don_quixote
Trent End
they are careerist drones! half of them only ever talk about what bloody car theyre going to get when theyre rich. YUK
they are careerist drones! half of them only ever talk about what bloody car theyre going to get when theyre rich. YUK
to borrow hundredmillion's idiom, you can become an unquestioning servant of the dominant ideology.
Yes, but doesn't inculcating an attitude of "doing well at the job that they have been given" simply turn students into these drones? I think the passive voice in that phrase is telling. "Whatever you are made to do, do it and LIKE IT."
Still, some of those students, while frustrating at times, were the most interesting thinkers (especially on my campus, a very conformist state university in the rural U.S. midwest -- oops, the topic says 'Britain').
Maybe not in terms of testable abilities, but a certain mode of critical thinking and skepticism... I don't know, maybe that was already there and lead to all the smoking and crap-talking once I got to college.
Yes, but doesn't inculcating an attitude of "doing well at the job that they have been given" simply turn students into these drones? I think the passive voice in that phrase is telling. "Whatever you are made to do, do it and LIKE IT."
But this is - or should be - completely irrelevant at the university level, and (ideally) even at A-level: no-one's made you study the subject ("given you the job"), you chose it yourself!
If you don't like it, it's your own fault for not choosing better in the first place.
This sort of smells of noliberal fetishization of the individual where your fate is completely determined by your own choices... like you could slip into castigating "welfare mothers" for being poor because they are lazy at any minute. You must be very happy in your program!
What if you take up a degree or A-Level in a subject you want to learn about, only to find that all that is on offer or required is memorisation of facts/formulae, original thought is not encouraged, nor required nor rewarded?
Sometimes the subject is interesting but the curriculum / teaching aims leave a lot to be desired.
This was definitely my experience of A-levels.
What if you take up a degree or A-Level in a subject you want to learn about, only to find that all that is on offer or required is memorisation of facts/formulae, original thought is not encouraged, nor required nor rewarded?
I think the point is less about doing well at the job you've been given than about developing the self discipline to sit down and do the hard or tedious stuff that has to be done for whatever reason, so that whether you eventually decide to overthrow the state by armed rebellion or to make fat stacks of cash as an investment banker you can actually go out and do it rather than rapidly losing interest and following the path of least resistance.Yes, but doesn't inculcating an attitude of "doing well at the job that they have been given" simply turn students into these drones?
This sort of smells of neoliberal fetishization of the individual where your fate is completely determined by your own choices... like you could slip into castigating "welfare mothers" for being poor because they are lazy at any minute. You must be very happy in your program!
And can't you use the "you chose this job yourself" argument in any number of situations in our "free employment" economy? I've "chosen" many jobs I haven't particularly liked or desired, but I did them because I had to. Luckily no one was demanding I enjoy it!
Mixed Biscuits
Ask your prof for extra, more interesting work or do some off your own back? Find out why you need a stockpile of facts? Change subjects? Do S-Levels too? Campaign to have the system changed?
Or just eat it and plough through the courses anyway
Your choice is poverty or make a positive contribution to society and earn a living from that. It's the same choice for everybody pretty much throughout history. Nobody said you will enjoy it!
Poverty as a choice! We really do live in the best of all possible worlds!
I agree. The system is so formulaic and it seems that the stock learning of facts is all that is needed to get high grades, which I also believe is a predominant reason explaining why, for want of a better term, absolute idiots can get good grades. There's no need for higher intelligence or genuine passion for a subject. As you've also said, my reasons for thinking this do not stem from me being an embittered poor-achiever,as I'm far from it, but just a total disillusionment with the system which has caused me to wonder why I should even be bothering at all.I was trying to put forward the idea that it's a shame so many syllabuses (syllabi?) just teach you how to pass the exam and not much more, and really it's letting down everyone.
Yes you can easily get a qualification if you can be bothered to do some simple work but you don't actually learn about the subject much. You can go off and learn about it in your own time but you won't be rewarded with any recognised qualifications.
So you can learn in a shallow memorising way and get a qualification and maybe a job.
Or you can learn more deeply and not get a qualification and find it harder to get a job.
(yes, you could do both but what a twisted system!)
I’ve found that my peers have become so used to the complacency of being totally neutral that, when asked to offer their opinion on an issue, they’re indecisive and not used to it.