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Hi Folks,
First, some unabashed celebrating: LOVE DEM BRONCOS! Okay, I got that out
of my system. On to "therious sthuff" (as Sylvester the Cat might say).
Bev Krieger's comments on "training v. education" sent me on a trip down
memory lane - a road that gets longer as the years increase - to a time
when I was kick-the-world's-behind high-schooler. I AM NOT TAKING ISSUE
WITH BEV! I only mention her because it was her use of the two terms that
got me to ruminating.
In the minds of counselors, teachers, et. al., there were basically two
groups of students: those who would be going off to college (so by
definition could handle the rigors of academic discipline), and those of us
who weren't ( a group of us came to call oursleves the "FPA," or Future
Plumbers of America). The "real" students were educated, and the rest of
us were trained. We got the basic ed courses, home ec, shop, and gym. (I
somehow ended up in a 10th grade English Lit. class that changed my life -
but that's another story) The "real students" got a heavy dose of
academics, honors club, band, and dramatic arts. They went off to college.
We went off to war, to work at the local gas station, or horror of horrors
- to community college.
Over the years I've noticed that, in one form or another, this labeling
still exists. We talk about "retraining" our workforce, rather than
"re-educating" it. We give students a liberal arts "education" or voc-tech
"training.". We have job "training" programs and Adult Basic "Education."
If we deem someone "uneducatable" we "retrain" them. Talk about loaded
vocabulary.
So, where am I going with all this? I guess I'm coming back to my own
ego-centric position: I am not a trainer. I am not an educator. I'm a
teacher. Yes, I have to help students master certain concrete concepts or
tasks, but I also have to help them learn how to apply what they've learned
- to use patterns they've learned to create new patterns. I have "X" time
to help students reach a certain level of proficiency in reading and
writing. Along the way, I hope to introduce them to themselves and the
world around them. My guiding principle is that they be better when they
leave then when they came. Do I take students who are under prepared?
Yes. However, we sit and talk about where they are and where they need to
get to. I try not to leave them with any false hopes. I make it very
clear that, at least according to our placement test, they may not have the
skills necessary to succeed in the class, and that not passing the course
in one semester is a very real possibility. If, after we talk, they still
want to make the attempt, I let them enroll in the class. Some succeed.
Some don't. Students who I wouldn't have given a prayer sometimes blow the
doors off the course. Others who seemed "on the ball" fail miserably. The
reasons for this are legion. It IS a crap shoot, but if they are willing
to roll the dice, then so am I.
As part of my first day orientation, I tell my folks that the reason I am
here is because they paid their money. That implies a certain
responsibility on my part. I will do everything I can to help them
succeed, but that [GASP!!] they do have the right to fail. They don't have
to come to class. They don't have to do the work. They can try to test my
bs tolerance. And they WILL fail. Simple.
In all of this, DESIRE plays a major roll. It goes a long way in mediating
the effects of lack of preparation or ability. Not always, but enough that
I'm always willing to take the chance.
Be good to yourselves!
Ed.
"This man is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot." From an actual
Army Officer Efficiency Report
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