On Wednesday 30 August 2006 10:11, William Case wrote: > Hi All; > > This branch of the "British" language tree is taking the risk of > turning a little bit of linguistic fun into a serious political > topic. However, ..... > > On Wed, 2006-30-08 at 05:15 -0700, Antonio Olivares wrote: > > Nowadays, looks like the same thing is happening. > > With all that damn testing, and "No Child Left > > Behind", teachers are just trying to "rat train" > > students to pass the tests. No life skills are > > learned. Reality sets in for many of these students > > when they try to seek higher education. The teaching > > profession is a hard one and with more and more crap > > from the government, no wonder many teachers get out > > and many do not want to come back. > > > > Regards, > > > > Antonio > > The problem with schooling which you mention above is not just an > American problem and is not therefore the result of any specific > American federal or state or local program. We have the same > problem in Canada, and I have heard and read about educational > problems throughout Europe. In fact, it would be interesting to > hear from the rest of the world as well. Betcha, they think they > have the same problems. > > First, I believe some of the problems with education is and will > always be just "old fartism". "Things were better in my day." "I > used to walk 3 miles and back to school everyday, barefooted in the > snow." > > Next, I believe the problems with education, at least for the first > 12 or 13 years, comes with the Unionization/Professionalization of > teaching. For some reason, in education we, the public, got the > worst side of both. I have heard the abusive language used by > Teachers Unions during strikes in Toronto, and then a month latter > on the news heard the exact same rhetoric in Philadelphia. The > Teacher's Unions seem unable to get higher wages for their members > (which many teachers deserve), but instead have won 'no work > involved' contracts. (As a side bar, Ontario Canada where I live, > has the highest teacher salaries in the Western World, but has not > eliminated any of its educational problems.) > > While the Professionalization of teaching has simply given the > Teaching Profession the right to tell parents, students and school > boards to "shut up and sit down" -- That, they, the professionals, > know whats best for us all. > > Meanwhile, when parents demand improvements, immediately the 'left > loonies' get into the debate screaming for some new social > engineering, and equally as quickly, the 'right-wing wing nuts' > start parading for the removal of "Catcher in the Rhye" from school > libraries. The parents legitimate concerns get buried and > forgotten by the teachers while the bun-fest goes on, nothing gets > done, and teachers are never required to thoughtfully reexamine how > best to teach. (As another sidebar, any solutions that teachers do > develop always seem to involve more pay and less work.) > > Programs imposed from politicians on high, is the outcome. > Politicians, ie. non teaching professionals, come up with the best > response they can think of to the demands of their constituents for > improvement. That usually means falling back on what they know -- > "Old Fartism". It sounds like the exact seem thing in Canada as it does in the US. Probably for the same reasons. -- Jack Gates http://www.morningstarcom.net
