Re: Who is to blame in grading
Hmmmmm.<br /><br />I never taught in "public" schools. All my teaching was for the military, for high tech industry and finally in private tech colleges.<br /><br />I always had specific ends, or objectives, for my students to achieve, and specific levels of performance of those objectives, criteria, for them to reach.<br /><br />If my students could perform those objectives to criterion performance I felt we. . . they and I. . . had been successful. If not, well, I was in charge, the leader, and had failed.<br /><br />Bottom line? I had a favorite saying when teaching teachers to teach: "If the learner hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught."<br /><br />In fairness to your prof, Pony, I never taught philosophy. It may be harder to measure learning achievement in philosophy than physics, calculus or management. But how does he know if he has helped or hindered that learning?<br /><br />At the risk of making this too long, here is a poem I used to require my instructor students to memorize. It is by Robert F. Mager, one of my mentors.<br /><br />There once was a teacher whose principal feature was hidden in quite an odd way. . .<br />Students by millions, or possibly zillions, surrounded him all of the day.<br /><br />When finally seen by his scholarly Dean and asked how he managed this deed. . .<br />He held up three fingers, and said, "All you swingers need only to follow my lead.<br /><br />'To rise from a zero to big campus hero to answer these questions you'll strive. . .<br /><br />"Where am I going? How shall I get there? And how will I know I've arrived?"<br /><br />Perhaps your prof can answer those questions for you.<br /><br />Good luck.
