Teachers and Ignorance

Originally posted by TACHYON
None of my teachers ever did anything to me about correctiing them. They actually liked it, and we became very good friends. They liked me.

Lucky you. I usually keep my mouth shut all class, maybe thats why none of the teachers ingauged in a conversation. Oh well, 9 months to go!

I even used to call my teacher by his first name jokingly in class, but now I do not because I respect him even more.

My 8th grade teacher told me the Potsdam Conference occured in Potsdam, NY. My 2nd grade teacher couldn't spell. A lot of other things I was told were wrong, I just can't remember them now.

My junior year Social Studies teacher was fresh out of college and way over her head. I routinely questioned or corrected her. I was always in the principals office because of that. She told my Mom to ground me, and my Mom laughed at her.

I'm currently still in college and most of my friends that are going to be teachers aren't the brightest, it's scary. I tell them all the time that they can never teach my kids.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of GREAT teachers out there. People that are really brilliant and passionate and could be making a lot more money doing something else, but just love doin what they do. That shouldn't be overlooked.

Originally posted by TACHYON
I even used to call my teacher by his first name jokingly in class, but now I do not because I respect him even more.

At my school, teachers are always called by their first name. The idea is that it makes it easier for the student to approach the teacher with a problem. I don't think the teachers get any less respect from it.

I have one teacher that is beyond ignorant, try moron. She is no longer allowed to teach anything above the 9th grade. She taught me Fine Arts crap that she didn't know anything about! We just looked at papers she got off the Internet and highlighted what she told us to. Then we had a huge test that involved looking up what we had highlighted and filling the blank for the EXACT SAME sentence!

In History class we were talking about "Old Ironsides" (a WOODEN boat) and the teacher said "Why was Old Ironsides given its name? Because it was made of iron." I didn't bother to correct him because the entire class agreed and it would have only confused them. Sometimes I feel like an outcast because I scored a 29 on the ACT (highest ever at my school) and the next highest in the whole school got a 19. For the most part I am literally surrounded by idiots at school.

I feel your pain RogueX. I don't exactly score that high on tests but I know how you feel about being surronded by idiots. But I have to ask whos fault is that. Well I figure it goes back to the teachers and the parents. Ok well heres a little perspective. Lets figure theres normally 364 days in a year. And most schools are required to teach 180 days out of the year. So figure thats rounding up its 50% of the year at least. Now per day in my town the average middle school kid gets up at 6:00 am. Then goes to bed at 9:00. The child has to be at school from 7:40 to 3:00. Ok so thats what a fifteen hour day and the child spends about seven hours and twenty minutes spent at school. And most of the childs day at home tends to be without their parents. So I'm sure many of you are wondering whats the point of this. The point is that a large portion of your childs youth were there learning with the teacher. Bad teaching can have as much of an influeence as bad parenting. Throw in the various demoralizing factors of school (peer pressure, bullying, uniforms) and kids will probably believe anything a teacher tells them.

Actually I havent had so much of a problem with teachers as I have with students. Back in high school, one of the students asked "which way is clockwise" in our physics class. I just wanted to get up and slap that B(&*(&h for asking such a question. Mind you she wasnt very attractive also. I just feel that teachers are afraid of getting criticism from parents and let them pass on to high school, when they are reading at a second grade level. And dont get me started on graduation tests.

In elementary school, I got detention for correcting a teacher's grammar. She had wrote on a test, "What speeded up..." and I wrote sped above speeded. I got detention for "changing the test."

And then there's my college American History teacher. I can't stand her. She makes it very obvious that she hates white people and Southerners...and she's a white Southerner herself!

The school prepares you for corporate life, you are indoctrinated with the idea of "prestige": You need to work hard if you want to be something in your life.

Don't get me wrong,
I love school, I love the field im studying, however, I can't help to think that I am being used to feed the economy. An neverending battlefield for power and profit.

You guys getting me at all?

Ice^^Heat I understand what your saying. School has a purpose, but its not really being used for that purpose. But it drives me crazy how teachers get away with this kind of ignorance. I remember my friend used to have to correct the teacher all the time. Its so sad.

you really cant blame them. most get paid $#!+ and dont care for their work. its not worth putting in so much effort when the board of education doesnt even care about you. some of them are dedicated and passionate, very few. most are just as arrogant and lazy as normal folk. : /

Guesss this could mean that some should take their education into their own hands - learn what they believe will be needed and not learn what is given to them, but what they believe is only distracting.

Originally posted by sturod84
you really cant blame them. most get paid $#!+ and dont care for their work. its not worth putting in so much effort when the board of education doesnt even care about you. some of them are dedicated and passionate, very few. most are just as arrogant and lazy as normal folk. : /

Sorry to just show up in the thread, but I'm really interested in what you all have to say. From my standpoint, the main purpose of schooling is not to shove information down your throats and make you eat it, and then spit it back out to make sure you ate it, but to help you mature as individuals.

I feel like I might be black balled if I say this but, I'm a teacher myself and I hate the idea of humiliating a student ever... Helping kids reach maturity, and become life long learners is my true goal.

Also, probably the most important aspect of schooling is to ensure that the upcoming generations don't make the same mistakes that mankind has made in the past. Without learning history, you may have no knowledge of the nazi's in world war II, for an extreme example. Then furthermore, without learning social behavior, some people might go ahead and start hateful groups that hurt mankind.

Personally, I teach math, which is not completely in relation to our social beings, but it does help students see more and more possibilities in their lives. It helps them envision new ways that may help our society, and help them ultimately become very intelligent human beings.

On the other hand some people don't love learning math, but does that truly make them exempt? Or do you feel they should learn at least some level in order to properly function in our now consumers' society of crap?
I may not have all the answers but I do know that close mindedness will not get me any closer to getting them.

Also, I'm only 25, and remember teachers are only human, not information robots.

its not your job to parent kids. the only reason you get paid is to teach! making kids as smart as possible within the given time they are at school is completely in your hands. however they mature is up to their parents. you can guide them with compation and heart, but it shouldnt be your priority. the more knowlegde, common sense, and discipline you can cram into their heads will turn out to be nothing more then tools of assistance on their road to maturity. if they use these tools effectivly or not is what their parents are spose to be teaching them. do what you can to help them evolve, the rest of the "human" stuff is up to their parents. keep in mind im pretty young too but this is my opinion, have a good day.

Originally posted by cyberdude78
Well it sounds like some of you were lucky. As for me well my school system had a lot of problems. Me personally I hate how kids are rarely allowed to disagree with teachers. Yes when I was in elementary school the Clinton administration was still in power. The school made it seem as if the current president was some kind of diety. Yeah I found out years later that most teachers never mentioned the whole Monica thing with Clinton. When I was in middle school I talked about this at home. Heres what I was told. "The teachers have degrees and you don't".

Please ask these teachers why they never taught you about commas. If you're going to argue with a teacher, you should at least be able to speak the same language. It might help.

Of cource, there are teachers that truly want to help their students.
But when I was in school there were only two teachers of that kind, other 15(?) hated themselfs, their life and their students and just tried to stuff them with info they were told to stuff them with.

Yet people, especially children, can feel very well if the person ( in this canse a teacher ) is working from his heart or if he hates everything and everyone around him. If the teacher is in the second category, children would reject him, as well as whatever he is trying to teach them.

As for "social beings"... at school kids are usually stricktly taught that "this is good" and "this is bad". So when they will see someone doing something that does not completely fit into this world model they were taught, they will simply label him as "bad". Could it be more effective to teach that everybody has his own view on the world? And that there are no things that are only "good" or "bad"?

As for teaching discipline and respect..... as for me, I do respect people for what they are and what they did in (with) their lives. Teachers that were telling me "you have to respect us! You have to respect grownups!" somehow are not respected by me or anybody else I know...
Yet I cannot even imagine those people who I respect telling me "You have to respect up!"

Now Math... it is believed that we do have two parts of our brain - logical and intuitive or creative. If one is training only his logic ( by doing lots and lots of math ) and not doing anything creative... it would be the same as teaching one to do everything with his left hand and ignore the right one. Sooner or later his right hand would dry out and his left hand would be overtrained. We would have a cripple that already cannot create anything new, that is awaiting commands from others.

90% of Nobel prize winners said that their discoveries were made not only by logicaly combining their knowlege, but also by some intuition... by the way.


Good Luck!

[edit on 30-9-2004 by bratok]

That's a great point Bratok...
One thing I have been grappling with is trying to incorporate as many artistic and abstract thoughts into the class as possible. However, looking back, and now seeing the maturity level of lower high school kids, it's quite difficult trying to get them to expand beyond their comfort zone's, when social acceptance is probably their biggest fear.

We can wax intellectual forever about trying to lure students into more creative and substantial thought. Something which would not only be more enjoyable for me, but also more relevant to real life, but the majority of students are simply afraid to make themselves know as intellectuals. Especially in the city, it is very seldom that a student will try to take a conversation into a much deeper level of understanding, for fear of being made fun of, and ostrasized, even though I wouldn't tolerate that in class.

So now tell me this. How do you feel about the teachers who make sure all the students get a basic level of understanding, of basic concepts, to prepare them for the next thing. Or, is it better to delve into more substantial and creative thought, even though many will not follow. Yet in doing this, you may create a more intelligent and better learner for some individuals, who can process the concepts. Plus it is nearly impossible to choose a middle ground because it promotes chaos.

Originally posted by brimstone735

Please ask these teachers why they never taught you about commas. If you're going to argue with a teacher, you should at least be able to speak the same language. It might help.

Excuse me but this thread is about how some not all teachers have ignorance problems. This thread does not have anything to do with any person's puncuation. Next can you present proof that I am not simply say a German who recently learned English. Now I don't mind if you make a comment on my English or spelling, but I do mind insults such as your's.

Now back on topic, I can definitely agree that its the parents job to teach their children responsibilty. On the other hand its still a problem that in a number of cases children are in school longer than they see their parents during the week. I find that the best teachers I've had also taught me about reality, not just what happened 2000 years ago. A good teacher can get a person to learn facts, a great teacher can teach a child about how those facts apply to them.

EDIT: Spelling errors, thanks for the spelling lesson Goregrinder

[edit on 9/30/2004 by cyberdude78]

God forbid a teacher makes an incorrect statement, as we all know they aren't classified in the same species of humanoid as everyone (i think) posting on these boards. I know people from all walks of life, and teachers are the most passionate, compelling people i have ever had the chance to listen to in my personal life. You don't think of it when you're an adolescent, but do you realise the sacrifice they make everyday? All the way from a Kindergarten teacher to a doctor of the liberal arts, these people have made a decision to teach those who want to learn. This is the most selfless, thankless profession in existance.

PS. A note from Teacher Goregrinder: defanatly, as you put it, is spelled d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.

>>but the majority of students are simply afraid to make themselves know as intellectuals.

Yes, the fear of "not being as everyone" becomes quite a big one, after their parents start telling them that they should be like everyone.