Human nature
You will all excuse me if I play high and mighty with my position as a teacher, but as I can ask my students to do all kinds of crazy things, because I can demand their intellectual involvement, and also because I can change various "norms" of the classroom experience, I am in a position to talk about how I see people handle certain exceptional situations.
For instance, I don't take attendance, and I don't care if people show up. Because of this, some people don't show up. Now, they know they're failing, but they don't care. They don't show up anyway. They miss quizzes, they don't know when tests are, their papers are filled with inane ideas that show little or no serious thought. In short, they have nothing that one would receive simply by showing up, and as they don't have those basic skills they suffer the consequences.
Do they, having screwed up once, ammend their ways? No. They continue on, executing a plan for disaster that is so transparent that one can only suggest an inate self destructive nature as its motivation. I can't help but wonder if they want to fail, and now, having been given the chance, that's precisely what they plan to do. Paper after paper they ask for extensions on until, by the end of the semester, they are required to write serious work on books they haven't looked at for two months or more. Though their homework accounts for 20% of the class, they will rely on their mid term grades (also abominable) to earn them a passing grade.
I know: perhaps, they think that in the end I will show mercy. No. I don't believe so. It has nothing to do with me. I've already told them that the excuses they send me, via email, are lies, and that in the Judao Christian ethos, they have committed acts that bound them for perdition. I really don't think they believe I will do much besides laugh a their feeble excuses.
So, what then?
When you are not watched, you fool yourself into believing that you can do the task without someone's "interference." It is only then that you realize that it was that crotchety teacher and their interference: their demands, their policies, their assignments, that motivated you into doing anything at all. It is only then that you realize that, without direct pressure, you will become the most loathesome type of human being you can be--in this case, an ignoramous sloth.
Now, take this lesson and apply it elsewhere--say to a government where there is no check or balance to "interfere" with your operations as a publicly elected or designated official. What then are you likely to become?
Remember, my students start off with the best of intentions; they believe themselves smart enough not to have to show up, they think their work good enough to speak for itself--but eventually the end of the semester comes, there is a reckoning, and it is only then that they are found wanting. If they are smart people and they become useless, think how much more the degredation of people who have no such virtues.
For instance, I don't take attendance, and I don't care if people show up. Because of this, some people don't show up. Now, they know they're failing, but they don't care. They don't show up anyway. They miss quizzes, they don't know when tests are, their papers are filled with inane ideas that show little or no serious thought. In short, they have nothing that one would receive simply by showing up, and as they don't have those basic skills they suffer the consequences.
Do they, having screwed up once, ammend their ways? No. They continue on, executing a plan for disaster that is so transparent that one can only suggest an inate self destructive nature as its motivation. I can't help but wonder if they want to fail, and now, having been given the chance, that's precisely what they plan to do. Paper after paper they ask for extensions on until, by the end of the semester, they are required to write serious work on books they haven't looked at for two months or more. Though their homework accounts for 20% of the class, they will rely on their mid term grades (also abominable) to earn them a passing grade.
I know: perhaps, they think that in the end I will show mercy. No. I don't believe so. It has nothing to do with me. I've already told them that the excuses they send me, via email, are lies, and that in the Judao Christian ethos, they have committed acts that bound them for perdition. I really don't think they believe I will do much besides laugh a their feeble excuses.
So, what then?
When you are not watched, you fool yourself into believing that you can do the task without someone's "interference." It is only then that you realize that it was that crotchety teacher and their interference: their demands, their policies, their assignments, that motivated you into doing anything at all. It is only then that you realize that, without direct pressure, you will become the most loathesome type of human being you can be--in this case, an ignoramous sloth.
Now, take this lesson and apply it elsewhere--say to a government where there is no check or balance to "interfere" with your operations as a publicly elected or designated official. What then are you likely to become?
Remember, my students start off with the best of intentions; they believe themselves smart enough not to have to show up, they think their work good enough to speak for itself--but eventually the end of the semester comes, there is a reckoning, and it is only then that they are found wanting. If they are smart people and they become useless, think how much more the degredation of people who have no such virtues.
5 Comments:
"I know: perhaps, they think that in the end I will show mercy...."
Reminds me of Viktor Frankl's "delusion of repreive."
Of course, I know nothing about teaching. I was wondering, though, whether you make it clear at the beginning... you know, say something like, "It would make me happy to give all of you who deserve it passing grades, maybe even 4.0s. But, you need to know going in that if you don't do the work, I WILL fail you. So, if you think you can just show up and waltz through this class with a C, then I'd advise you to drop the class pronto."
I mean, aren't these kids more or less conditioned by other classes they've had for which just showing up merits a C? Not that it matters, of course... I'm just wondering out of curiosity whether anything could be said or done to help?
More questions from my place of admitted ignorance: Is it part of a teacher's responsibility to motivate his or her students? Or is it a teacher's responsibility to teach to only those willing to be taught? If it's the former, the it seems to be a tax on the brighter students who do not get your full attention because you have to cater to idiots. If it's the latter, you may have more students failing than other teachers.
I warn. Hell, I try to scare them into doing their job. I give multiple warnings. Not a big deal. I'm the worst case they've probably ever encountered--I believe all of their excuses. They think they've won. I don't excuse anything for any reason. So, though they win (by pulling one over on me), they still fail. Oops.
At a college level, you present the stuff. Your only responsability is to not hold your students to things they haven't been exposed to. I can't for instance, fail someone because their essay is easilly refuted by Hegelian dialectics...unless I have a class where I explain the dialectic and then I can only hold them to how well I get it. For some teachers, this means that they stay to very safe territory. I suppose I do too, but I'm not that afraid to explain post-colonialism if I have to.
In any case, if they don't get it, too bad. Not my problem. Maybe they need a tutor or maybe they're not "college material"--whichever. I show up to my office hours and am willing to give extra help to whomever shows. I think in college, if they feel that the task is difficult, the students are expected to rise to the occassion. Either way, I sure as hell am not going to be lowering my standards. I already think the status quo of English education has been lowered pitifully--it will not be going any lower in my class.
That being said, you should probably know, I'm a pretty well liked teacher even though my average grade is a full grade lower than most other teachers. Also, on rate my professor, I've got a chili pepper because I'm hot.
It is also helpful to remember that, as a student, it is one's job to assess what the teacher thinks they are teaching you and respond along those lines. Basically, what does the teacher want from me so that I can get the 'A' in return? Then, if the teacher tells you the sky is yellow because of molecular latex balloons you agree wholeheartedly and reiterate the argument they've already given you. Or, perhaps, if you're adventurous, you find the research that suggests that the leprechauns have launched this attack as revenge for people not appreciating rainbows enough. The problem with that, of course, is that you're writing your instructor's thesis for them without them acknowledging you as a source for their research and ideas. That's the price of original thought; someone will steal it from you.
First, some context: I went to a large university thinking I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Spent the first year on the dean's list. Then spent the next year (maybe three semesters - it's fuzzy) registering for classes and then not going to them (and thus failing and eventually being "invited to drop out." I did drop our but returned to school about 4 years later and went on to get my PhD.
There are multiple reasons why students do these things and not all of them mean they are losers, deluded, blaming others, depressed, getting drunk, etc although some of them are.
As soon as you miss one class, it's harder to go back. After you've missed two classes (that's like a whole week) it's exponentially harder to return. If you don't have any experience going to office hours, it's can be difficult and scary to go, expecially if you're going from a position of "weakness."
When I was a TA, I tried requiring all my students to come at least once to my office hours for a ten minute (at least) meeting, just so they'd have the experience and it would make it esier to some back if needed. (If you tried such a thing, I suggest you schedule them, otherwise they'll wait till the end of the semester). I assured them that if they did not have something to talk to me about, I would carry the conversation. I got great feedback from them and found I had way fewer no-shows and failures.
I guess my point is, college is a transition time, a HUGE one for some of these kids, and their reasons for not coming probably have little to do with you or the subject matter. And some of them may need this failure experience. I'm sure you know all this, but sometimes it helps to remember that it's not about us.
Additionally,and I think Plug touched upon this slightly, these people have been brainwashed by their peers in high school. The lowest common denominator became the norm. These people are surprised, most likely, that anyone would actually expect anything of them.
Schools used to actually divide the achievers from the under-achievers so that the achievers could excel and the under-achievers could be taught at their own pace. Of course, this system is no longer politically correct, and has been done away with; replaced by the lowest-common-denominator system.
But, once again, in high school it was not 'cool' to achieve. It was, in fact, looked down upon by one's peers (bully jocks who couldn't figure out how to achieve, and thought they needed a kleenex to do so). Thus, it is your responsibility as teacher to break them from this mold of underachievement. Reestablish the norm as being accomplishments. Positive reinforcement of success.
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