Referring to an incident in which a vegan teacher showed her class a PEDA video, Brittany wrote, “The sharing of such controversial opinions may lead to mistaken perceptions and accusatory beliefs.” She then posed the question: Can you think of a time when your teachers may have shared an opinion to this degree with your class and what effects did it have, if any?
I honestly don’t think I can recall a time when I personally faced this situation with a teacher. I will say that if a teacher is speaking about such opinions as anything but just that—opinions—that is highly inappropriate. If a teacher is speaking about his personal opinions as if it is the right way to think and other opinions are wrong, that is unacceptable. That being said, I also feel like learning about other people’s opinions can help us to better form our own, or better understand the ones we have already formed. I think if a teacher has an opinion that is different from the norm, they should be free to share it as long as they are willing to accept that it is not everyone’s opinion. If a teacher is vegan and wants to share why that is with his students, I find that acceptable as long as he is also willing to listen to the opposing opinions of his students and not try to force his beliefs on them as absolute truth. After all, there have been plenty of teachers who were ostracized and worse for believing in, for instance, evolution. Where would the world be if those teachers had just kept silent and pretended to believe in Creationism because evolution was a controversial topic?
Question in response: Do you think students are more likely to assume their teachers are always correct, or to question them?
Courtney asked, Would independent learning be beneficial for a majority or would this lead to academic catastrophe or complication? What could happen to a person’s motivation when it is completely up to them to learn and absorb the material without the presence of a professor or fellow classmates?
I definitely think that independent learning is NOT meant for the masses. For one thing, many students in the public school system are only there because they are being forced to be there, and have no interest in attending classes or learning. If such students were in charge of furthering their own education, it simply would not happen. Those kids aside, though, even students who enjoy learning might struggle with independent learning. For instance, I decided to take an online psychology course this past semester. Psychology is my major and I thoroughly enjoy studying it. Even so, I ended up falling behind and doing badly in the course because of it. Some people just don’t do well with time management and keeping themselves on track. I’m one of them. Furthermore, I think a system based solely on independent learning would not be as beneficial because human interaction in an important part of school. I think discussing ideas about the material being learned and being social with fellow students is healthy.
Question in Response: How important has social interaction been for you throughout your scholastic career?
In classrooms all across the country there are little plastic cages with hamsters and gerbils trotting away on their wheels. Turtles or frogs or fish sit in aquariums minding their own business while young eager eyes peer in at them and high-pitched voices argue over whose turn it is to sprinkle a pinch of food into the water. Or, as was the case with my private school in Vermont, a few dogs and cats traipse the halls looking to be pet and played with by someone who isn’t stuck sitting in a desk at the time. In some schools, the animals are sent home with students to be taken care of—a tool meant to teach responsibility. In other schools, the pet in question is kept in the classroom as a sort of companion for the students. I have never seen any evidence, however, that keeping animals in class improves learning in any way.
I’m wondering if any of you think there are benefits to keeping pets in the classroom? What are they?
Emily wrote in her blog: We don't pay people based on how valuable their job is, because we give the most money to athletes and movie stars instead of firefighters and teachers. So, why do we pay some workers more than others?
The answer to this question is obvious to me. People who bring more money in get paid more money. People buy tickets to go see athletes and movie stars perform. Their names sell merchandise like shirts and figurines. That’s also why people in those careers who are not as well known don’t make the same exorbitant amount of money as more popular and recognizable stars. Teachers and firefighters provide a greater service, yes, but those services don’t result in any sum of money being made. Unfortunately, it is all a business and based off of profits.
Question in response: What are some ways you can think of to get more recognition for those in occupations such as teaching and fire fighting that don’t receive as much money for their admirable work?
In my high school in Texas, we did not use block scheduling. We signed up for eight classes at the beginning of the year, and every single day we attended all eight classes, from September through May. We took midterms for all eight in December before winter break, and took finals for them at the end of the year. When I moved to Vermont, however, it was completely different. I hadn’t even HEARD of block scheduling before, and it took me ages to get used to it. Instead of taking eight classes throughout the year, we took three every day for one semester and a different three every day during the second semester. We had midterms for our fall classes in October and the finals in December. Then when we came back from break in January we start a whole new set of classes that had midterms in March and finals at the end of the year. This is, of course, not unlike the system here at MCLA. The strange thing, though, was that we also had two classes that we attended every other day throughout the entire school year that had midterms before winter break and finals before school let out for the summer.
On the one hand, I liked block scheduling because if I was taking a class I didn’t like, it only lasted one semester and I didn’t have to keep sitting through it all year. On the other hand, when I took a class I really liked I hated that it ended so soon.
Did your school have block scheduling? Do you think block scheduling is a better or worse idea than the tradition system?
Mary posed the question, Who is happier? The person who goes to school for a long time and then goes into the workforce, or the person who learns from life?
In my opinion, if a person went to school and got their degree in, for instance, psychology and then ended up not making a successful career out of it and instead was only making enough to live off of or—worse—had to get a job outside their field in order to support themselves, they would not be as happy as someone who forewent school in favor of starting a life and exploring different experiences. That is to say, if you are going to be stuck in a less-than-glamorous job anyway and working just to make ends meet, I think you would be happier having skipped all that time spent in school instead of out in the world.
On the other hand, say you are one of the people who goes to school, gets his degree, and is highly successful in his field and makes a good amount of money and gets recognized as being influential and whatnot. I think that person would be happier than someone who forewent school in order to start living their life and seeking out new experiences and ended up a part of the average working class. The problem is, when we enter college we don’t know which one we will end up being; the one who gets a degree and makes it big, or the one who gets a degree and ends up a part of the working class anyway.
Question in response: Do you think it takes a great teacher or a great student to achieve greatness? That is, do you think a great teacher could make a successful student out of someone who is not interested in learning?
