(no subject)
Very much to the chagrin of Helen of Troy, I managed to socially engineer myself an extra week to complete the notebook from hell using the old “my file got corrupted” excuse. This excuse is the 21st century equivalent of “my dog ate my homework”, but it is one that few professors have any trouble accepting. Of course, if I were her and wanted to be an asshole, I could ask what kind of dumbass only saves their file in one location, but alas, she did not, and I got myself the coveted extension on this assignment.
Helen is at an age where she is still an idealist in a great many ways, whereas I myself happen to be something of an idealist when it suits me, but a realist and an opportunist most of the rest of the time. Her argument, and a quite valid one, I might add, is that what I did lacked some basic ethics. I, on the other hand, am of the opinion that it is unethical to force graduate students to do this incredible amount of homework for a class. People are generally in graduate school of their own free will and accord, and should not be punished with insane amounts of busy work. Yes, it is my own fault for procrastinating so much, but these work habits have been consistent throughout my academic career. I am not as good at this as I once was, but the fact of the matter is that I knew from the start that I was not going to be able to work until I had a deadline hanging over my head. I was way too cocksure about my skills at producing massive volumes of written work in a short time, but the fact of the matter is that what I have thus far completed is probably enough to get at least a B in the class. I am no longer in a position where I am a grade collector, but in this case, I am trying to masterfully find a way to create a masterpiece that will take many long hours to decipher. I want to show her what she gets for giving such an assignment as a service to future students of hers.
Be that as it may, some of this project is actually quasi-enjoyable. I have this vast storehouse of knowledge on a great many things in the field of education, and this is a fun exercise to refresh my memory on the useless shit that I memorized during 1998-99. I have also enjoyed the part where I get to reflect on my own literacy, because it has enabled me to get back in touch with the intense anger that I felt at the fascist teachers in the days of old, and now I have the sophistication to give a name to the mistakes that were made with my education. I turned out fine, but the fact of the matter is that if I had been properly challenged and motivated during my youngest years, I would be finding a cure for cancer, or building nuclear reactors or something. But since I was forced into a situation in which I had to do what I was told so much, and in which I had to spend so many years of my life in which I was either not challenged, or where excellence was not rewarded (in fact, it was punished in some ways. The smart guys never went steady with the pretty girls), I eked out a level of success far below my absolute potential.
I know that I might sound angry or bitter, and that I am blaming people, but that is not really what I’m getting at. In fact, I work with young people, and have learned a great deal about how to do my job based largely on a desire to be as unlike the teachers that I hated. I understand that I have a responsibility to fulfill my part of the social contract, and I take a lot of responsibility for helping my kids develop character, and become autonomous, thinking citizens. But the challenges of this role are significant.
Much of it boils down to the fact that schools today have so much structure built into them that it robs young people of their individuality. A kid that differs from the established opinion is considered disruptive, and a behavior problem. A kid that does not learn in the same way as the other kids around him gets labeled as learning disabled or mentally retarded, and gets stuck in a resource room or a self-contained classroom to rot in a lot of cases. Yes, there are kids that are behavior problems, and yes, there are kids that have learning disabilities or mental retardation, but if they are too much of a challenge, they just get lost in the system.
I don’t have the time or the desire to go into all of the things that are wrong with schools here, and I accept that all of my views may not be entirely correct. All I know is that this is a job that so many people seem to do badly, and rather than find ways to help them do the job better, the system simply punishes underperformers. As Grand Moff Tarkin once said “Fear will keep the local star systems in line.”
I am reminded of the old joke about the two shoe salesmen that go into the middle of the jungle. They arrive and find the locals there not wearing any shoes, and they scratch their heads. The first salesman calls his manager and says “I’m coming home. These people don’t wear shoes.” The second salesman calls his manager and says “I’m going to be here for a while. These people don’t wear shoes yet.”
Helen is at an age where she is still an idealist in a great many ways, whereas I myself happen to be something of an idealist when it suits me, but a realist and an opportunist most of the rest of the time. Her argument, and a quite valid one, I might add, is that what I did lacked some basic ethics. I, on the other hand, am of the opinion that it is unethical to force graduate students to do this incredible amount of homework for a class. People are generally in graduate school of their own free will and accord, and should not be punished with insane amounts of busy work. Yes, it is my own fault for procrastinating so much, but these work habits have been consistent throughout my academic career. I am not as good at this as I once was, but the fact of the matter is that I knew from the start that I was not going to be able to work until I had a deadline hanging over my head. I was way too cocksure about my skills at producing massive volumes of written work in a short time, but the fact of the matter is that what I have thus far completed is probably enough to get at least a B in the class. I am no longer in a position where I am a grade collector, but in this case, I am trying to masterfully find a way to create a masterpiece that will take many long hours to decipher. I want to show her what she gets for giving such an assignment as a service to future students of hers.
Be that as it may, some of this project is actually quasi-enjoyable. I have this vast storehouse of knowledge on a great many things in the field of education, and this is a fun exercise to refresh my memory on the useless shit that I memorized during 1998-99. I have also enjoyed the part where I get to reflect on my own literacy, because it has enabled me to get back in touch with the intense anger that I felt at the fascist teachers in the days of old, and now I have the sophistication to give a name to the mistakes that were made with my education. I turned out fine, but the fact of the matter is that if I had been properly challenged and motivated during my youngest years, I would be finding a cure for cancer, or building nuclear reactors or something. But since I was forced into a situation in which I had to do what I was told so much, and in which I had to spend so many years of my life in which I was either not challenged, or where excellence was not rewarded (in fact, it was punished in some ways. The smart guys never went steady with the pretty girls), I eked out a level of success far below my absolute potential.
I know that I might sound angry or bitter, and that I am blaming people, but that is not really what I’m getting at. In fact, I work with young people, and have learned a great deal about how to do my job based largely on a desire to be as unlike the teachers that I hated. I understand that I have a responsibility to fulfill my part of the social contract, and I take a lot of responsibility for helping my kids develop character, and become autonomous, thinking citizens. But the challenges of this role are significant.
Much of it boils down to the fact that schools today have so much structure built into them that it robs young people of their individuality. A kid that differs from the established opinion is considered disruptive, and a behavior problem. A kid that does not learn in the same way as the other kids around him gets labeled as learning disabled or mentally retarded, and gets stuck in a resource room or a self-contained classroom to rot in a lot of cases. Yes, there are kids that are behavior problems, and yes, there are kids that have learning disabilities or mental retardation, but if they are too much of a challenge, they just get lost in the system.
I don’t have the time or the desire to go into all of the things that are wrong with schools here, and I accept that all of my views may not be entirely correct. All I know is that this is a job that so many people seem to do badly, and rather than find ways to help them do the job better, the system simply punishes underperformers. As Grand Moff Tarkin once said “Fear will keep the local star systems in line.”
I am reminded of the old joke about the two shoe salesmen that go into the middle of the jungle. They arrive and find the locals there not wearing any shoes, and they scratch their heads. The first salesman calls his manager and says “I’m coming home. These people don’t wear shoes.” The second salesman calls his manager and says “I’m going to be here for a while. These people don’t wear shoes yet.”