And now for something completely different....

[donkeyjon.livejournal.com]

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Comments

[deadpansev.livejournal.com]

I never said that. In fact I actually had my own grandfather as my 8th grade math teacher and I don't believe he was any better or worse than any other teacher. He followed the plan and gave us assignments everyday, which most cheated on, graded them and then pushed the kids through to the next level. My uncle works in the high school library and is also the schools computer guy (small school) he used to teach regular classes and I get the feeling even he knew he wasn't good at it so he went back to college to become a librarian. My aunt got sick of the PS BS when she taught high school journalism and then went back to school to get her doctorate and now she teaches at KU (university of Kansas) and I assume is much more effective of a teacher because of the less restrictive college structure, and half of her time is spent getting her students internships at magazines and newspapers where the kids probably learn more each day than they do in a semester of classes. My other aunt taught mentally challenged kids and it is hard to know how effective she was at it, I know parents of these kids enjoy giving their kids to a free babysitter everyday and have very little expectation of seeing any real educational success, now she has been promoted and does very little classwork and is just some bureaucrat paper pusher mostly in charge of hiring teachers for special needs kids.

The experience from the teachers in my family seem to indicate that once they get into the system the become frustrated with the bureaucracy and the hurdles placed in front of them and with the exception of my grandfather who taught for 40 years (and by the end he was frustrated with the bureaucracy that did not exist earlier in his career and all of the “new” teaching methods they were pushing him to teach) they have all only taught for a few years in the public school system before moving up or dropping out (one of my aunts who I didn't mention here got let go from her teaching position for reason unknown to me and is doing customer service for a cell phone company).

[i.livejournal.com]

from what you write, your relatives wouldn't take the blame either. they would blame the beaurocracy, the new methods, and the restrictions.

i don't necessarily disagree with them, which is why your original comment pissed me off.

[donkeyjon.livejournal.com]

There ARE bad teachers, though. Now, I'd agree that their effect is far less than the public gives them credit for, but they do exist. One of the problems with the system is that the bad teachers can't be objectively separated from the good teachers and punished or fired.

Now, I do agree with the assertion that the system itself is a far greater problem, and that the real root cause is that parents simply don't care.

[deadpansev.livejournal.com]

I am sure you are right, the teachers in my family would not say "yeah its my fault", but if they are being honest they won't take credit for the good students either. My original comment was meant more to point out that if you want the credit then you also have to accept the blame, personally I don't really believe teachers deserve much of either. Most teachers simply make the information available to students, some student learn that info, some don't.

[i.livejournal.com]

i give some of my teachers a *lot* of credit and would thank them if i could.