Job Discussion Forums

[travelingirl68]

In browsing throught the China forums earlier, I noticed an essay written by Roger in regard to the mentality of students there... It brought back memories for me that I had pushed to the back burner.

Students were placed in groups in their first year according to their native tongue (either Russian or Kazak) and their skill level. The same 12-15 students worked together for their entire university career - every class, every day, every week, every year - the same faces and voices and personalities... If a group got along well and supported each other, this was wonderful. If however, skill levels changed at varying rates or personal issues developed between students, it was a nightmare. (Things tended to unravel in most groups by the end of the 2nd year unfortunately.)

Students worked in groups to complete ALL assignments (the 'smart' ones doing all the work, the others simply copying). Incidentally, the notebooks were called 'copybooks'. If a student did not wish to share their work, they were labeled as greedy and ostracized.

"Lecture" formats in all classes consisted of teachers reading from a book while students copied the sentences exactly as spoken. Many times I heard "that was morphology, m-o-r-p-h-o-l-o-g-y - did everyone get that?" (This was due in part to the lack of printed resources in the country.)

No matter how little work a student would complete, or how lazy, etc., the teacher was responsible and punished. Extra lessons, tutorials and special sessions had to be completed by the teachers - but they were not paid for this time.

Writing was not emphasized at all (ALL exams were oral) and while students had great conversational skills, they wrote at a 3rd grade level.

Speaking of oral exams, most students were labeled as 'good' or 'fair' in the first year and were never able to have that perception changed no matter how much work or time they invested. Very rarely was a student expelled for poor performance because: 1) It is the teacher's fault, and 2) Money, money, money! I was so happy to be a 'volunteer' and not a regular teacher!

OK, I have had my Dennis Miller 'Rant and Rave', I'm better now!

Could anyone let me know what the current state of university education is in Turkey? If there are any similarities - or was this a former communist mentality that I was dealing with in Kaz.?

[yaramaz]

It all sounds eerily familiar...