Quote:
Originally Posted by garinda
Question for teachers.
Concerning the annual increase of students' qualifications, and grades.
Have standards of education risen, or have examinations become easier, over the last thirty or so years?
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An interesting question. I haven't been involved in the public school system ... ("public school" doesn't mean what it does in the UK ... it refers to the government funded elementary, junior high, and high schools, grades kindergarten to 12) ... for several years now, but I do have some knowledge of the kind of student who is now arriving at university. Once again (and I know I have a bug up my ass about it), political correctness seems to be a culprit in the deterioration of standards of the kids who enter university. Kids are passed on from one grade to the next even if they don't pass. One doesn't want to hurt their feelings by making them feel inadequate ... making examinations easier is one way that the system deals with failure. So, what do we get in first year university? Semi-literates who will be allowed to struggle through university, and end up with a meaningless **** - poor degree.
Several years ago, when I allowed myself to be talked into teaching English 110 (entry level ... Beowulf to Virginia Woolfe) the irate parent of a failing idiot airhead bimbo (now that's a little politically incorrect) phoned me and told me that her daughter had to pass because she (the mother) had forked over thousands of dollars so that her daughter could go to university. I politely informed her that if her daughter wished to pass the course, she might try attending classes, doing the required assignments, and passing the mid-term exams. Neither mother nor daughter got the point.
Failure is always an option. Ironically, it is what makes us successful as a species ... failure and taking risks is what we are about. It's how we learn. Chasing a mammoth off the edge of a cliff is no doubt risky; but it sure beats the hell out of starving to extinction. Let's face the bitter truth; some folks are just not cut out for the academic route. Doesn't mean that they don't have opportunities: they could have a good life as a teacher or a tory politician.
