For what it’s worth, I think tp4tissue is full of **** about 95% of the time, but in this thread he’s got it right (at least on general principle; I’m sure The_Beast is a great teacher in person, however easy it is to take his online rants out of context).
They don't "suck". Some just don't apply themselves, think for themselves and expect help at every turn. If teachers taught with your philosophy, we'd end up with dependent, non applying students who expect answers at every turn without even trying.
I think you’re very much misunderstanding what tp4tissue is saying here. That is, he isn’t saying you should do the students’ work for them, or read every little instruction they could read themselves, or whatever. What he’s saying (and this is absolutely correct) is that if the students aren’t doing what they’re supposed to, then blaming them for it (e.g. calling them whiny) is totally counterproductive, and a breakdown of empathy.
I know a lot of smart kids who don’t apply themselves. You know why? Because for the most part school is a big pile of bull**** rules that are being imposed from outside, and it’s not clear to most students why they should care, other than just as a way to appease society / get people off their case.
The only way to fix this is to get kids excited about what they’re learning, and the best way to do that is to figure out what they’re interested in and get them working on *that*, or else show them why the subjects they’re supposed to be studying are actually fascinating and wonderful.
If a student really applies him- or herself (that is, is passionate about it, focuses, has some support, and does the damn work), they are plenty capable of covering everything taught in a regular school in 1/10 the time the school spends on it (or probably less even). And yes, that goes for all the students, even the “dumb” ones. Once you get them on a healthy diet, well rested, with enough exercise, not stressed out of their minds, and working on something they think is important and relevant, nearly all people are curious and clever and amazing learners. Schools are unbelievably inefficient compared to maximum human potential. Unfortunately, most students aren’t taught how to do the work, or more importantly why to care. As a result they drift along. Some kids, the so-called “gifted kids” (who have more preparation in intellectual thought) are often bored out of their skulls trying to avoid **** they are being forced to do that seems totally trivial and pointless. Some of the other kids have terrible anxiety, their bodies constantly flooded with stress hormones, because they have been convinced that they “suck” at math, or reading, or whatever, and their brains are simply not in an emotional state to focus on doing work. The “good” kids are mostly ones who have learned that the best way to fit in and be praised by their teachers and parents is to sit down, do whatever is asked, and conform.
Students *are* ultimately responsible for their own educations, in the sense that no one else in the world, even their parents, ultimately can direct their lives or mental energy. However, many many students have not been taught properly how to follow their own curiosity, make their own discoveries, put the puzzle pieces together, or sit and focus on a problem until it’s completed. This is a real tragedy, because these students then get judged as incapable (lazy, entitled, incompetent, whatever) when their teachers and environment is just as much to blame.
We live in a shockingly individualistic society, and we’re really bad at understanding systemic social effects, or empathizing with each other. All the best teachers I had went way above and beyond the call of duty to try to understand what their students were thinking and feeling, and meet them on their own terms.
Don’t think I blame schools or teachers here though. Teaching 30 underprepared, poorly fed, sleep deprived, stressed out, hormone-fuelled kids, with plenty of personal problems at home and at school, who don’t give a **** about the subject under discussion, with insufficient staff, school materials, and physical infrastructure is a devilishly difficult problem. Teachers aren’t given sufficient pay, respect, or personal development time. Schools have mandates up the wazoo from state and federal curricula, and careerist administrators pile all kinds of bull**** on teachers. Even in the best run schools with the best teachers and the best administrators, lots of money and intellectual freedom, teaching is hard. In many American schools it’s more of a nightmare.
[FWIW, my mother was a career elementary school teacher, many of my friends are teachers, I have enormous respect for teachers and the public education system, and I have spent lots of time teaching people 1-on-1 and in small groups about various subjects, but I have never been a full-time classroom teacher myself.]
About lectures, etc. in a college setting:
Or about what high school is about and what it should be:
