Job Discussion Forums

clandestine782 · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 154

In my neverending quest to find things for the students to talk about, I thought I'd break them into about four groups of eight and have them prepare a presentation. I'd ask them questions about the position that they had conferred upon.

"If there is an imaginary continuum of instinct vs. reason, where would the following human actions/ institutions fall: A. Sex; B. Marriage; C. War; D. Society ? Assume that some things are 100% instinct, others are 100% reason, and others fall somewhere in between." How feasible do you think such a topic would be for discussion at a university?
What I told them was that my treatment of human beings was very similar to that of Richard Dawkins. There is only DNA and humans/ dogs/ mice/ fish are just throwaway things to propagate DNA. I also gave the students some examples, such as seeing two dogs in the street about to have sex. There is no conversation and no analysis. Something like this is 100% instinct. But maybe for humans some will find each other attractive but will not marry or have sex for other reasons. I gave them several examples. One is the "Woman with an abusive boyfriend/ husband." A suggestion that I made to them was that these women were selecting these men because they had large amounts of testosterone and that a side effect of that was being violent. There were several other examples, but they don't need to be repeated here.

The other question I had for you guys is: How often do you students try to teach the class for you? I have had this experience at least two times this past week. The first was a case in which parents stuck their heads into the classroom of a part time job that I have teaching children and later sent back suggestions via the boss that I should not play games with the children and should instead teach them sentences. Keep in mind that these parents speak not one single word of English, nor do they understand that the purpose of playing games is to prevent children from falling asleep-- which they will do easily if the lesson is not active enough..

The other experience was when I brought the students some samples of Western music (as related to a chapter on Western Jazz). I typed the lyrics and played the CDs for them and one of the students told me that they wanted some information more "relevant" to Western culture. (At this point, I was angry enough to have a nosebleed, but held myself in check.) I calmly asked her what she would suggest and then waited in silence. She was so flabbergasted that she had no idea of what to say.

How do you guys deal with parents and students trying to teach your class for you?

saint57 · Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject:

Next time I need a nap, I'm going to try to finish reading this post.

China.Pete · Joined: 27 Apr 2006 Posts: 547

How feasible do you think such a topic would be for discussion at a university? - clandestine782

It would be a great topic for a soliloquy performed by yourself. The students might listen politely for a moment, and than consult with their neighbors (in Chinese) as to how what you were saying could possibly figure into any question on their next exam.

How often do your students try to teach the class for you? - clandestine782

Occassionally, when they decide the teaching methods used don't correspond to those used by their Chinese teachers, and they're not prepared to put up with it any longer. Usually, such students are also the ones who have failed to learn much English under that regime. Curious, isn't it?

How do you guys deal with parents and students trying to teach your class for you? - clandestine782

I invite them to do so. Seriously, I try to explain why I do what I do, and how it is intended to meet their educational needs; but that I'm perfectly willing to try any alternatives which might show better results. Afterwards, they'll probably go to the Chinese teachers or headmaster with the same suggestions in hopes that THEY might be able to deal with such a pig-headed foreign teacher.

dajiang · Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 663 Location: Guilin!

Hey Clandestine,

Discussion is only possible and useful if the participants know -- or at least have somekind of inkling of -- what they are talking about...
Seems like a pretty logical statement, but obviously lots of people don't see it that way.

The Internet is just filled to the brim with discussion topics and ideas. No need to look for them in the outer regions of human awareness.

A proper lead-in is vital of course. Check out this little site I found the other day:
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/discuss.html

The idea to have groups prepare presentations is a great one btw. Works like a charm. But you might want to size the groups down a little. Have two sections of presentations simultaneously. I work with 3 or 4 in a group mostly.

I just try to remember that being a teacher means that you're there to help students learn. So you got to do things that they are interested in, not the other way around. It's great when you can combine the two, but their wishes always come first.

So get out of orbit and get real is my advice.

Dajiang

Oh, and I've never had any parents looking into my classroom. Which is good btw. Dunno how I'd react if they'd just decided to pop by and see if I did my job well enough for their kid.

clandestine782 · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 154

Leon Purvis · Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 2:58 pm Post subject:

This is a joke, right?

vikdk · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 1676

ohhh deary me a sociobiologist has been let loose into a socialist classroom - a world of dawkinite genetic replication, where the biological self is the instigator of change, set against a maoist backdrop in which human animal has been tamed though the pacifying indoctrination of the social masses - kreeeeeeeeeeepy

peterpaul · Joined: 02 Jun 2004 Posts: 36 Location: Shanghai

"It's not clear to me if there are very few scientists (which is the way that I am trained) on this forum and that discussion of something that is scientific in nature would put me "in orbit" relative to the level of discussion that a lot of English teachers have. (Look in the Off Topic forum to see how much discussion goes into "social problems" or other meaningless topics."

Attack the people, not their arguments...always a weak defense.

In my experience most students want pratical information related to THEIR interests. If you want to illustrate your intelligence get a doctorate and teach master's students or try writing a book.

We are in a service industry and the aim is to serve the client's needs, not our own. (Unfortunately I think most of the clients are just interested in looking at the white monkey, sigh).

grwit · Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 329 Location: Dagobah

Students teaching the class!!!

I give them that opportunity. By the 3rd or 4th week of every semester I hand out a small peice of paper to every student and ask them for their suggestions on topics they would like to discuss. About half of them are useless but the other half has given me some good ideas as to what they want to learn. HOW they learn these things is still up to me though.

Parents popping in!!!

Accept their advice politely then ignore it! They cannot deduce the value of your lesson by watching 5mins worth. Whatever activity at hand could be taken out of context and seen and having no educational value but if they were to spend a whole lesson in class to see the lead in and follow up of a game they might change their minds! If this still doesn't satisfy them then wait for your FAO to tell you to change your teaching methods not the parents!