Kurt Vonnegut

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Kurt Vonnegut

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guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

Kurt Vonnegut

Here is Kurt Vonnegut speaking honestly and with no concession to the media in which he finds himself. At 4.00 he suggests that that teachers should be.

'leading members of the community rather than servants'

Can anyone imagine a day when there will be an English class where the material to be studied is selected by the children ? Where the teacher merely babysits whilst deferring to their analysis and agenda?

I can but then I have taught guitar in the state school system and to be frank 'servant' is a step up from how I felt.

At least Mr Vonnegut made me feel a little cheered about my participation in this foro. I guess it takes the place of a journal and stops my language skills atrophying entirely. Like a swimmer doing laps, banal but lubricating.

Still youtube seems to have hit some kind of critical mass, there's lots of great stuff there now. Still the sidebar seems hellbent on steering us into an everdecreasing circle of homogenised soundbites.

And that is a worry because when the monkeys take over the English class too it is gonna be a hard slog to construct a paddle to negotiate the maelstrom.

And a great many days when you wonder why you even bothered.

D.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2013 0:49:58

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3431
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: Kurt Vonnegut (in reply to guitarbuddha)

Vonnegut is one of my favorites.

Teachers' social status:

My ex-wife is of Norwegian ancestry on her mother's side. We went to Norway to introduce our kids to their cousins. My wife had been there before, and formed a close friendship with one of her contemporaries who was a high school teacher. The cousin's husband was headmaster of a different high school. They lived in a beautiful 19th century condominium building in the center of Oslo, with large apartments. Theirs was nicely furnished.

My ex-wife's Norwegian relatives are in part one of the oldest land- and ship-owning families. I speculated that the husband must have some family money as well, to afford such a nice place. My wife filled me in on the details why her cousin was not in the line of inheritance, and said she was quite certain that they lived on their two salaries.

I said something to an older, prosperous family member about what a beautiful apartment the teachers had, leading up to my comment that American teachers could not come near affording such a place. He had lived in America, managing the American branch of a Norwegian corporation.

"Yes," he replied, "I was puzzled about that. What could be more important than teaching the children?"

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2013 1:45:47