Teaching The Students We Have, Not the Students We Wish We Had

This is interesting. And I tell ya, there's a lot to that "students we wish we had" line, sheesh.

At the Tax Prof (via Instapundit):

Chronicle of Higher Education op-ed: Chronicle of Higher Education op-ed:  Teaching the Students We Have, Not the Students We Wish We Had, by Sara Goldrick-Rab (Temple University) & Jesse Stommel (University of Mary Washington):

Today’s college students are radically different from the students occupying college classrooms even a decade ago. The expansion of education that propelled widespread positive change through American communities in the 20th century has reached beyond high school, and more people than ever before understand the importance of postsecondary education in all its forms.

For broader participation to lead to positive outcomes — for example, the completion of degrees without huge debt burdens — students must have good experiences in the classroom. This is especially important yet incredibly difficult as the new economics of college are compromising the time, energy, and money that students and many of their professors have to spend on quality learning.

These are the core challenges of college today — and yet they are too often ignored. Instead, symptoms of those problems dominate air time, as the stereotype persists of "academically adrift" "snowflakes" "coddled" by their universities. Consider the recent essay by Nancy Bunge, "Students Evaluating Teachers Doesn’t Just Hurt Teachers. It Hurts Students," which takes on student evaluations. Bunge contends the "unearned arrogance encouraged by the heavy reliance on student evaluations helps produce passive, even contemptuous students who undermine the spirit of the class and lower its quality for everyone."

Her enemy appears to be sites like the often-lamented Rate My Professors, but her piece also attacks the students themselves, and reinforces a set of assertions largely drawn from one influential yet extremely narrow study, Academically Adrift, by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. The limited learning lamented by the authors is said to be linked to insufficiently challenging instructors, and according to Bunge those instructors are not demanding more of their students because they want to get good grades. She cites a Chronicle survey in which faculty members claim that students are "harder to teach" these days. The overall narrative suggests we should feel sorry for the faculty. If only they could have more-engaged students to teach...

Still more.

Frustrated Teacher Implores Parents to Stop 'Coddling and Enabling Their Children' (VIDEO)

At London's Daily Mail, "Texas teacher reveals how 'rude parents, disruptive children and poor pay' have forced her to quit her job in viral post - as she shares photos of classroom items 'destroyed' by her students."

And at the Other McCain, "K-12 Implosion Update."

Also at ABC News:

“Parents have become far too disrespectful, and their children are even worse.”

Frustrated teacher urges parents to stop 'coddling and enabling their children' in viral Facebook post. https://t.co/fKxnxc6N1i pic.twitter.com/y0S2y4hDdD

— ABC News (@ABC) April 11, 2018

Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner, Teaching As a Subversive Activity

I teach to subvert the leftist narrative, and it works!

At Amazon, Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner, Teaching As a Subversive Activity.

Fidget Spinners

The new hot thing:

Say hello to fidget spinners, the latest toy sensation https://t.co/pF88u75Fu7 pic.twitter.com/7dLYpf4eBs

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 5, 2017

Teachers are totally over fidget spinners: https://t.co/aAT5lzeQe5

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 5, 2017

The Right to Disconnect

I don't ever "disconnect." I might not check my emails for a while, but I'm always available.

It's not that big of a deal to me.

But see the Washington Post, "French employees can legally ignore work emails outside of office hours":

French employees can legally ignore work emails outside of office hours https://t.co/pJA1eOGpxI

— Katie Zavadski (@katiezavadski) January 1, 2017

I've always thought that if you need to shut off when you leave the office, then you must not really like what you do. https://t.co/31QTfxGuOr

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) January 1, 2017

That 10 p.m. email from your boss? It's your right to ignore it.

That Saturday ping from a colleague with “just one quick question?” A response on Monday should suffice.

If you're in France, that is.

French workers rang in a new year at midnight — as well as a “right to disconnect” law that grants employees in the country the legal right to ignore work emails outside of typical working hours, according to the Guardian.

The new employment law requires French companies with more than 50 employees to begin drawing up policies with their workers about limiting work-related technology usage outside the office, the newspaper reported.

The motivation behind the legislation is to stem work-related stress that increasingly leaks into people's personal time — and hopefully prevent employee burnout, French officials said.

“Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash, like a dog,” Benoit Hamon, Socialist member of Parliament and former French education minister, told the BBC in May. “The texts, the messages, the emails: They colonize the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down.”

France has had a 35-hour workweek since 2000, but the policy came under scrutiny recently given France's near-record-high unemployment rate.

The “right to disconnect” provision was packaged with new and controversial reforms introduced last year that were designed to relax some of the country's strict labor regulations. The amendment regarding ignoring work emails was included by French Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri, who reportedly was inspired by similar policies at Orange, a French telecommunications company.

“There are risks that need to be anticipated, and one of the biggest risks is the balance of a private life and professional life behind this permanent connectivity,” Orange Director General Bruno Mettling told Europe1 radio in February. “Professionals who find the right balance between private and work life perform far better in their job than those who arrive shattered.”

Well, I don't think your life's going to be "shattered" by checking your email, and as a professor, I know that a lot of the emails are from students. So I check it throughout the day. It's no big deal.

In any case, keep reading.

Didn't Feel Well Yesterday

I had a wonderful long Memorial Day weekend, but yesterday was a strange day at work.

Mostly, I was upset at the news of the UCLA shooting, which starting breaking around 10:30am. My office hours were busy, and then the campus fire alarm went off and faculty, staff, and students had to exit the buildings for about 20 minutes or so until the all clear was given. News trickled in, and by the time I went to teach my first class reports indicated that the shooting was a murder-suicide.

My classes were fine --- I have one section of American government and one section of international relations on Mondays and Wednesdays. (I felt a little out of it in my IR class, though, since my usual preparation was thrown off by the strange morning. Sometimes it takes a little more to get back in the swing of things, in any case. Oh well, I'll hit it out of the park during Monday's class.)

Plus, Milo Yiannopoulos ended up cancelling the talk he was going to give on campus, as he was apparently personally affected by the shooting and didn't think it was appropriate to hold a debate. (Trolls were blaming him for the shooting on Twitter, unsurprisingly.)

Gustavo Arellano, the editor of the O.C. Weekly, who was scheduled to debate Milo, did speak solo it turns out, talking about corruption in Orange County. He's an interesting guy, not the least his public profanity. He gave a shout out to this feature piece at the magazine, "Who Wants to Free a Southern California Serial Killer? Orange County DA Tony Rackauckas." I don't care for local politics that much, so it was educational for me.

(I also had a nasty bout of acid reflux late yesterday afternoon, which didn't come under control until later in the evening. So there's that.)

I'll have more blogging tonight, and then over the weekend. Next week's finals week and then I'm out for the summer. I'm looking forward to some time off from teaching.

And thanks to everyone who's been shopping at my Amazon links. As noted, I've been plowing the proceeds back into my own reading habit, so thanks again.

Have a great day.

Back from Pearson Revel Community Forum at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Hotel, Dana Point

I attended a teaching conference this weekend in Dana Point.

I tweeted:

At a teaching conference today, in Dana Point. Taking a break from the #TedCruz / #DonaldTrump purity wars. pic.twitter.com/6WxLqLV1Dp

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) March 11, 2016

A lovely hotel, particularly the views overlooking the harbor. The weather was beautiful when I got there Friday morning, but by mid-afternoon we had more of the El Niño downpours.

No matter. It was fun and informative.

I Stayed Up 24 Hours Yesterday to Cover the Iowa Caucuses and the Oregon Standoff

I was tired on Sunday night from my continuous blog coverage of all the political developments, and I fell asleep around 9:00pm. When I woke up around 1:00 on Monday morning is was caucus day and I got up and made some coffee. I took my son to school at the regular time and was going to come home and fall back asleep for awhile. I shut my eyes and muted the television, but never really dozed off. So I got back up and started back up with my blog coverage.

Call me crazy.

Blogging's the best way for me to keep up with all the news, which is good for my teaching, which is actually my day job, lol. In fact, the spring semester starts back up next Monday, and I'm excited and ready to go. I love teaching the most during campaign time, because each day brings lots of new stories and developments. It makes for a lot of fun and engagement in the classroom, and it helps me motivate these young people --- sometimes derided as the "Dumbest Generation," not without good cause --- into voting citizens who take their rights and responsibilities seriously. It's actually an honor to do so. It's important work although the feedback is often long in coming. I don't care about that too much. I get to have the dream job of teaching politics, which is more than any political junkie could ask for.

I don't put out a shingle asking for donations. I do this for fun. But if you'd like to support me you can always do your books shopping through my Amazon links (or any other shopping for that matter).

Thanks for reading.

I had on CNN mostly yesterday, only because I've always thought they have the best election coverage. But Fox News is good too. I don't even know what MSNBC's doing, other than when I check out their YouTube page.

Anyway, stay with me!

The Myth of 'Learning Styles' is Likely Causing Harm

A very popular paradigm. I've listened to some of my teaching colleagues expound on it at length.

But there's little evidence to support the "learning styles" hypothesis, according to Wired, "All You Need to Know About the ‘Learning Styles’ Myth, in Two Minutes" (via Instapundit).

David Weinberger, Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren't the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room

I attended the iFalcon Student Success Conference at Cerritos College the Friday before last, and organizers gave away copies of David Weinberger's Too Big to Know.

A great read. Grab a copy on Amazon.

Thursday Teaching

I'll be working all day.

More blogging tonight.

Shop Amazon in the meanwhile!

Tuesday Teaching

More blogging tonight.

Until then, shop Amazon!

Stunned Unions Cry Foul After Court Strikes Down Tenure Rules

I'm not reading too much into this decision, out of Los Angeles Superior Court, striking down teacher tenure in California.

The case could be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, given that unions are regulated under national laws like the NLRA. So there's a long way to go before we'll have a true sense on the future of tenure. And I'll tell you, if it wasn't for tenure I could very well have been canned by now. Honestly, leftist ghouls have contacted my college probably a dozen times. No matter that it's mostly been lies, my college administration is oozing with literally demonic leftist ideologues who care nothing about student learning and all about raw power. And allegations of racism and sexism, like the left's boatload of lies I've dealt with, are the raw fuel that powers contemporary college administrators across the country. If you're a conservative professor, academic tenure probably isn't the first on your list of education reforms.

In any case, at Hot Air, "Wow: California judge strikes down tenure for public-school teachers as violating students’ right to quality education."

And at LAT, "Unions cry foul after California teacher tenure rules struck down":

Teacher unions are criticizing a judge's decision to overturn a California law that has long protected the state's public educators -- even ineffective ones -- through tenure and seniority.

In his ruling Tuesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu said the laws governing job security were unconstitutional because they harmed predominantly low-income, minority students by allowing incompetent instructors to remain in the classroom.

The protections "impose a real and appreciable impact on students' fundamental right to equality of education," he wrote. "The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience."

State and local teachers’ unions reacted swiftly, saying the ruling was misguided and that poor management was to blame for districts that fail to root out incompetent instructors.

"This is a sad day for public education," said Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers. No student should endure an ineffective teacher, she said, "but in focusing on these teachers who make up a fraction of the workforce, [Treu] strips the hundreds of thousands of teachers who are doing a good job of any right to a voice."

Students would benefit more, for example, if advocates focused on smaller classes and increasing the number of counselors, said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president-elect of United Teachers Los Angeles.

The verdict represents a major loss for teacher unions and an undiluted victory for the attorneys and families that brought the landmark case on behalf of a well-funded Silicon Valley group.

More.

I think the decision represents a larger attack on the unions, and that's a good think. Tenure protections don't have to be tied to union membership. It'll be a good thing if this case moves the needle toward weakening entrenched union power, especially in California where unions are the largest, most powerful organized interest in the state.

The Left's 'Trigger' Totalitarianism

A great clip, at Reason, "Trigger Warnings, Campus Speech, and the Right to Not Be Offended."

This Bailey Loverin's a bleedin' airhead.



AP calls them "trauma warnings." Idiot progs are made of eggshells, heh: "TRAUMA WARNINGS MOVE FROM INTERNET TO IVORY TOWER."

Professor Tyler Cowen Attacked While Teaching Class at George Mason University

A freakin' left-wing nut job tried to place him under citizen's arrest, and pepper-sprayed him.

At Instapundit, "I HOPE THE STUDENTS HURT THIS GUY SOME WHEN THEY CAUGHT HIM AND HELD HIM FOR THE COPS":

I encourage Tyler to show no mercy to this sorry subhuman. I wouldn’t.

From the comments: “Progs really are going Full Metal Retard these days.”

Indeed.

And like I always say, block, ban, and report the f-kers.

Pathetic Classroom Indoctrination — Imagine: Living In a Socialist U.S.A.

The left is relentless in its push to bury the free enterprise system, and they've been emboldened by the Democrat-Socialists now in power in Washington (to say nothing of the state-media of the lamestream press).

Here's Truth Revolt, "EXCLUSIVE: Major Publisher Pitches Professors to Teach Textbook on Making USA Socialist." You can click through to the book page at HarperCollins, although it's not clear to what discipline they're marketing this book. Probably history and sociology, although no doubt some political science professors will be able to fit this into their curriculum. Here's the quote at the post:

"This anthology introduces students to the key concepts of socialism and why its proponents believe socialism can be the framework of a society that is truly fair and just, both politically and economically."

And on Facebook, Naomi Wolf blushes ecstatically:

A socialist America! Worth reading the ever-fascinating Michael Smith to learn more --  whether you are pro or con, the word is bandied about wrongly so much in this country, we need to be better educated about this vision! xxx Naomi

New York, NY
November 2, 20l3

Dear Friends,

Debby and I and Frances Goldin have a new book coming out in December.  The book was Frances' idea.  She said to us "I am 88 years old and before I die I want to do two things:  get Mumia out of prison (she is his friend and literary agent and regularly visits) and edit a visionary book on what America would be like if we didn't have capitalism."  So we did.  Harper Collins is bringing it out on January 22nd.

The book has three parts;  the first indicts capitalism, the second and largest has some twenty short non-academic chapters on how everything would be different in a socialist America from an organized democratically run economy to food, housing, medical care, education, science, sexuality, media, education, interpersonal relations, art, and the law.  Michael Ratner did an article on what he would do as Attorney General, Mumia and Angela Davis did theirs on criminal law, Michael Smith wrote on civil law.  The last part of the book has chapters on how we can get from where we are to where we want to be, that is, how a socialist transformation might unfold.

There is a lot of interest in this book and in socialism in general.  A recent Pew poll showed that 49% of people under the age of 30 had a favorable reaction to socialism.   Socialism and capitalism are the two words most looked up on the Merriam Webster online dictionary.

The book can be pre-ordered now.  Please help us get out the word. A flyer on it listing the authors is below. Thanks for your help.

In solidarity,

Michael and Debby Smith

Indeed, check the list of authors. It's not scholarship but communist advocacy, all for America's entry level college students.

I'm surrounded by this kind of indoctrination on my campus. It's all over the place and is rarely if ever questioned. I'm one of the few people who consistently challenge this garbage on campus, and I've paid the price for it among my communist colleagues (badge of honor). No matter. I intend to keep on keeping on, teaching from the perspective of American exceptionalism. Leftists hate that, but their moment is fading, thank goodness.

Can't Get Tenure? Then Get a Real Job

Here's Megan McArdle, at Bloomberg, in a great piece:

The last few days have seen the eruption, among academic bloggers, of a tense discussion over tenure. These discussions have been going on for a while, of course, as the situation for newly minted PhDs keeps getting more dire, and the reaction of people with tenure is to tut-tut about how awful it is and say that someone should do something...

Continue reading.

The job market for new Ph.D.s in political science has sucked for a long time. I'm fortunate to have a full-time tenured job. Shoot, I'm living the life. I don't go back to school until February 3rd. It's basically a six-week paid vacation, since I'm paid over 12 months. I stay up until all hours of the morning watching movies, sleep in all day, watch football or whatever, all with no worries about publishing some hot-shot research paper or planning for some overrated academic conference. I haven't been to the APSA annual meeting in years, but considering the clusterf-k controversy over the New Orleans meeting a couple of years back, I might as well be going to a communist gathering at the MLA. (And God's wrath came down on the APSA anyway, with the meeting cancelled by Hurricane Isaac.)

(I should confess, for all the blather about the leftist and communists, I'll probably go back to APSA one of these times, when the correlation of circumstances works in my favor, including institutional conference funding and stuff like that. It's nice to get out of town, meet other teachers, etc., even if I have to avoid idiot Marxists most of the time.)

Texas Teacher Cristy Nicole Deweese Outed as Playboy 'Coed of the Month'

Well, it was awhile back. No worries, right?

Actually not.

At London's Daily Mail, "Parents' outrage after high school Spanish teacher, 21, revealed as Playboy model."

Public Union Corruption in America

Amazingly concise and lucid discussion, via Prager U:

American Historical Association Seeks Embargo on Posting Dissertations

I caught this story last week when the AHA blog post was aggregated at Memeorandum.

See, "American Historical Association Statement on Policies Regarding the Embargoing of Completed History PhD Dissertations."

I don't know. Thinking hard I can see the logic, but surely the first casual thought of most observers would be, "Gawd, how freakin' lame."

But what really caught my attention was this passage at the post:

...it is not unusual for an early-career historian to spend five or six years revising a dissertation and preparing the manuscript for submission to a press for consideration. During that period, the scholar typically builds on the raw material presented in the dissertation, refines the argument, and improves the presentation itself. Thus, although there is so close a relationship between the dissertation and the book that presses often consider them competitors, the book is the measure of scholarly competence used by tenure committees.

All true, of course. But when I finished my dissertation I just wanted to breathe a long sigh of relief. The thought of revising the whole thing for publication was very unappealing. I'd started teaching as an adjunct professor at Fresno State in 2000, so I had some expectation for publishing, but then I took my job at Long Beach Community College and there wasn't going to be any "publish or perish" pressures, which I didn't mind. (Or, I was actually kind of torn about it, at least at first.)

Now, though, I both cringe and laugh at the thought of spending "five or six years revising a dissertation..."

In any case, more on this at the Chronicle of Higher Ed, "Scholarly Group Seeks Up to 6-Year Embargoes on Digital Dissertations."

And even the New York Times deigns to chime in, "Historians Seek a Delay in Posting Dissertations."