TO THE SHITTY TEACHERS OF THE WORLD...
(or, what Kierkegaard called, "the assistant professors"):
I work my ass off to pay your salary, and you have the audacity to penalize me for my absences? If I thought I was learning ANYthing outside the text through discussion, if I thought I was benefiting in ANY way, shape, or form by coming to class, I would. but the fact of the matter is that I'm not.
YOU STAGNATE ME. YOU STIFLE ME. YOU CURB ALL CREATIVE INSIGHT INSIDE OF ME.
I am wasting my time by pursuing a degree I'm not even sure is worth anything. I am paying for these classes so I can attain my $50,000 piece of paper. So don't tell me that I NEED to be in class. Because I don't.
Tragically, YOU don't challenge me. YOU don't inspire me. This is not an education. This is a joke. I can get a better "education" through books at the local Library. I am bitter, but I speak the truth.
There are three types of professors: those that inspire, those that use their position as a podium to voice their useless knowledge, and those that use their position to exert control over students they know are more intelligent than they are. Of these three types of teachers, maybe 5% fall into the first category, 65% to the second category, and 35% to the third category. Now, I ask you, is this right? Is it right that I am paying thousands of dollars to be "educated" by 95% incompetent teachers? Is it a coincidence that the same 95% of teachers have an attendence policy, directly related to a student's grade? Or is there a correlation between the two? I think maybe there is...
In my experience, the 5% of inspiring professors refrain from strict attendence policies because they know that their students WANT to come to class. They don't need an attendance policy; they don't need to force students to come to class to further their egos, to exert control they never had in other parts of their lives; they know that they will get paid based on QUALITY not QUANTITY.
But as for the rest of you, as for that 95%, I tell you this: If no students show up to class, then administrators will know you aren't good teachers. And if they know you aren't good teachers, they will fire you. You will fail to get paid. So, to avoid this turn of events, you impose irrelevant attendance policies. Attendance policies become a large part of the grade. Not because it matters, but because if you don't, you will lose your position because no one will come to your poorly-taught lectures. Through this process, you force intelligent and creative students to waste their time. Thus, I ask you, once again, is this RIGHT? Is this fair? I think not. I am bitter, but I speak the truth.
The fact of the matter is that I pay YOU. I am an ADULT. I should be able to decide the best use of my time. And the best use of my time is NOT spent in YOUR class. My time is valuable. It is precious. And YOU are wasting it. YOU are STEALING it from me. YOU are ROBBING me of everything else more productive I could be spending this time on.
So I sit here, day after day, week after week, doing the best I can to stifle my anger. I conform, as best I can, for the sake of my good name, for the sake of my grades, for the sake of my degree, for the sake of my future. But I don't like it. I am bitter. But I speak the truth.
I know this is not what an education should be. This is why I am getting my degree. This is why I want to go into teaching. So that I may change the system. So that I can be one of the 5% of teachers that inspire students like myself, instead of stifling them. So that I can give hope to students who rarely get challenged, who rarely are inspired, who waste their valuable time in 95% of their classes.
AND YES, I AM BITTER, BUT I SPEAK THE TRUTH.
I work my ass off to pay your salary, and you have the audacity to penalize me for my absences? If I thought I was learning ANYthing outside the text through discussion, if I thought I was benefiting in ANY way, shape, or form by coming to class, I would. but the fact of the matter is that I'm not.
YOU STAGNATE ME. YOU STIFLE ME. YOU CURB ALL CREATIVE INSIGHT INSIDE OF ME.
I am wasting my time by pursuing a degree I'm not even sure is worth anything. I am paying for these classes so I can attain my $50,000 piece of paper. So don't tell me that I NEED to be in class. Because I don't.
Tragically, YOU don't challenge me. YOU don't inspire me. This is not an education. This is a joke. I can get a better "education" through books at the local Library. I am bitter, but I speak the truth.
There are three types of professors: those that inspire, those that use their position as a podium to voice their useless knowledge, and those that use their position to exert control over students they know are more intelligent than they are. Of these three types of teachers, maybe 5% fall into the first category, 65% to the second category, and 35% to the third category. Now, I ask you, is this right? Is it right that I am paying thousands of dollars to be "educated" by 95% incompetent teachers? Is it a coincidence that the same 95% of teachers have an attendence policy, directly related to a student's grade? Or is there a correlation between the two? I think maybe there is...
In my experience, the 5% of inspiring professors refrain from strict attendence policies because they know that their students WANT to come to class. They don't need an attendance policy; they don't need to force students to come to class to further their egos, to exert control they never had in other parts of their lives; they know that they will get paid based on QUALITY not QUANTITY.
But as for the rest of you, as for that 95%, I tell you this: If no students show up to class, then administrators will know you aren't good teachers. And if they know you aren't good teachers, they will fire you. You will fail to get paid. So, to avoid this turn of events, you impose irrelevant attendance policies. Attendance policies become a large part of the grade. Not because it matters, but because if you don't, you will lose your position because no one will come to your poorly-taught lectures. Through this process, you force intelligent and creative students to waste their time. Thus, I ask you, once again, is this RIGHT? Is this fair? I think not. I am bitter, but I speak the truth.
The fact of the matter is that I pay YOU. I am an ADULT. I should be able to decide the best use of my time. And the best use of my time is NOT spent in YOUR class. My time is valuable. It is precious. And YOU are wasting it. YOU are STEALING it from me. YOU are ROBBING me of everything else more productive I could be spending this time on.
So I sit here, day after day, week after week, doing the best I can to stifle my anger. I conform, as best I can, for the sake of my good name, for the sake of my grades, for the sake of my degree, for the sake of my future. But I don't like it. I am bitter. But I speak the truth.
I know this is not what an education should be. This is why I am getting my degree. This is why I want to go into teaching. So that I may change the system. So that I can be one of the 5% of teachers that inspire students like myself, instead of stifling them. So that I can give hope to students who rarely get challenged, who rarely are inspired, who waste their valuable time in 95% of their classes.
AND YES, I AM BITTER, BUT I SPEAK THE TRUTH.