to read makes our speaking English good

[lunabee34]

This post brought to you by a feverless child. :)

I normally do not post about politics or current events because this is my happy place, and I know it's the happy place for many of you, but I want to weigh in on the Rand Paul plagiarism case. According to the New York Times, the Senator "said the lapses were the result of his newfound status as a freshman senator in high demand, and the overwhelming workload that has brought with it for him and his staff." Do you know what I hear when I read that sentence? "Dr. Lunabee, we had a game this weekend. Dr. Lunabee, I'm taking 17 hours this semester. Dr. Lunabee, I'm fighting with my boyfriend. Dr. Lunabee, I'm living a real life in the real world where thing are sometimes shitty and fast paced and even though the other students in the class who also have problems didn't resort to plagiarism, I did because my life is harder and specialer than everyone else's. Can I do this assignment over?"

The Senator also said the following: "'What we are going to do from here forward, if it will make people leave me the hell alone, is we’re going to do them like college papers,” he said. “We’re going to try to put out footnotes.”' And here's the crux of what's pissing me off, and another point of connection I'm sadly finding between Senator Paul and many of my students. What happens in a college English class is not merely about those sixteen weeks of school in that one class. The point of a college English class is to teach students the reading and writing skills they will need FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES IN MULTIPLE SETTINGS. We teach students to cite their work because they need to do so in HIST 1012 and in their biology dissertations and in the reports they write for their jobs and in the romance novels they e-publish. For the Senator to dismiss those basic literacy skills taught in ENGL 1101 as irrelevant or somehow beneath him boggles my mind.

I believe this way of thinking is one of the biggest problems we face in higher education. So many times, our students are unable to understand the relevance of the material they're being taught or to make connections between what they're learning in one class and what they're learning in another unless it's explicitly articulated for them. And even then sometimes they remain skeptical. I think we do our students a disservice when we treat the subjects we teach as disparate and unrelated and when we do not consistently and constantly connect their learning in all classes to career goals. For that reason, I strongly support interdisciplinary approaches to teaching as well as the implementation of courses (like a freshman seminar, etc.) that focus on the meta-cognitive aspects of learning: What's my motivation for being in college? What are my strengths and weaknesses as a student? How can I best use the resources offered by my institution? How can I connect what I'm learning now to my future employment? What's the best way to deal with the obstacles life presents to earning my education?

Quotations taken from this newspaper article

Comments

[havocthecat]

because my life is harder and specialer than everyone else's

HEY LOOK, IT'S THE CRUX OF THE ENTITLEMENT ISSUE.

Honestly. I can't disagree with anything you've said.

[lunabee34]

*nods*

And then I started reading more and stumbled across the interview Mike Huckabee did with Paul where Huckabee is all, "They're just afraid of what you're saying. That's all this is." Um, no. LOL

[ariadne83]

When I was in college I had two part times jobs, and undiagnosed severe PTSD. Yet somehow I made it through without ever plagiarising anyone.

[lunabee34]

*hugs*

No shit.

[Also, you rock.]

Took Feefers to the doctor again this morning; turns out she has an ear infection; that's why she's better, but still weirdly not all the way better. Hopefully now that we have meds, we can all start sleeping again. LOL

[ariadne83]

Awww poor baby. And poor family lol

[lunabee34]

*huggles and snuggles*

Things are so much better now. :)

I hope things are going well with you and yours!

[ariadne83]

We're alright. It's always tough for Cam coming up to the holidays, without his mum

[lunabee34]

I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard that would be. :(

[ariadne83]

Thanks *hugs*


There were tears at bedtime. Not something you get over, but we had a good talk

[lunabee34]

It's so hard when someone you love is hurting and there's no way to fix it. One of my closest RL friends, her mom died right after the holidays last year; I know this will be really hard for her. :(

[agentcthulhu]

"So many times, our students are unable to understand the relevance of the material they're being taught or to make connections between what they're learning in one class and what they're learning in another unless it's explicitly articulated for them. And even then sometimes they remain skeptical. I think we do our students a disservice when we treat the subjects we teach as disparate and unrelated and when we do not consistently and constantly connect their learning in all classes to career goals. For that reason, I strongly support interdisciplinary approaches to teaching as well as the implementation of courses (like a freshman seminar, etc.) that focus on the meta-cognitive aspects of learning: What's my motivation for being in college? What are my strengths and weaknesses as a student? How can I best use the resources offered by my institution? How can I connect what I'm learning now to my future employment? What's the best way to deal with the obstacles life presents to earning my education?"

YES TO ALL THIS. I've seen third-year students (co-op students I met through work) from one of the most reputable post-secondary schools in the country writing reports without grammar agreements in informal registers. I didn't think much of it at the time because I was looking at draft copies and the students were ESL. Then my friend who's attending the same school for graduate studies asked me to look at one of her papers because there are no writing centres to help students with their written work, I was boggled.

Plus, I can not think of any schools that does not teach essential life skills - money management, cooking, driving, conflict resolution, emotional awareness, etc. as an elective. It can be argued that these are skills that parents are supposed to teach to their kids but I think we're at a point where too many parents don't have the skills themselves to pass on down to their kids. It's a wonder not more people are in debt or have health problems.

[lunabee34]

*nods along madly*

It's really, really sad when schools don't have the resources to offer students (and even more so when there's a big ESL or first gen college student population).

I think the idea that parents are doing much of anything has to just be tossed out the window. I mean, it's weird to me because anecdotally, I don't know many parents who aren't doing pretty much what they should be with their kids, but I also realize that most of the people I associate with are middle class, employed, college educated themselves, and expect their kids to go to college. So many of my students are first gen college students and have no idea what to expect from college and sometimes their parents even actively discourage them from attending because they don't value a college education. Which, to be fair, not everybody should pursue a college education. Plenty of wonderful employment opportunities don't require a college education. I think funneling students into vocational schools is another thing we don't do enough of when it's clear the four-year BS route is not a good fit.

[agentcthulhu]

Funny story about that school - it's a common joke that the undergrads understand their math TAs better when the TAs use Mandarin in tutorials. I'm not saying that it's true at all but it is true the school's student body has a huge number of first-gen immigrants. As long as they and their future employers can communicate with each other and the students can get results, it's all good right? /sarcasm

I have a lot to say about vocational schools, language barriers, expectations and education in general but they are all strongly tied to my personal history. I shall send them through via a pm if you don't mind?

[lunabee34]

Please do. I don't post very often about my views re: education because I'm terrified of something I post here impacting my employment in some way. Hopefully I will get tenure this year, and then you can expect to see more general posts about higher education (nothing about my specific institution).