Steve, I appreciate your question(s) and the dilemmas that your questions
expose. The answer to your questions often come from reflection...who
were my most effective teachers and why?
Most of the teachers in my formal educational life seemed inadequate -- I
know enough now to realize that much of that inadequacy simply reflects
who I was and what my needs were then. The teachers who stick out in my
mind (and later, the professors and grad students who taught in the
colleges and universities I attended) are each distinctly different.
I learned as a child that learning is an individual responsibility...this
at the feet of two grandfathers with minimal formal education and a high
degree of learning. Sometimes teachers (and the educational systems) get
in the way of learning. More often than not, though, students are their
own worse obstacle. I determined at a very early age that grades were
irrelevant to my learning. This fact had other consequences, but the
integrity of my determination to learn despite grading still endures. How
many students who pursued grades retained any sense of learning? Not many
in my recollection.
There are many professions where the art is lost, though the craft is not.
Teaching is one of these...I learned best from those teachers who had
mastered the art of teaching in addition to the craft--and I learned only
to avoid those who had learned a craft and never mastered the art.
I suspect, Steve, that purpose is an essential of answering your
questions. What is the purpose of education (as a provider; as a receiver
and as a co-participant)? Why teach? Why study? What are our mutual or
shared purposes? If I teach primarily as a source of income, prestige and
security--well then, I will approach education differently than if I teach
because of my passion, or because it reflects core values I hold dear.
Similar differences can be found in students. Education is a stepping
stone (for career, income, prestige, to meet Dad or Mom's expectations)
--- or it is an end in itself.
I don't believe that any general response to your questions would be
accurate Steve, so I've meandered on in a response that reflects my
experiences and values. Universities and colleges are, in the final
analysis, institutions of a society and culture. It is very appropriate
that they are conservative--slow to change and quick to resist fads in
educational styles.
regards,
Doc
-- "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind, and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof." -John Kenneth GalbraithThresholds <http://www.thresholds.com> Meeting Masters <http://www.thresholds.com/masters.html> Richard Charles "Doc" Holloway - P.O. Box 641, Long Beach, WA 98631 Voice 360.642.8487 ICQ# 10849650
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>