an egg ( for lack of any other basic thing). You crack the egg, add a shell's worth of water, swish, pour, scramble, the end......except that you have to EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, from lifting the egg, to slapping it on some kind of edge, to blathering the mixed thing, to adding water..... OMG it gives me a migraine. How can ANYONE not understand "scramble an egg in butter...."

 

[kirmy]

Actually I'm going to completely disagree with you.

I think young adults are smarter and more pressured than ever before. Competition in the labor market means that they are competing against each other even before they are out of the stalls. Sure the basics in primary education are ropey, yes we are less capable of correct spelling but on average youth are more intelligent, more worldly and more likly to have been exposed to dissenting opinions than there peers from 20 years before. These days children develop critical thinking behviours and hand eye co-ordination far above the bell curve. This is due to technology giving them access.

It doesn't make them likeable or mature or emotionally intelligent but it does make them smart, ruthless and competative. That's was buisness has created by making the playing field so dystopian. It IS a dog eat dog world and that is more than reflected in your post. Those girls are intitled and over opinionated and they want to beat you. They have had people arguing with their opinion since they first logged on as kids. They associate growth with conflict as much as praise. We keep molding generations into the shitty societal valuse we promote then berate them for being shitty people. Collectively we need to be nicer. The Dalai Lama has it right. These kids are echos of our own making.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

That's all very nice, Kirmy, but trust me, the kids I'm seeing have zero critical thinking ability, are NOT smarter or more competitive and just generally have not the first fucking clue about anything, including forming a real opinion or what constitutes a dissenting opinion. Maybe elsewhere in the world your view is accurate, but not where I'm sitting. Not at ALL.

 

[kirmy]

Then tey will fail. It is theprocess they have. How did they progress to a college education?

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Then tey will fail. It is theprocess they have. How did they progress to a college education?

In the USA, there exists this bizarre mentality that you HAVE TO HAVE A DEGREE to do ANYTHING with life. We have scarcely any other job training programs or schooling alternatives. Most kids don't graduate college with real world job skills, either.

It's a terribly broken system.

 

[kirmy]

Unreal....and very sad for thosethatdn't have the mony to get there.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I hate everyone and you are all wrong and all right.

I painfully encountered a middle school principal who was part of the Self Esteem Movement. She wanted NOTHING of the curriculum taught during the first six weeks of school because THAT time should be spent on Team Building and Trust Activities. (And if her son's teachers had been nicer, her wouldn't be in prison for life...which was not a reflection of HER parenting. Right.)

In a PTA type meeting, I said something about Nouns in Apposition...and the ENGLISH TEACHER in the group asked what that was.

As a volunteer, I was lunching in the HS teachers' cafeteria with the guy would later be my kid's AP English teacher and a few others, one of whom felt VERY superior to me and all other non-teachers. The hateful one read a sentence aloud and asked the English teacher what was wrong with it. He said, "Change 'You going to the party with him bothers me' to 'YOUR going to the party with him,' and it will be fine." And he got up to leave the table. Hateful One looks at me and rhetorically asks, "Why change you to your?" And I say, "Because you use the possessive before a gerund." English dude starts cracking up and sits down again and says, "Well, now there are TWO people on this room who know that." (BTW, Obama always fucks that up and it pisses me off.)

I had a sixth grade teacher...of the gifted kids program...ask me to grade a worksheet on adjectives vs. adverbs with the following instruction, "To tell the truth, I just guess...do your best."

My daughter's HS Algebra 2 teacher, from a culture that has none of what we consider respect for women, was trying to explain a concept but failing. My kid got it, and was whispering, trying to explain it to a friend. Teacher said, "Well, if you think you can explain it better than I did, come up here and do it." She did and the entire class went, "Ooooohhhh!," because they got it.

@kirmy A newsworthy California legal case has not been mentioned recently. A kid got a HS diploma...but he couldn't read it. Parents were (legal, I think...and that matters because legal immigrants were less afraid to ask questions) immigrants from Mexico, where teachers are highly respected and rarely questioned. Mom didn't understand that in the US, "promotion" to the next grade is a function of AGE...and ONLY age. Her kid kept getting fairly decent grades, year after year, teacher after teacher, but could not read or write. I think they won a bunch of money.

I once went to translate for a HS kid from Cuba. I finally figured out that he could not read or write...in English or Spanish...but his science teacher was giving him passing grades on all of his multiple choice tests.

My neighbor...a teacher with twin daughters who were National Merit Scholars, so he was pretty good at teaching somebody something...told me he had a student with NO native language. He started out in Cambodia, and then went to the Philippines, with other relatives, and then Mexico, with still more relatives, and then the US and had never mastered ANY language and was happily getting promoted through the US educational system.

Any parent who cares should invest in the Cultural Literacy books and do their best to work around our fucked up schools. Not enough care. And too often, the "good students"...the ones who always colored in the lines and never caused any trouble and did little independent thinking...are now the "good teachers," whose students are kept busy and given rewards--movies and candy, usually...every Friday and nobody learns much, but everyone is quiet and busy.

(My daughter recently supervised the first batch of these Millennials at work at the same time she supervised some of the younger Baby Boomers. She said it was a cluster fuck. Boomers just wanted to do their work, avoid meetings, get a paycheck and go home...and the Millennials needed constant praise, group lunches and office birthday parties. She said that 20% of her job was keeping the Millennials from bursting out in tears because they felt unappreciated and the Boomers from killing them when they did.)

Okay...I'll stop.


Eta...I didn't QUITE stop...because I need to mention that my grammar school classmates ALL had to know this English shit to move to the next grade. They may not remember it NOW, but we ALL had to master the material to move on. Not anymore.

 

[Parousia]

THEN there was the phone call I received this morning while commuting to the other school job.

Tutoring department Secretary (TDS): Hey, do you have the philosophy textbook?

Me: Which one?

TDS: The one we just bought.

Me: Why? That one is about Socrates and they are done with Socrates and on to the second text, which is Descartes?

TDS: There's a student here who wants the textbook and you checked it out.

Me: Um, which professor and which textbook?

TDS: Names the prof who used that Socrates text, which was finished three classes ago, counting review and midterm

Me: They took their midterm Monday or Tuesday and had their first session of second test, Descarte Wednesday or Thursday.

TDS: The student says the book is *hot pink with brilliant green lemons on the cover*

Me: The Plato/Socrates text is black with beige print. I don't know what the Descartes text looks like because you don't have it. I spent three hours this week pulling up all the listed texts for Descartes. created a Youtube playlist, a Sparknotes summary and a Google Books biography so they would not have to buy textbooks. Who is this student and is he on my schedule?

TDS: *hands phone to student*

Student: Hi, my name is Joe. I just want to borrow the textbook.

Me: Which one?

Student: THE textbook.

Me: Which professor do you have?

Student: *name*

Me: Okay, tell *sec'y* to grab my folder. In there is a syllabus. Have you printed your syllabus yet?

Student: Um, no.

Me: *holds back swearing* Okay. You MUST print your syllabus and schedule with me at *abcdefgh times*

Student: Well, I don't know if I need that.

Me: Trust me, I took courses with *prof*. If you get above a D on your midterm I will faint. How did you answer the midterm question about Socrates and the cave?

Student: Huh?

Me: That's what I thought. Okay, did you notice that on your syllabus, there are THREE textbooks listed?

Student: Huh?

Me: I have the Socrates book. That was your midterm. Now you have six sessions of Descartes, two sessions of Easter break and six sessions of Hume. Do you understand that Socrates, Descartes and Hume are different people from different countries and span over 2,000 years of history?

Student: *silence* then: I just wanted to borrow the textbook.

Me: I don't have the textbook you want. You need me lots, though. Here's when I'm available. Trust me, you flunked the midterm, but depending on your grade, we can MAYBE pull you through this course. Otherwise you'll have to take theological or philosophical ethics, and you'll do better for having flunked this course. Really, it's okay to flunk. You learn from flunking.

Student: But I need an A!

Me: Won't happen. Give me the secretary.

TDS: So can you get him the book?

Me: His problems are lots worse than the book on my desk. *I hang up and cuss lots*

Would I be correct in concluding from this phone call, that in the US there are no requirements to achieve at a certain level in high school before being accepted into university? Or is that level just very low?

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Would I be correct in concluding from this phone call, that in the US there are no requirements to achieve at a certain level in high school before being accepted into university? Or is that level just very low?

As 4K says, it varies a LOT. My institution falls somewhere in the midrange of the rankings for whatever metrics are used for "expectations of accepted students," and the youngsters I am tutoring enter via a program that purposely targets students from "disadvantaged populations" (whatever the proper terminology might be). They enter on academic probation and take remedial courses as needed.

Some of the youngsters do great. There's one young woman whom I have tutored and whom I have supervised at work who makes me so proud I could cry . The student ambassadors supervisor gal in admissions (and that's only one of her MANY duties) is another graduate of this program, and she is AWESOME. (I really want her to get a boss who treats her better, though.)

Then there's the whole spectrum of other accomplishments, or lack thereof. Sparky who inspired this part of my rant is in deep, deep trouble. He's working a gazillion hours a week (why, I don't know, because he has a full ride, but hey, maybe he has a mom to support at home or something) and taking 15 credits. He KNOWS he needs tutoring, KNOWS he's flunking the course (now that he's gotten his midterm back), but will he change his fucking schedule to accommodate mine? Nope, he expects me to accommodate him and is whining about the program shortchanging him. SIGH. Buddy, YOU live on campus. *I* live 45 minutes away. I am NOT making a special trip for you.

So I guess he'll try the course again next semester (at taxpayer expense) and see what he can do. Happily, I am just a student and don't have to hang around and listen to him whine.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Ah, another night of tutoring.

Session one, with two students from philosophy prof #1: Midterm exams in the 50's. I look at the syllabus. "Okay, so this week you're on xyz of Descartes, right?" Um, yeah. "What have you learned about Descartes so far?" Blank look. "What is the bottom line with Descartes, his starting point?" Blank look. "Have you heard the statement yet, 'I think, therefore I am'?" OHHHH THAAAAAT. "Yes, that. Who said that?" Um, Descartes?

In fairness, the discussion DID pick up from there, and I was pleased to discover that they comprehended a couple more short sentences.

Session two, with two students from philosophy prof #2: They have their exam review and expect me to quote them stuff for their index cards to memorize.

"Ladies, you CANNOT be serious." Big pleading eyes. "Ladies, you DO know our institution's definition of academic dishonesty, yes?" They then buckle down and start flipping through their book and their notes and their piles of crap, and it becomes apparent that they have just written hours' worth of notes with zero comprehension. OMFG how they expect to learn shit is beyond me. But we did manage to get through several essay questions. They stand a fighting chance of passing, they will not be directly quoting me (more likely they'll quote the Three Minute Philosophy Youtube videos, minus the f-words lol), and life will go on.

*sigh*

Now if I could just find my math textbook.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Oh, another gem from tonight:

"When was the Enlightenment?" We don't need to know that for the test! "No, but you need to know it in order to understand how to explain the fundamental difference between Descartes and Hume, and you also need to be able to connect Plato and Aristotle to Descartes and Hume if you want to be able to write out any essay questions." NO WE DON'T! "Then I suggest you put your pens down and READ. THE. REVIEW. QUESTIONS."

Damned if I wasn't right. And I've never met the prof, just read the single sentence beneath each class date on the syllabus. Pretty cool huh?

How much do they have to connect them?

Plato: Forms. Metaphysical knowledge.
Aristotle: Nope, not Forms. Observation and reasoning instead. Sensory knowledge.
Descartes: I THINK WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO I EXIST. Forms = a priori. Observation= a posteriori. Two kinds of knowledge, one sensory, the other metaphysical. They both exist but they don't really coexist. Break your brain on THAT one, world!
Hume: Nope, you don't either exist. Only your properties exist. Sensory knowledge.

So, after ascertaining that they can parrot the words "sensory" and "metaphysical," we continue down the page. Damned if there wasn't a question saying, "Describe the key thoughts of the Enlightenment, and include when and where it happened."

I must be fucking psychic.

So, me again: "Why was it called the Enlightenment?" Blank looks, followed by flipping of pages. "Ladies, there's a clue in the name." Um, because light came? "YAY TEN POINTS!" (We were getting silly by then.) "And what was that light?" Um, knowledge? "YAY AGAIN! Now, when was this?" Utterly clueless, so I told them, then mentioned that it came....wait for it....after the DARK AGES. (Roughly, very roughly. Pardon my grossly disgusting overgeneralization.)

Yeah, that was my evening. Time to quit and go home.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I met a woman in a statistics class who went off to take an exam she needed to more or less challenge the need for a social studies degree and still be allowed to teach in that field. The next week, discussing that exam, she wanted to know what I thought was the biggest influence on the migration patterns of early man. I said, "Water? Seems like they'd always have to be near a source of fresh water...or die. Why? What did you answer?"

She said, "Christianity."

I'm glad she didn't get to teach social studies. (At least not in public schools...who knows where she ended up!)

 

[Sheanie]

I met a woman in a statistics class who went off to take an exam she needed to more or less challenge the need for a social studies degree and still be allowed to teach in that field. The next week, discussing that exam, she wanted to know what I thought was the biggest influence on the migration patterns of early man. I said, "Water? Seems like they'd always have to be near a source of fresh water...or die. Why? What did you answer?"

She said, "Christianity."

I'm glad she didn't get to teach social studies. (At least not in public schools...who know where she ended up!)

"I drink, therefore I am". - Sheanie