(no subject)
Interview meme from
prester_scott:
1. Now that you're a teacher, what are your thoughts on education in America?
Hmmm… I’d say I’m pretty disappointed. I think teachers (especially first year teachers) have way too many responsibilities and way too many students. If there were ever a profession that should include a required term of apprenticeship, it has to be education. Nothing prepares you for having to control that classroom except actually having done it. There needs to be a safe environment for that where responsibilities start small but increase. Internships approach this but fall short, at least in part because the intern is unpaid, internships are not required, and the intern has little choice in who they work under. The real issue is there is no money for this kind of thing.
So instead, first year teachers actually have more hours of meetings scheduled than anyone else, even though their general teaching responsibilities are inevitably taking them way too much time because they’ve never done it before.
But first-year gripes aside, no one can care for 150 people/day the way they should be cared for. No one can give the kind of individual guidance and correction and affirmation that a child needs. This forces us to settle for a corporate model, which forces us to make up predefined output in predefined lengths of time. So while the goal of education should be to help create citizens capable of making good decisions via critical thinking, what we actually accomplish is much more mechanical and rote, and if a child learns to use disciplined critical thinking it is almost a miracle.
I say this and I taught honors physics. I got to teach some of the smartest, best educated kids in the school. Even so, the best I could do was to get them to replicate a process given a problem only superficially different from the example. And with some people I couldn’t even pull that off because of their difficulties with basic algebra and geometry.
Many of them were actually really surprised that they were expected to be able to use algebra and geometry. I mean, I understand needing to brush up in sines and cosines, but I was dismayed at some of their difficulties solving equations for a single variable.
So I felt like in a lot of ways I did a terrible job, even though I got amazing scores on all my teaching observations, and my students seemed to love me. I know that experience could have helped a lot and I have amazing respect for anyone who sticks it out and actually learns to teach well in that environment. But the problem is there are time-tested ways to produce conformity in children, and I am afraid that a lot of experienced teachers just learn to use them well.
2. What does your family think of what you've been doing for the past five years or so? (I don't believe you've ever mentioned family in your LJ, except that you got married.)
I may not have mentioned them in my LJ, but I have mentioned them on blogger a bit, for example here and here.
I’d say they’ve largely been supportive/happy for me. They were happy that after I left the ICC/Boston Movement I found a church home, and when I needed counseling for depression and had struggled with school, they showed a lot of love and provided an emotional support.
The only point where we’ve really had conflict is when I decided to pursue graduate school in theology. They were upset because UF had offered me a generous fellowship to do a PhD in Materials Engineering, and they thought I should take it. They suggested that perhaps I was just afraid that I couldn’t do engineering or something like that, but that engineering was the smarter route to be able to take care of my then-future wife.
When my dad was in college he had studied engineering but when he was converted to the Boston Movement, he switched to an easier degree so he could graduate quicker and go into ministry. Later on he went into church administration, and later on my family left the church altogether, which has put them in difficult financial straits. So my dad really regrets not sticking with the harder degree to keep his options open. He also regretted tying his livelihood to beliefs that can change. So he saw my decisions as basically the same as his.
I had some thoughts in response. At his age, I don’t think it likely that a bachelor’s degree in engineering that never got used would really give him any more options than he has now. But more importantly, I think my decision is different than his in a number of significant ways. First, I think I’m at a much safer place theologically than he was at my age. And second, I’m not shirking education, just getting education in a different direction, which allows more transferable skills/credentials. Since I’m thinking about academia and not church work, I don’t feel like changing my beliefs would exclude me from a job. Third, I just don’t like doing science that much. I would if I had to, but the fact is I don’t. I want to learn, write, and teach, and it turns out that I have the opportunity to pursue a career in that direction.
Anyway, since the decision has been made, my parents have been very supportive, and they seem to have warmed up to the idea of shooting for being a professor of some kind. My dad especially seems excited that I’m pursuing something I really love.
The other sort of “conflict” has been since my dad has become an atheist. If you feel like digging through our debates on his blog about futurism, you can see some examples of our interactions on his blog here, and here.
Or you can see my posts on my own blog that interact with his thoughts here, and here.
And far more helpful and interesting than all of that is this post that I wrote for my dad on father’s day.
Even now I’ve only talked about my parents and mainly my dad, but I hope that is enough for now.
3. Coffee, tea, or soda?
Coffee! Cuban coffee is the best, but if that’s not available, an espresso macchiato will do.
4. What role does music play in your life? Favorite musician or musical genre?
I love music! I am a decent singer (growing up in churches of Christ is good for something!) and I play the guitar a small bit. Singing connects me with God in a unique way. Not all the time, and I am still learning to move past mere enjoyment of harmony, but some of the moments I’ve been closest to God have been spent in song.
When I was a bit younger I was heavy into classic rock, particularly Led Zeppelin. But now I find myself with broader interests. I can enjoy quite a bit of rap, but as I’ve recognized the dangerous way that I enjoy participating in anger and hate through music, there’s a lot that I’ve set aside.
Now I like a lot of more mellow stuff like Dispatch and Jack Johnson. But I just discovered Matisyahu, and he’s going to be my favorite for awhile. Growing up in Jamaica made me like reggae, and Matisyahu uses it so authentically and beautifully.
5. With which Bible character do you most closely identify?
Man this is a tough one. This really is a question that asks me to pick what characteristic of mine is most definitive. It reminds me of when my cousins and siblings all talked about who everyone would be in Lord of the Rings. My ego wants to be Gandalf but those close to me told me I’m Sam. My ego wants to identify my mind as the most important part, but my friends see my heart as much more important to the person they know. In the past few years I’ve learned to be proud of that rather than wanting to be admired for my intelligence.
So, while both of these characters had both incredibly admirable minds and hearts, my answer has to do with my own perceptions. In the past, I would have wanted to identify with Paul for his logical and powerful mind, but now I am happy to identify myself with David. I am particularly thinking about his friendship with Jonathan, his relationship with God defined by a deep emotional openness and familiarity, and the way his passionate nature led him to be tempted to sin. I relate to those things; I am a deeply sensitive person, I form relationships freely and I am a loyal friend, and my relationship with God is characterized by intimate feelings at both good and bad times. Once again, all of that was probably true of Paul, and without question more fully than it is even true of me. But that’s my pick, and that’s my reasoning.