Barry says:
>I grew jaded over the years by the way in which incompetence and incompetents
>peppered the teaching profession. Little could or would be done about it.
>There was no MEASURE that would successfully address the vague, foggy notions
>of product output--the student. Teachers were, in my own experience, in a
>world unto themselves... that.
There's a reason teachers are so vehemently against outcome-based
education. It sets up standards against which their performance is
measured. That takes control of educational objectives and outcomes away
from the teacher and into the hands of those who develop the outcomes and
standards. Many teachers remember when they were an underpaid class of
employees, with little respect and less reward. Is it any wonder they
bristle at being held accountable?
>We live in an anti-intellectual country, IMHO. Not unintellectual, but
>against intellect. I believe some of the burden is borne by our education
>system.
Thank you, Barry. I've been struggling with this my entire life and this
comment validates much of my experience. It also explains why Mensans and
other supposedly smart people are ridiculed rather than honored. We are
so insecure....
-- David E. Birren Phone: (608)267-2442 Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources Fax: (608)267-3579 Bureau of Management & Budget Internet: birred@dnr.state.wi.us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "To know, and not to act, is to not know." --Wang Yang Ming, 9th-century Chinese general