Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
The one hundred and eighth award for Best Sentence I’ve Heard Or Read Lately (BSIHORL) goes to commenter “edwoof”, who says underneath “The Dangerous Lure of the Research-University Model” by Kevin Carey, via Professor Mondo:
We have gone from the university-as-knowledge-provider model to the university as a seller of an educational experience and we are fast approaching a place where the university becomes a purveyor of an educational fantasy.
It’s always a treacherous business to try to find an explanation for things you can’t see changing first-hand, even if you’re spending years & decades feeling the shock waves of them. But the question compels, and so flailing around looking for an explanation, I’m having a flashback to November of last year, when Blogsister Cassy managed to lay her mitts on this:
This nourishes a theory germinating in my head, a theory as sturdy and functional as any other. I’m a “follow the money” kinda guy; the money that comes to continuing/higher education, as I understand it, is tuition that is provided mostly by parents. If a transformation is taking place with chubby sixth graders, it’s silly to think the same transformation would not be taking place with freshmen and sophomores…and this would ultimately have the effect described, right? “So how are things going in college, sport? Are you having a good time there?” I can’t prove it since what takes place over a Thanksgiving table while “sport” is home on break, is none of my business.
But my intuition tells me there is a diminishing supply of the classic home-for-the-holidays conversation…”now that you’re a big college man, you think you can solve this page of problems they gave me back in the day, sport?” The pattern fits right in with what I see in other places. More concern about experiences, emotions that result from the experiences, how does it make you feel. Less emphasis on individual capability, conceptual understanding, good old-fashioned know-how.
Cross-posted at Right Wing News.
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Having taught a few college courses in my day, I can tell you that the sense of entitlement among college kids is jaw-dropping, and it actually gets worse the farther down the educational scale you go — say what you will about legacy admissions at Harvard and whatnot, but at least they have to occasionally attend a Harvard class and turn in a Harvard paper every now and again. Kids at the juco end of the spectrum expect points for showing up in the morning.
It’s to the point where I frankly don’t know what kids learn in high school anymore. I’ve had to explain basic, basic stuff — the three branches of government, for instance — and as for grammar, spelling, and general writing skills…. Have you ever actually browsed around on MySpace or clicked on Blogger’s “random blog” button? It’ll turn your hair white. Now imagine that applied to, say, the American Revolution or T.S. Eliot or the Electoral College. Such is the hell of the junior instructor at some fairly representative institutions of “higher education.”
The kids do have self-esteem out the blowhole, though. The teachers’ unions can hang up a “mission accomplished” banner on that one, even if their charges have no idea how to spell it….
- Severian | 02/21/2011 @ 14:41And if you dare point out that our kids are getting the crap kicked out of them by students in backwater European and Asian countries on standardized tests, some teacher within earshot start whining about how they A) don’t have enough funding B) have to deal with too many regulations C) have additional challenges of diverse student populations not found in other countries or D) some other two-bit whining or E) some combination of the above.
Don’t dare criticize the American public school system within earshot of someone who works for it. They will go off on you. I’ve learned this the hard way. I always want to ask, “So if you’re not responsible for the problem, who is?”
- cylarz | 02/23/2011 @ 02:27