[Peace-discuss] WaPo: Liberals, Dems, Women Abandon Afghan War

[LAURIE SOLOMON]

But Mort I was a teacher for several years albeit at the Jr. College and
College level and not at the primary and secondary school leave.  My
experience was one of extreme pressure by  administrators and colleagues to
tone down my expectations and demands of the students, to teach in a
non-controversial manner material that did not challenge convention, and to
teach practical  things and not indulge in non-practical theoretical
speculation and critical questioning of established beliefs and principles.
Many potentially good creative skeptical teachers either buckled under due
to not wanting to fight the pressure or left teaching out of frustration.

 

As for your having a couple of good skeptical teachers, no one said that
they never existed and do not now; and yes they do leave lasting
impressions.  As you note, "even so, 'delicate' questions were and are too
often avoided."

 

From: Morton K. Brussel [mailto:brussel at illinois.edu] 
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 6:09 PM
To: LAURIE SOLOMON
Cc: 'C.G.Estabrook'; 'Peace-discuss List'
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] WaPo: Liberals, Dems, Women Abandon Afghan War

 

So, become a teacher!

 

I've had a couple good skeptical ones in American history classes in both
Junior HS and HS, and they made lasting impressions. Even so, "delicate"
questions were too often avoided. 

 

 

On Aug 20, 2009, at 4:49 PM, LAURIE SOLOMON wrote:





Ah; but the rub is that students grow up to be the teachers.  As teachers,
they perpetuate the non-skeptical and non-questioning attitude, which now is
replaced with real professional and economic vested interests in not
questioning as opposed to when they were students and it was a matter of the
authority and power relationship between student and teacher that kept then
uncritical vessels for the ranting of their professors.  It would appear
that each generation of teachers teaches the next to be less and less
critical and more and more accepting of the established discourse.  Each
generation of teachers teaches the next generation of teachers to be dumber
and dumber relying more and more on a highly in-the-box technical
perspective with great reliance on technology over critical intellectual
thinking. The more things change the more they stay the same.

 

 

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Morton K.
Brussel
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 3:08 PM
To: C.G.Estabrook
Cc: Peace-discuss List
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] WaPo: Liberals, Dems, Women Abandon Afghan War

Chomsky not so infrequently over reaches, as in the assertions below. 

 

Chomsky puts students on the same level as their teachers; most students do
not have confidence enough, knowledge enough, or are not well read or
experienced enough to challenge what is being told to them in their classes.
They do not have enough self command to say to their teachers: That's a
ridiculous lie. You're an idiot . 

 

Perhaps Chomsky is projecting onto others his own experience, but I don't
believe that that's an extrapolation that should be made. 

 

But yes, I would agree that students generally do not have enough skepticism
inbred in them in their prior lives.

 

One should also be skeptical of Chomsky, all the while respecting generally
what he has to say.

 

--mkb

 

 

On Aug 20, 2009, at 2:32 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:






I don't think he goes far enough. I'd say there are certain things it
wouldn't do to think. A good education instills in you the intuitive
comprehension--it becomes unconscious and reflexive--that you just don't
think certain things, things that are threatening to power interests.

Not everyone accepts this. But most of us, if we are honest with ourselves,
can look back at our own personal history. For those of us who got into good
colleges or the professions, did we stand up to that high school history
teacher who told us some ridiculous lie about American history and say,
"That's a ridiculous lie. You're an idiot"? No. We said, "All right, I'll
keep quiet, and I'll write it in the exam and I'll think, yes, he's an
idiot." And it's easy to say and believe things that improve your self-image
and your career and that are in other ways beneficial to yourselves.




 

 

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