His boss will hear about this

[Svenskaflicka]

It feels really reassuring to know that we have such good and dedicated teachers at my school...

I was in computer lab class, working on my database assignment. I ran into something that confused me - one table in the database contained TWO primary keys. Apparently, this is alright. I didn't know this. I thought you could only have one head honcho in each table. According to my teacher, we learned in basic database 101 (I'm having 201 now); which I can't remember ever reading, but OK, let's say we did, and I just forgot it since it was almost 2 years since I took that class.

What I didn't appreciate, however, was that my teacher, instead of explaining this to me in a normal manner, got angry with me and made fun of me, telling me that this was such a stupid question that he refused to answer it. It was also not necessary to sneer at me and ask if I've taken the basic database course in the first place.

I left the room shortly after, crying all the way home. I felt as if he had called me an idiot in front of the whole group.

My school doesn't hire REAL teachers, instead they hire people who are educated within their own subject but have never taken a course in paedagogics. The result is that we have people who are good at their subject, but they can't teach it.

And when the person in question is an asshole, like my teacher, you also get teachers who not only will answer a question with "I don't know why it doesn't work" (which was his answer for another question I asked), but who will also mock you and insinuate that you're an idiot. In front of your classmates.

His boss will hear about this.

 

[Belegon]

His boss will hear about this.

Good. The boss needs to know and all too often doesn't because people are intimidated or afraid of sounding like whiners.

It's not hard to have an "open door policy" for your employees... it is hard to get them to use it.

 

[rgraham666]

*HUGS* Svenska.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Thanks, guys.

 

[PrincessErin]

.....

 

[Liar]

My school doesn't hire REAL teachers, instead they hire people who are educated within their own subject but have never taken a course in paedagogics. The result is that we have people who are good at their subject, but they can't teach it.

Svenska, I thought you were in a college or university?

That's how it works for ALL college level teaching positions. No teaching skills required, just knowledge of the subject. I was lucky, since I actually studied didactics (teaching, basically) and rethotics. So the subject and the skill were pretty closely linked.

But anyway, I don't think the teachers pedagogic qualities is the issue here. He's just a douchebag. Even qualified teachers can be that.

Go get him.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Svenska, I thought you were in a college or university?

That's how it works for ALL college level teaching positions. No teaching skills required, just knowledge of the subject. I was lucky, since I actually studied didactics (teaching, basically) and rethotics. So the subject and the skill were pretty closely linked.

But anyway, I don't think the teachers pedagogic qualities is the issue here. He's just a douchebag. Even qualified teachers can be that.

Go get him.

True, all colleges use this method. I just think it's wrong. Not only that those who want to doctorate in a subject has to do a job they're not interested in, but also the poor students get a teacher who a) is not good a teaching, and b) doesn't like teaching them.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

But don't we all see, hear and read all the commentary about how education ought to be done and what should happen? I defy all the know-it-alls here and everywhere else to try and spend a day in a normal public school classroom and get any thing done in the way of their sillyass daydreams. The only question I would have is who would suffer more, them or the kids?

Your "instructor" doesn't need to be reported to his boss, Svenska, he needs an ax handle up side the head to teach him some manners!

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Welcome to the world of post secondary education. I live in Canada but I'm sure it's similar around the world. It's difficult to become a school teacher, sometimes impossible. Once you hit college/university it's a completely different story.

I'm sorry you were treated that way. I know when I went to university one of my professors was on a committee that allowed students to complain/vent when a professor wasn't explaining things properly. Hope you get some action.

On that note when I was taking my teacher certification course we had to do a basic psychology course. It was a new teacher who was a psychologist but had no formal teacher training. She got eaten alive throughout the year because she was used to teaching in her department of psychology, not education. Us soon to be teachers did not appreciate her lack of teaching ability.

Isn't it cute when someone who's not qualified for a job has to do it? The worst, absolutely WORST I've experienced, was in senior high when we got an American nurse as an English teacher, just because "she knew English". Yeah, American English. And she DID have something close to a teacher's education - - - her MOTHER was a teacher.

I wish they could have sent for her mother instead of her, then...

 

[Svenskaflicka]

But don't we all see, hear and read all the commentary about how education ought to be done and what should happen? I defy all the know-it-alls here and everywhere else to try and spend a day in a normal public school classroom and get any thing done in the way of their sillyass daydreams. The only question I would have is who would suffer more, them or the kids?

Your "instructor" doesn't need to be reported to his boss, Svenska, he needs an ax handle up side the head to teach him some manners!

I know a better way to stick an axe handle than his head...:caning:

 

[jomar]

Yeah, his boss needs to hear about it because you're not the only one.

 

[fieryjen]

Isn't it cute when someone who's not qualified for a job has to do it? The worst, absolutely WORST I've experienced, was in senior high when we got an American nurse as an English teacher, just because "she knew English". Yeah, American English. And she DID have something close to a teacher's education - - - her MOTHER was a teacher.

I wish they could have sent for her mother instead of her, then...

Sorry that ass did that to you. I have no patience for this sort of idiot teacher.

I keep being asked to give German lesson or take over German classes. Mind you, I AM a teacher, so I do have formal training, but not for that subject. There's still a huge difference between teaching math and teaching a foreign language, and people apparently just don't get that (it sort of dawns on them that their suggestion might have been a stupid one when I ask why they aren't teaching English, since they speak it so well).

My eventual goal is to teach college level. I wonder if any college will be excited about hiring me because I have teaching experience.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Sorry that ass did that to you. I have no patience for this sort of idiot teacher.

I keep being asked to give German lesson or take over German classes. Mind you, I AM a teacher, so I do have formal training, but not for that subject. There's still a huge difference between teaching math and teaching a foreign language, and people apparently just don't get that (it sort of dawns on them that their suggestion might have been a stupid one when I ask why they aren't teaching English, since they speak it so well).

My eventual goal is to teach college level. I wonder if any college will be excited about hiring me because I have teaching experience.

My brother-in-law's wife is a native Russian speaker (with a Ph.D.) and she has found it very lucrative teaching at the Jr. College level. You might start there, especially if you have at least a Master's.

 

[trysail]

I really and truly cannot get my hands around the personality type that makes a good teacher. It is a serious mistake to generalize and I won't fall into that trap. There's no question that someone who's good at teaching middle school may not be good teaching at the college or graduate level— and I haven't the slightest doubt whatsoever that most persons teaching at those levels would be absolutely terrible teaching elementary, middle or high school grades.

A long, long time ago I toyed with the idea of a career change. A friend who was teaching an eighth grade history course (at an all-boys private school) was kind enough to let me sit in to observe the class. That forty-five minutes was all it took for me to conclude beyond any shadow of doubt that I could never teach at that level for the simple reason that I'd likely commit mass murder in very short order. The boys behaved like perfect asses and it was all I could do— even for that brief period— to keep from strangling them.

I am convinced that teaching takes a special breed o'cat.

One of my versions of hell is the idea of having to read garbage written by people lacking the ability to write clearly and well. Malaprops, poor sentence construction, bad grammar, misspellings and terrible writing style are forms of cruel and unusal punishment.

Pedagogical methods are interesting. I first encountered the Socratic method in graduate school after elementary, high school and collegiate experiences of the standard "read, listen, take notes and regurgitate" variety. It was extremely frustrating at the outset. We students were of the type that is desperate for the "right" answers— all we ever got in response to any question was a question. At the end of many classes, most of us remained absolutely bewildered. One professor was so adept at the method that, to this day, he remains the very definition of inscrutable. Eventually, for most of us, a light bulb went off. We got "it." There were, of course, some who never did; they were eventually escorted to the exit.

Learning is hard; it requires making mistakes. Like many areas of life, effective means for accomplishing the task are not always readily apparent. There were plenty of subjects where I responded better to threats of the fear of failure or embarrassment rather than a desire to learn the material or excel. It is well known fact that behaviorists have associated human memory with the stimulation provided by a shot of adrenalin.

 

[TE999]

First off...I'm appalled that someone who is supposedly teaching a course would act like some pimply-faced geek when he learns that you don't know all the inner workings of the starship Enterprise.

I would most assuredly report his behavior to his superiors. He is driving students away, not teaching.

I had a Linguistics prof like that...brilliant in his field and all the people skills of a guard at Treblinka. He wrote his own textbook too.

 

[neonlyte]

It feels really reassuring to know that we have such good and dedicated teachers at my school...

I was in computer lab class, working on my database assignment. I ran into something that confused me - one table in the database contained TWO primary keys. Apparently, this is alright. I didn't know this. I thought you could only have one head honcho in each table. According to my teacher, we learned in basic database 101 (I'm having 201 now); which I can't remember ever reading, but OK, let's say we did, and I just forgot it since it was almost 2 years since I took that class.

What I didn't appreciate, however, was that my teacher, instead of explaining this to me in a normal manner, got angry with me and made fun of me, telling me that this was such a stupid question that he refused to answer it. It was also not necessary to sneer at me and ask if I've taken the basic database course in the first place.

I left the room shortly after, crying all the way home. I felt as if he had called me an idiot in front of the whole group.

My school doesn't hire REAL teachers, instead they hire people who are educated within their own subject but have never taken a course in paedagogics. The result is that we have people who are good at their subject, but they can't teach it.

And when the person in question is an asshole, like my teacher, you also get teachers who not only will answer a question with "I don't know why it doesn't work" (which was his answer for another question I asked), but who will also mock you and insinuate that you're an idiot. In front of your classmates.

His boss will hear about this.

Neatly defines Mab's shame/humiliation question, though I doubt the git felt any shame.

Naturally, he didn't know who he was dealing with, sorry this happened to you but I'm certain you will make sure 'he gets it'.

 

[ottohauser1977]

It feels really reassuring to know that we have such good and dedicated teachers at my school...

I was in computer lab class, working on my database assignment. I ran into something that confused me - one table in the database contained TWO primary keys. Apparently, this is alright. I didn't know this. I thought you could only have one head honcho in each table. According to my teacher, we learned in basic database 101 (I'm having 201 now); which I can't remember ever reading, but OK, let's say we did, and I just forgot it since it was almost 2 years since I took that class.

What I didn't appreciate, however, was that my teacher, instead of explaining this to me in a normal manner, got angry with me and made fun of me, telling me that this was such a stupid question that he refused to answer it. It was also not necessary to sneer at me and ask if I've taken the basic database course in the first place.

I left the room shortly after, crying all the way home. I felt as if he had called me an idiot in front of the whole group.

My school doesn't hire REAL teachers, instead they hire people who are educated within their own subject but have never taken a course in paedagogics. The result is that we have people who are good at their subject, but they can't teach it.

And when the person in question is an asshole, like my teacher, you also get teachers who not only will answer a question with "I don't know why it doesn't work" (which was his answer for another question I asked), but who will also mock you and insinuate that you're an idiot. In front of your classmates.

His boss will hear about this.

So he lacks people skills. But he probably wants to use tough love. Why don't you confront him first, and only then resort to informing? Let him see how badly he has treated you.

Of course, I wouldn't let this bother me, but I've dealt with far worse hazing in my lifetime.

 

[fieryjen]

I just remembered something that happened when I was still in college.

In one of the teaching classes I had, we all had to prepare a lesson in turn and teach it to the others, who obviously acted as students. One classmate decided to do a lesson about baseball statistics, and how they work and all.

Now I didn't have a damn clue about baseball back then, not having grown up here that sort of eluded me, and I proceeded to act as many a normal student would and asked questions when something was unclear. He absolutely reamed me, made fun of me for not knowing and was generally insulted that I dared interrupt his lesson. I'm still kinda stunned that he thought this was okay for a future teacher to do. I wrote on his evaluation that I felt belittled and that a regular high school student, possibly with English as a second language as well, might well have burst into tears at this treatment, and that this was pretty much a complete pedagogical fail on his end.

So in conclusion... having learned how to be a teacher doesn't necessarily help, either.

 

[JuicyBoom]

I had a prof do that in a lab at me once - the second he went down the BS path I whipped around with "the look" and got up in his face in front of the entire class and in no uncertain terms told him that my tuition was paying is fucking salary and that he would damned well answer my questions or he and I would be haveing a heart-to-heart with the Dean of the department. My questions were promptly answered.

I know assholes like this can get under your skin - just don't let them see that they got to you.

Peace.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

So he lacks people skills. But he probably wants to use tough love. Why don't you confront him first, and only then resort to informing? Let him see how badly he has treated you.

Of course, I wouldn't let this bother me, but I've dealt with far worse hazing in my lifetime.

Making fun of a tudent in front of the entire class, questioning her education, and saying that her question is too stupid to deserve an answer is NOT "tough love" - it's plain idiocy. And no, confronting him would only give him a chance to sneer at me again for taking offense. No. This guy behaved like shit, and he'll get shit back. Times 7.

I draw the line VERY early at hazing, because there's no reason why I should let it get to the level where someone spills hot coffee on me or tells me that women have no place working with computers.

Apparently, this moron has a reputation for being misogynic, and he's been warned before about his negative attitude towards female students.

You get what you give. And if you mess with a Swedish pitbull, you'll get your balls bitten off and served with barbeque sauce.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I had a prof do that in a lab at me once - the second he went down the BS path I whipped around with "the look" and got up in his face in front of the entire class and in no uncertain terms told him that my tuition was paying is fucking salary and that he would damned well answer my questions or he and I would be haveing a heart-to-heart with the Dean of the department. My questions were promptly answered.

I know assholes like this can get under your skin - just don't let them see that they got to you.

Peace.

Be-autiful! *holds up card reading 10.0*

If we had a tuition system in Sweden, I would have done that very same thing.

 

[JuicyBoom]

hmmm - someone pays his salary - your taxes perhaps?

I wish you luck and even it gets swept under the carpet by his boss, remember that your situation will be remembered and that may help the next person.

Again, don't let the morons get you down. You just don't get that time back into your life.
(in short, don't worry - be happy)

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Thanks, Juicy. *hugs*

I was sad and shocked at first, but now that I've finished crying, I'm pissed off and vengeful.

 

[rgraham666]

Thanks, Juicy. *hugs*

I was sad and shocked at first, but now that I've finished crying, I'm pissed off and vengeful.

I almost feel sorry for the poor schmuck.

Almost.

 

[ottohauser1977]

This just proves that you can't reason with Communists. If I had known that Svenskaflicka was one, I wouldn't have bothered. They have never given me anything but grief.

And misogyny is never a well-defined charge. If charges of misandry were so recklessly leveled at people, no one would stand for it.