19 April 2009

Whats wrong with us?

It’s too much to expect anything out of us, but it is nothing to expect everything out of others. I am not a model student by any means, I day dream, I don’t take notes, I don’t pay attention in class, (I’m writing my blog post instead), I don’t come to class and often I am openly insolent to my teachers. I am not alone. That’s the rest of my class for you as well. How did we get this way? We got jaded, by teachers who are terrible, who are biased, who know nothing, for whom teaching is the last resort. Agreed, and then for some of us there are the rest of us as well. If our teachers are bad, we are worse. We wallow in self-pity and self-entitlement and refuse to take charge of our lives and our futures. I don’t think we deserve any better than the teachers we bully, dominate, look down upon and deride.
In my three years over here I have compered conferences and numerous lectures, and I am appalled by the Student behaviour at these occasions. Here is an opportunity to learn, to listen to others, to people from across the world who have flown into your measly little town with the thought of sharing some of their knowledge, and all the students can do is sleep (if they’re nice) or gossip loudly, interrupt the speaker, distract her, ignore the jokes and laugh at the wrong times.
So you don’t listen to the lousy teachers because they’re lousy, but why don’t you listen to the eminent scholars? Because they’re good?
Make up your mind or change your reason. Maybe you don’t listen because you don’t give two hoots, because despite what you told (actually yelled and cribbed) your teacher, “that you want to learn, go beyond schoolroom teaching” you don’t care about anything beyond who’s going out with whom or what Blair wore in the last episode of gossip girl. Maybe you don’t listen because the eminent speaker rambles on and is hard to understand. Well didn’t you just tell (read yell and crib) your teacher that he wasn’t capable of moulding your superior minds, well possessor of a superior mind what good is that damn thing if you can’t use it to unravel one simple lecture. Maybe I’m wronging them, maybe they don’t listen and sleep instead because in their dreams they are visited by much more eminent and interesting persons (like Blair or their crush) who are much better suited to mould their magnificent (superior) minds.
You want to be treated like an adult, “no more classroom teaching”, “We’re in college!”, “We’re 20!” “the teachers don’t know a thing” “ the teachers are biased” “I’m jaded” “the teacher needs to be engaging”.
Well what about us? Do we behave like adults? No, my dear young adults, our behaviour in the conference hall would put even kids to shame, we act like babies. Do we truly not want classroom teaching? Of course we do, we want everything handed to us on a platter, the syllabus, the test questions, the model answer, a perfect lecture. The brave teacher that tries an interesting discussion based syllabus gets shot down immediately (yaaar...... We’re adults, with busy adult schedules, we don’t have time for this). The teachers don’t know a thing.......................... and neither do we by the way (because we haven’t listened to a word all semester, we passed because of the one poor kid who listened through our disturbances and painstakingly took down notes which we photocopied). The teachers are biased................................ and we’re cheaters (we get our 8 CGPA by copying those photocopied notes hidden under our table while the kid who took those notes struggles to remember what the teacher had said because the class had been so noisy that day).The teacher needs to be more engaging, and we need to .......? oh yeah, we need to do nothing.
I wanted to be a teacher, I foolishly mentioned it in front of my professor grandparents, aunts and uncles. They made me cry that day. I would still like to be a teacher, I know the pay is lousy but the deal breaker isn’t that the pay isn’t enough to live on, it’s the fact that it doesn’t compensate for the lousy students.

6 comments:

JD said...

my take -

People respond to incentives. Students at grad and post-grad colleges aren't there for the learning; they are there for the opportunity the stamp of the institute represents.

What they have been told is this - "Sit through these 4 (or 3 or 2) years, you can slack off, if you like, and then you'll be given this job, where you'll again have lots of opportunity to slack off, and in return we'll give you money to slack off in your non-work time"

I think its correct that we don't give two hoots, we do not care about learning, schoolroom or beyond; and it would not matter a great deal even if the teacher 'knew things' or was engaging.

Paying attention in class, respecting teachers, guest lecturers, and so forth, and actually learning stuff does not provide incentives enough, so we don't do it. IMO, that's what's wrong with ... er ... us.

'Teachers aren't being compensated for the lousy students'? Till so far as students keep getting compensated despite being lousy, this state of affairs will continue.

How to incentivise paying attention and being respectful?
IDKD.

Apologies if this was too verbose for an obvious point.

ramsub said...

I understand the need to be verbose...... so apology accepted.

I guess my parents did a good job of brainwashing me coz in my world slacking off doesn’t pay. However working hard and working smart does pay, and to work hard and work smart, you gotta learn (no matter what). Also I’m getting a little freaked out by my baby sisters’ humongous course load in her college. The entire “Sit through these 4 (or 3 or 2) years, you can slack off, if you like, and then you'll be given this job, where you'll again have lots of opportunity to slack off, and in return we'll give you money to slack off in your non-work time” message hasn’t reached me yet (but then again, I live under a rock or maybe this is the secret to inner peace that I have been seeking these past 20 years).

I will admit to the fact that I wrote this post when I was very very angry and added the title (which I am now planning to change) much later. This post is not so much a question as much as it is a rant, hopefully the new title will reflect that better.

Also please remember you’re talking to the Museum Envy Girl. Somewhere (OK right up here on the surface) I believe in learning for the sake of learning and just like I believe I can learn from badly written ASI Boards similarly learning from a teacher who isn’t great works for me

So I guess what I want to say is,
SHUT UP, in class, there are some of us out there who want to listen.
DON’T WHINE, don’t yell at the teachers it makes you an asshole.
DON’T CHEAT, because....... umm...... does Karma work for you?

Also, in this cruel world based on cold heartless reciprocity, don’t expect anything when you aren’t willing to give anything.

Btw they tried removing the stick, but it’s very very firmly lodged up my ass, expensive surgical procedure is required and I will need to work very hard to earn enough to have it removed and I don’t see that happening.

Apologies for being verbose.

JD said...

:)

Maybe i should have clarified - I'm one of you ... er... people - i think. I'm the silent-in-class-who-takes-notes-and-yawns-with-mouth-closed (yes, it's possible to do that)-in-order-to-not-be-disrespectful-but-doesn't-think-he-has-a-stick-lodged-up-his-ass-though-this-reply-may-indicate-otherwise guy. And I'm more interested in useless trivia (yes, even ASI boards, from time to time) than ... i don't know... Jeremy Goodwin from 'Sports Night'. (check that out, btw, brilliant sitcom) And I do feel like telling people to shut up. But, I somehow know that's not gonna happen, coz as I said, there's not enough incentive for 'them' to shut up. Mugging one day before exam seems to compensate for everything just fine. People who are inattentive and generally jerks in class also 'work smart' when they have to. And, no, (although I don't cheat), karma doesn't seem to be working so far. Much to the opposite, in fact.

Anyhow, I understand what you mean that it was supposed to be a rant, while I tried to answer the question in the title. Hence, herewith the sarchasmic apologies.

Maybe I was trying to say that I agree with everything you said, that it is indeed the way you put it, but I've given up on all of it as a lost cause.

Verbosity Rules!

ramsub said...

Hi, and welcome to the club of people who yawn with their mouths closed (been a practicing member since 2000), ofcourse we're people (I think.....)

also your ass most probably remains stick free, owing to the fact that you seem to have reached an admirable level of acceptance about the whole situation (like some of the other members I know who have taken to "point and laugh" or "ignore" techniques.)I however am still driving myself insane worrying about the social and moral bankruptcy of my peers. (On the plus side, I Have stuff to blog about)

I guess I agree with the lack of incentive to a certain extent, but my argument is that the incentive they expect (CGPA, as opposed to true life lessons) is warped.

Sports Night eh.... Heard about it will check out.

JD said...

'tis warped indeed. And maybe, in the end, the geek shall inherit the earth.

Meanwhile, if you like, you can help me out with a moral-bankruptcy question of my own -

http://idontknowdude.blogspot.com/2008/06/moral-dilemma.html

Samvida said...

"..young adults"
hehe. consistent about the "im a kid". i like that.

soumya.
if the world is defined by what you see..then there are people who choose what to see.
by observing the world..you understand the way it works(or dosent work)

by talking about what you see..you're pulling those ostriches' heads out of the sand. their first idea is probably to stuff their heads back in.
but some of them are blinking in the sudden daylight..and choosing to see what that daylight is reflecting from.

so. its good to understand where you're coming from.because you inspire me.and its not just because of the way you write.
its what you write.
and that matters.