orichalcum

Sometimes I think I would love teaching if it weren't for the administrative aspects, primarily the grading protests. It's amazing how people will lie, cheat, and steal, not to mention make your life hell, for a number on a piece of paper. I suppose part of the blame lies on admissions committees for med/law/grad schools who take said numbers seriously enough to make decisions based on them, but people need to learn that most of what they think are life-or-death admissions decisions really truly aren't in the broader scheme of things.

Perhaps this is what we get for throwing 16-year olds into the college admissions race, teaching them early that grades and resume padding are ZOMG important. My theory is that we should ban colleges from accepting anyone under 21 (also effectively abolishing underage drinking in college ;)). A few years in the real world would do wonders for giving kids perspective on life, and if a few of them decide that they actually don't need a four year liberal arts education to do what they want in life and save themselves four years and $120+K, more power to em. Of course, I'm sure Kaplan and the Princeton Review would just concoct some way to spend the three years between high school and college padding one's resume, but we can dream, right?

in response to the comment that we should throw kids out into the 'real' world to give them perspective and thus reduce the inherent 4.0 desire--up until a semester ago i'd have heartily agreed. now that i teach older students, let me assure you that extended contact with the 'real' world does not reduce the grade-grubbing. no way, no how.

if anything, it can make it worse, since success in a profession or two outside of academe makes people confident enough to think that they should then succeed equally well in the classroom. 'how can you critique my writing--i'm an award-winning journalist? how can you critique my writing, i'm a professor emeritus of accounting?' um, because neither of those metiers seems to have prepared you to write logically and coherently about history?