On Learning

[feraldolce]

I realize that I'm at work and should probably be busting racists, but my partner is out of town, so I get to do a motherload of research. One of the first things we're meant to do before we start is check the news. If we're working in NY, living in Los Angeles means I don't know what their local news is like, their weather, their power outages or

Comments

[lostkeyword]

PART II

There this thing in German, it's about how we want a perfect teacher to be:

Gerecht soll er sein, der Lehrer, und zugleich menschlich und nachsichtig,
straff soll er führen, doch taktvoll auf jedes Kind eingehen, Begabungen wecken, pädagogische Defizite ausgleichen, Suchtprophylaxe und Aids-Aufklärung betreiben, auf jeden Fall den Lehrplan einhalten, wobei hochbegabte Schüler gleichermaßen zu berücksichtigen sind wie begriffsstutzige.
Mit einem Wort:
Der Lehrer hat die Aufgabe, eine Wandergruppe mit Spitzensportlern und Behinderten bei Nebel durch unwegsames Gelände in nordsüdlicher Richtung zu führen, und zwar so, dass alle bei bester Laune und möglichst gleichzeitig an drei verschiedenen Zielorten ankommen.

I'll challenge my translation skills.

He shall be righteous, the teacher, and still humane and lenient. He shall lead with a firm hand, however, he shall respond to every child considerately, rouse vocation, he shall even up pedagogic deficits, teach preventatives against addiction and AIDS prevention. He shall stick to curriculum by all means while considering intellectually gifted students and slow-witted students all the same.
To sum it up:
The teacher has the duty to guide a tour group of top athletes and handicapped persons through impassable terrain in northern-southern direction in a thick fog, while keeping everyone in high spirits and preferably reaching three different destinations at the same time.

It's a little... bumpy ...because a pretty poetic nuance is used in the German text, one that doesn't exist in English. Anyway, I think that's pretty accurate about how people want a teacher to be - but fuck that, a teacher is a human being. And the more of a human being they are the more their students can learn how to be themselves.

That's what I believe, anyway.

And that teacher would've had my respects with saying just that at the beginning of the first lesson. I don't respect many people for who they are. But that guy would have made it.

[feraldolce]

the example you've given about a teacher and the one that offered that burger king statement are at opposite ends of the spectrum. why you see it differently, i don't know, but you're passage in german speaks to almost exactly what i'm saying in this post. if you want to love an asshole who doesn't actually care about teaching, that's on you... but it also negates what the passage in german says: the asshole doesn't care about tour group duty; he cares about lecturing, and those who get it, get it. he makes no effort to really teach a student and instead merely talks at him.

for all intents and purposes, just because you liked a teacher in the end, learned a few things, doesn't mean anyone else did. if you can be nice to your students in a closeted manner, maybe that earns you some street cred, but you're still a failed teacher if you've got 3 students with passing grades and an entire class that failed. i say this as a student who proved every single teacher that ever told me "no one will get As in the class" wrong. i say this as a teacher who has never awarded an A when it was not absolutely necessary.

i'm not soft hearted or leading anyone through anything nicely. i'm strict and i'm knowledgeable, but i fucking teach. i don't stand there and just talk at my students, and if they're too retarded to understand, then they fail. that's A RIDICULOUS thing to consider true teaching. i would never demean a student by drawing an allusion that likens them to dumb apes. i would never consider myself so far advanced that ego ever overrules simple fucking humanity.

so there's you difference. we're actually talking about the same thing, but it seems to me like you're favoring the asshole who would NEVER cry on a roof with you and talk about cats in favor of being... contrary, really. and that's annoying.

i'm late for work, just woke up, and don't actually care enough about this response to go back and edit for errors/typos or tone. it is what it is.

[lostkeyword]

Yeah, but the thing about the passage in German was... it's not really irony - well, you can't really express the tone in English, the language just isn't meant to... but to be that person is pretty much impossible. It's what people think a teacher should be... but it's a ridiculous task.

... And yes, in a way I think that's it, those who get it, get it. Your manners, your humanity, your independence... that's something you already should have learned at home.
It's just... you have to pull yourself out of the shit, otherwise you'll never learn how to stand on your own. The world doesn't owe you shit and the whole concept of what's fair and what's unfair is also off. The opposite of love is indifference, the opposite of evil is integrity. Maybe it's one of those annoying German streaks but... I want to do things on my own. I refuse help. It's stubborn and quite stupid, too, but I want to do things on my own, as if other people's help would lessen the value of what I do. It's also how we are brought up here, do it on your own, be independent, worship nobody, respect those who are stronger than you but don't look down on those who are not, the one who looks down on others falls down. That's something you get carved into your soul over here.

I don't consider someone who just likes to listen to themselves talking as a teacher in the first place. A simple lecture will never get you as far as a group discussion will get you. But I don't think that failing everyone but three students implies you have to lower your standards. If they are just that bad, lazy or whatever, then it's just the mirror of what they are. You won't do them a favor if you just throw good grades at them. They will meet people in life who won't lower their standards just for them - it'd be nice if they found out before their existence depended on it, don't you think?

So why would "i'm not soft hearted or leading anyone through anything nicely. i'm strict and i'm knowledgeable, but i fucking teach. i don't stand there and just talk at my students, and if they're too retarded to understand, then they fail." be ridiculous? It's the only logical thing to do.

The thing is, I don't believe that being that strict will come at the cost of humanity, kindness or genuine concern. I actually do believe that being genuine works without being absolutely integer and thus being strict in every way. You do what you say. You never go back on your word. It's an impossible goal since people aren't exactly flawless but it's what I believe would make this world a better place.

And yes, for myself I'd favor the teacher who is a logical and cold being to the point of almost being machinery. There's a reason to why I do especially Iaido. Iaido kills me. I have to learn walking all over again, breathing, standing. I make the same movement over and over again until my right leg gives out under me and until my throat is so dry that my tongue feels as if I've tried swallowing a piece of rubber. This kind of strictness is something that doesn't work for everyone. It only works for me because it fits into my system.
I don't think that kind of teacher would be the perfect one, since he lacks on empathy.

Implacable empathy. That means you have to see exactly what a person can be, what every single person can be and to push them as far as they need it. Every single person measured on their own scale. Someone who's able to do that, could be a good teacher. And that teacher could and should still fail everyone but those who managed to grow.

It's okay, I hope your boss doesn't get to angry about being late. No need to edit for errors/typos and, please, never edit for tone. ;-) You're fun, I like arguing with you ^^

Still, have a good day!

[lostkeyword]

Whoops, I meant: I actually do believe that being genuine doesn't work without being absolutely integer and thus being strict in every way.