Text 7444, 65 rader
Skriven 2006-09-02 13:27:00 av Robert E Starr JR (7941.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: Studying English.....
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On 1 Sep 2006 18:03:48 -0700, "Doug Freyburger" <dfreybur@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Raven Woman wrote:
>>
>> Ya know, I taught college for almost 10 years (while getting my MA &
>> PhD, and then 2 more years) and my problem was always the opposite:
>> getting the kids to express ANY opinion.  Most just seemed to want you
>> to tell them what to think and/or say.  They'd get really frustrated if
>> you didn't give them truisms they could parrot back on essays/exams. .
>
>I think the underlying mechanism for this is far more simple and
>obvious.
>When I was a student there was a widespread opinion that agreeing
>with the teacher was the way to drive your grades up and disagreeing
>with the teacher the way to drive your grades down.  There were
>numerous
>anecdotes that this was actually happening.   So any student who wants
>a good grade will be very frustrated at a teacher who doesn't take a
>side
>and offer that side as an opinion.
>
>This mechanism of pursuing grades has very little to do with the amount
>learned since grades have poor correlation to amount learned.  It has
>little to do with what a teacher perceives as thinking skills but it is
>in
>itself a very effective thinking skill.
>
>The ability to give good grades to students who disagree is a feature
>of
>maybe the top twenty percent of teachers, and the ability to pull it
>off
>well is a feature of the top twenty-forty percent of students.  There's
>a lot of disincentive to go down that route unless the student doesn't
>give a flip about grades.  And being an honors student and thus likely
>to be able to pull it off also implies willingness to pursue good
>grades.
>
>Students may well not be learning thinking skills but this issue of
>repeating the opinions of instructors fails to measure it.
>

But the skills you describe are quite effective in pleasing your
boss/supervisor/manager at work, and hence getting good salary reviews
and promotions. So actually,  the school system is teaching students
how to be good employees, which is what society really wants from its
population.

My personal feelings don't agree with these methods, however, but I do
recognize reality and the necessity for the skills needed to make a
living.

-Wendy
                                                                               
                     
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