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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (51271)	6/17/2002 6:19:23 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

It breaks my heart sometimes, when I consider how big a factor home environment is on student performance. It makes such a difference if there is stability and support at home, or if it is chaotic and one has parents who are just to busy or ignorant to help the student along. I got branded a gifted underachiever early on--- I made the honor roll, but could have made straight A's---- and no one knew (nor, of course, would I have told) how much family problems had to do with that. Take someone who is not genetically blessed, and what was a somewhat laughable situation for me (gee, a B plus GPA isn't good enough?) becomes a real crisis. The teacher cannot be responsible for compensating for all problems, but a reasonable effort can be made to NOT exacerbate the problem by giving assignments that depend too much on parental help or cooperation, for example, involving extra- curricular library time, or a lot of web surfing. I think that it is right to use various means of assessment, as well, so that they have a chance to exercise particular strengths.......

To: epicure who wrote (51271)	6/17/2002 6:53:16 PM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

We are probably talking past each other on this one ... As I am thinking of higher education, where students are adults, while you are probably thinking more of education in the formative years (where I have no teaching experience). Yet, I was a student at all levels. I had my good years and my bad years, especially in high school, where I was never a high achiever until my senior year. Even as a child or teen, I always thought of my ups or downs as entirely of my own making ... it never would have occurred to me to think that teachers had any responsibility for my achievement. Perhaps that attitude was a function of the way I was brought up ... I just never thought about it. As an adult, where I would think about it, I would still come to the same conclusion. The opportunity was there and it was up to me to make the best out of it ... or not. My responsibility, and only mine. My view of college, both as a student and a teacher, was and is much the same. The knowledge is there ... in the classrooms, the textbooks, and the libraries. Professors are there as guides, to help channel the student's search for knowledge, to explain when necessary, to set standards for mastery of subject matter. I do not think professors have the responsibility to instill motivation. Most professors I know could not care less about grades or the whole system of grading. The constituents who do care are the students. It is the brighter or more hard-working students who care about having a measuring system that defines their achievement, and rewards them with recognition that is denied to those who are not capable of achieving it or not willing to work hard enough to achieve it. And I think that is as it should be. I do not think it would be healthy or desirable to have a society where everyone ends up with a college degree, and with a transcript of all A's. That would be a forced fiction (that everyone is as capable as everyone else) and would not mirror the reality of society itself. The effect would be that rather than raising everyone to excellence, it would lower everyone to mediocrity.