Posts Tagged school
The economy fell, along with my education
Posted by Roy Antoun in Classes, College, Culture, Economics, Professors, Teaching on December 8, 2009
I have a really sad story for you this time. There once was this country. And in this little country, the people complained a lot and its politicians were hungry for power. So, the politicians got together and asked, “How can we pretend to educate these people?” One politician stood and said, “I know! We’ll offer them ‘free education’ and then pressure the population to go into higher education to inevitably devalue education!” The other politicians looked at each other, nodded and agreed to this little compromise.
Maybe one day, when I’m old and decrepit I’ll have a real story for you but I hope this one sufficed. The American education system and societal values are innately flawed and corrupt for several reasons. Let’s take a look at the world we live in today. In the United States, more and more High School seniors are receiving college acceptance letters. There are several problems with this.
The more people see education as a right rather than a skill in this country, the lower the value of education will be. For example, if everyone in this country had a college degree (which is becoming the case today), the value of the college degree within itself becomes depreciated and ultimately valueless. Why? Because everyone has one. No longer does an employer look at the diploma or transcript and notice that you stand out from the rest of the herd.
But what does this do to the value of your education? If more and more students begin attending higher education, colleges and universities begin to act like assembly lines. No longer does the university focus on the quality of one’s education, but rather the quantity of the education. No longer are you, the student, getting a quality lesson when you are stuffed into a lecture hall. In fact, the banking method of teaching is perhaps the least effective way of ensuring a student actually learns the material. Instead, students walk into a lecture hall, listen to a lesson, and become nothing more than a student ID number to the professor. Does this really qualify the student as an academic? After all, why do people go to college to begin with?
People have different answers to this question. Some say that people go to college for job experience. Others say that people go to college to live away from home. Perhaps they go to get a different taste of life, learn something new for fun, or maybe they go because of parental pressure. But is this really the culture that we have developed into? We essentially have successfully taken something as sacred as academia and prostituted the idea to the point where everyone, no matter how intelligent or dimwitted, can obtain this education and receive a diploma for simply sitting through a lecture and answering a couple of questions on a ScanTron sheet correctly.
A center of learning has been transformed into a Ford assembly line where intelligence need not apply. If people want job experience, what ever happened to actually getting a job? If people want a different taste of life, what ever happened to travel? If people want to learn something new for fun, what ever happened to our local libraries? If students feel pressured into going to school, they need to understand this and this only. Not everyone is meant for academia.
I have noticed that the value of my education has decreased exponentially the longer I stay in college. There are too many students here who take classes because it seems this is what society has dictated. These are students who quite honestly do not care about the material they are learning and are in school simply for the fact that they need a diploma to show their employer or a transcript to show law schools that they were able to twiddle their thumbs for four years. You know college education has been devalued when you’re able to substitute college credits at the High School level. Ever heard of “Advanced Placement”? Apparently, our society thinks that High School students are capable of college level work. I feel that college level work is “college level” work for a reason. It no longer becomes “college level” when those who are not in college are capable of such work. And hence, the value of college education has decreased.
When students show up to classes (or don’t for that matter but are enrolled anyway) and slow down my class discussions, it truly takes away from the academic experience from those who are sitting in class and actually want to learn. There are too many “A’s” being given out to students who tried their hardest but also truly don’t care about the subject material. Way too often do I hear “Leave me alone. I just want to finish this paper so I can pass,” or, “Can you help me out? I really need an A.” No – you don’t want to just pass because this isn’t the mentality or reputation a university should have when its students operate this way. No – you don’t really need an A if you are essentially admitting that you are not capable of doing the work. Again, this truly slows the progress of the class for those who are actually interested in the material, are actually good at the material and want to learn more, or those who are planning on taking this material into graduate school.
Since when does having a Political Science or History Degree qualify me to go to Law School? Why do so many students have the common misconception that Political Science immediately equates to Law School? Shouldn’t practicing law need certain preparation that goes beyond just knowing theories and policymaking? Of course it does. And I don’t want to hear “Political Science makes you think analytically,” because, no, it doesn’t when your papers are graded over a rubric versus the individual quality of your work because there are so many goddamn students lurking around my university searching for whatever class to fill “this and that” requirement.
Students today are more worried about finishing because they have to instead of actually learning something. And it seems that those who actually do the work end up getting the same grade as those who just want to get by. Again, the value of my education has truly been depreciated.
What America needs to understand these days is that a college degree does not naturally equate to “smart” as if the power of some god naturally endows those with a degree with some unforeseen power. It doesn’t. And as a result, a college degree is no longer sufficient enough for an individual to go places in life. What’s next, the depreciation of a Graduate School degree? Are we all going to become PhD’s or lawyers too?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone who chooses vocational school over college or university. And in most cases, those who end up choosing vocational school have better experience at what they will be doing in their future careers than most college graduates do. And in even more cases, vocational school doesn’t take the bajillion and seven years to finish like college and graduate school need, which naturally means more time in the workplace and more money faster. Ever notice how most college graduates don’t know how to fix a car? Do their own plumbing? Electrical work? Housekeeping?
It ultimately barrels to societal values. And at the rate this society is going, we’re valuing a piece of paper over work experience or real skill. Leave academia to the academics. Young people need to find their skill and exploit it before they start exploiting the wrong skills at my expense.
Teaching Cynicism In the Face of Idealism
Posted by Roy Antoun in Classes, College, History, Professors, Teaching on November 12, 2009
This past Wednesday I taught my last class as a First-Year Instructor. And I have to say that it has been an unforgettable experience. There’s something unique about my class that I feel I crafted. I crafted something, whatever it was, into their little freshman hearts. Pure cynicism, sheer sarcasm, academic terror… the usual input any good instructor would normally utilize to his advantage to ensure social control.
Overall, it was an enjoyable time teaching ten straight courses on my favorite topic, “Exploring History.” And not only did we explore history, but we tore it apart, chewed it, spit it, and then ate it again. It was glorified Waterloo all the way through the beginnings of World War I; you can’t get a better form of academic masturbation at the undergrad level, I assure you.
I noticed a few things about the way my class functioned and seating arrangements inside a small classroom. Let’s describe the classroom first. As an extra credit question on a quiz my students took, I asked, “What are the two Rutgers classroom temperatures?” The answer was pretty easy, as most students experienced the “sauna” and the “igloo” during summer and winter, respectively. For some reason, Rutgers likes to turn heat *on* during the Summer, shuts heat on and *off* sporadically during the winter, and is gracious enough to offer you enormous lecture halls to perplex your uncomfortable experience here at Rutgers. However, in a small classroom, things change a bit. Talkative students form a T-shape in the seating area. This constitutes the front row and middle isle. Students in other parts of the classroom think they’re invisible and read too much Harry Potter.
I also noticed that these kids are young. Although they’re just two years younger than I, their idealism is sometimes disgusting. But they have somewhat of an excuse- they’re Freshman. The typical college Freshman thinks that the world is rainbows and butterflies; nothing can ever go wrong, no matter how drunk you were this past weekend, no matter how many guys took advantage of you, no matter how many wars our government decides to fight, no matter how much our government wants to tax us. They think the world can do no wrong and when wrong happens it can be easily rectified. They clearly haven’t seen Junior year. They clearly haven’t taken a class with me yet.
A lot of these kids also have no idea what they want to do with their lives. Which is funny; it’s like a stay-at-home-mom going into a supermarket after driving 17 miles out of her way and not knowing if she wants to buy anything yet. These were students who believed that education was a right, not a skill. They couldn’t understand that some people just weren’t fit for academia whereas others are lame enough to enjoy reading history books on a daily basis. They couldn’t understand that if every 18 year old in this country went to school, this would lead to an inflation of education, and learning within itself loses its value.
But I did a few things differently. I knew the political culture I was getting myself into and this was something that even my advisors couldn’t comprehend. I guess if one works in academia, the only thing keeping them employed is giving out unworthy A’s to those who just “try” but don’t quite try hard enough for their work to be considered adequate. Realizing this, I knew that the very least I could do is instruct them on how to be competent individuals versus little historians. So I made sure that my grotesque cynicism would open a few eyes up to what the real world is really like.
So what did they learn? They learned that if one man has too much power, lots and lots of people die or starve. They learned that in order to get places in life, you have to actually like what you do so you end up selling a good product; sometimes that doesn’t necessarily mean college. But other times, if you really want to screw over the system, you suck it up and go to Law School, given that you’re sane enough to consider this option. I feel like I taught them to think strategically, if not analytically.
If any of my students are reading this, here’s what I learned from you:
- I learned that listening to indecisive thinkers makes me cringe.
- I learned that sometimes you just have to say the right answer and stop bullshitting.
- I learned that to get places in life, you sometimes, if not all the time, need to trounce on the weak.
- I learned that to develop an easy learning curve, you have to be a sarcastic asshole.
- I learned that America’s youth is going to hell in a hand basket.
- I learned that if you want good results, don’t constrain people to a rubric; let them figure it out on their own.
- I learned that public speaking in a room designated as “sauna” will make you sweat like you just ran a marathon; this is when you shift class outside.
- I learned that when you’re forced to give really impractical assignments, you need to be lenient with how you expect it back in your hands.
- I learned that Livingston campus is still a terrible place to live.
- I learned that if you can’t speak in a room of 24 students, you’re probably going to have a hard time getting employed.
- I learned that I have absolutely no patience and if I ever do this for a living, I’m going to live an extremely short-lived life.
So what does me teaching come down to? I fucking loved it and if I can do it again, I would- even if it means a short-lived life. But then again, I said the same thing about joining the army and that really went places…
My class did change me. They showed me that excessive idealism is dangerous in an environment of fragile human beings contesting Darwinistic ideals. You can’t force people to be idealistic and Darwinism isn’t going away anytime soon. Dog eat dog. How are you going to have your dinner in life?
Academia that gets me angry
Posted by Roy Antoun in Classes, College, History, Professors, Teaching on November 5, 2009
I have a legitimate problem with professors who have PhD’s or JD’s but truly don’t know how to teach. You can be the smartest person in the world, but sometimes, your place in the world isn’t always in the classroom.
There is a certain professor of mine teaching a history course that supposedly consists of the entirety of the 20th century in Europe. Now, I’m not sure what you think about this general topic but I find it hard to teach a course about 20th century Europe while pretending things like D-Day, the Somme, French occupation of the Rhineland, and the Battle of the Bulge never happened. Apparently, what tickles my professor’s fancy is women’s rights and the “modern woman” and the Holocaust. I will agree with her and whoever is reading my blog- these things are extremely important. But how can you ignore the deaths of soldiers during the war? How can you ignore the colossal battles that reshaped the entire war? You simply can’t.
I also despise history classes that turn into book report fun-time classes. Apparently, in the eyes of my professor, reading historical fiction is the academic masturbation equivalent to Sam Huntington making love with George W. Bush.
The Holocaust was a terrible thing. No one can deny that. But there is no reason why a class should surround lessons on World War II precisely around it. There were a lot of other things that happened during the war. I can name a few off the top of my head that I think are just as important, if not far more important than women’s rights and the harping upon 6 million dead Jews versus the other 5 million Catholics, homosexuals, gypsies, and priests that were killed as well. For some reason, everyone forgets the latter. Alas, I digress.
Keynesian Economics – This was the time period where Mr. John Maynard Keynes had a fucking ball. The next time I hear that Keynes was a free market advocate, I’m going to light a dollar bill on fire in commemoration of Thomas Jefferson. Keynes saw the collapse of the old Republics as the prime opportunity to show Europe why socialism is amazing and free markets are crap. But we all know the truth. Socialism is for pansies and free markets are for the truly intelligent. But why is this important? BECAUSE WE ARE STILL PRACTICING THE “SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC” BEHAVIOR OF WORLD WAR II. BUT IS THIS MENTIONED IN CLASS? NO, OF COURSE NOT.
D-Day was a great time. No, not really. after 150,000 American, Canadian, and British forced stormed the shores of Normandy, my professor decides to pretend it never happened. No, instead, looking at pictures of Germans line up for fresh meat rationing is far more important than 10,000 maimed soldiers lying dead or dying on, of all places, a French beach.
There’s nothing better than watching a bunch of Soviets prancing around German countryside realizing that Berlin is just a few miles away. Although my professor would rather talk about how German women were raped, I still think that the Battle of Berlin was just a tad more important in the grander scheme of things. Oh that’s right, it’s because the battle gave us the Cold War, WHICH HAPPENED IN EUROPE.
Who is Roy Antoun?
Roy Antoun is a Rutgers University undergraduate student double majoring in History & Political Science. He is also a Young Americans for Liberty Foreign Policy Researcher and Editor-in-Chief of YAL's Foreign Policy Handbook. Roy hopes to attend Law School and work in international law.