tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post8665780049868693620..comments2024-02-28T18:29:41.120-08:00Comments on Not of General Interest: Malcolm Gladwell on teachingundinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-33638183736644117072008-12-21T19:43:00.000-08:002008-12-21T19:43:00.000-08:00I am confusing it with your New Yorker piece. Don'...I am confusing it with your New Yorker piece. Don't ... the NY piece is better. Me, it is Profession I am arguing with, not necessarily a great use of time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-32243798153739267542008-12-21T09:10:00.000-08:002008-12-21T09:10:00.000-08:00I haven't read _Profession_ yet and sometimes don'...I haven't read _Profession_ yet and sometimes don't, Cero, but will take a look.undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-28131628934953988092008-12-20T15:03:00.000-08:002008-12-20T15:03:00.000-08:00P.S. Now I've read a bunch of that Profession. I t...P.S. Now I've read a bunch of that Profession. I think:<BR/><BR/>1. Actually, we don't blame students too much for poor quality. We blame ourselves (as individuals) too much. We have to really be allowed to think about curriculum, and so many people are so locked into certain ideas about it (what? let departments other than English take on some of the writing courses? what? eliminate the unwieldy jump in levels from first to second year foreign langauge? what?) that they don't even know these are ideas - they think they're forces of nature.<BR/><BR/>2. The Barsky article is my favorite, but I cannot easily act on his advice without having the religious right and the Horowitz people on my case. What he says about why students will not protest is very very very important but it also applies to many faculty members.<BR/><BR/>3. Those articles on teaching the military and teaching the religious leave something to be desired, they are all too pious and patriotic, and I know whereof I speak, I have as many religious and military students as these people, and I'd be *glad* to teach more military, and more people who are *seriously* (not faux) religious, both groups tend to be reflective people, smart and good students.<BR/><BR/>4. I should read the MLA report on foreign language teaching, which I never did. Apparently it is quite good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-65488577256817733002008-12-18T10:08:00.000-08:002008-12-18T10:08:00.000-08:00P.S. - I think it's also some random phrase used f...P.S. - I think it's also some random phrase used for undermining people. Anything teaching or service related that goes well MUST HAVE been too much work, even if it wasn't.Professor Zerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04909063513731044826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-50626066069072204982008-12-17T22:00:00.000-08:002008-12-17T22:00:00.000-08:00The pre class effort is creative, though, and it i...The pre class effort is creative, though, and it is what makes class itself less tiring. What exhausts me is dealing with people, I am less extroverted than I seem.<BR/> <BR/>I think my father means you should walk in, give your lecture, and take questions, period.Professor Zerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04909063513731044826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-35143449803464929062008-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:002008-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:00Professor Z, maybe your father is talking about th...Professor Z, maybe your father is talking about the pre-class effort? I think the in-class stuff is really tiring, though. <BR/><BR/>Carl, I hadn't thought of this as a cycle, but you're right. We do something one on one--make a plan to do it more "efficiently"--decry the impersonality--and change it back, as you say.undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-56205841073324780342008-12-17T16:11:00.000-08:002008-12-17T16:11:00.000-08:00OK Carl, then you've explained my whole family. Th...OK Carl, then you've explained my whole family. They only like formal situations! No wonder I always felt one couldn't be authentic at home and in fact that authenticity was not desirable ... and couldn't get them to be like the other families! It is why I went to Reeducation, I was not sure why the family was so uncomfortable and I thought it must be I who was not comfortable with people! EUREKA!!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-86899959969362681642008-12-16T09:06:00.000-08:002008-12-16T09:06:00.000-08:00Yeah, this is totally right, and teaching is no di...Yeah, this is totally right, and teaching is no different than any other relationship with humans. If you do it right, it's exhausting. (Goffman called it "face work.") This is why we set up impersonal formal systems - to get things done without burning each other out. Then we forget why we did it, decry the lockstep and impersonality and wish we could go back to doing things more authentically.CarlDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10912167329931540545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-33089108634863083982008-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:002008-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:00Well I'm glad someone recognizes this. My father, ...Well I'm glad someone recognizes this. My father, a very successful professor, insists to this day that one must not put any effort at all into teaching, especially as a woman, because then it is all one will be allowed to do.<BR/><BR/>The result of this is that I am always terrified when I put any effort into teaching - the police will come and remove tenure - and I feel guilty when I am tired from it, because that means I have put effort into it. I think that if I were a better professional I would just walk in and out of it unscathed. So it's good to know it's OK to get tired from it. I am exhausted from it.Professor Zerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04909063513731044826noreply@blogger.com