fett on 9/11/2008 at 16:55
Quote Posted by SD
Pay peanuts to public school teachers, get monkeys: Republican chickens coming home to roost.
Quoted for truth.
ArcturusXIV on 9/11/2008 at 17:04
I've read that most teachers in the U.S. had very low GPA's when they were in school. It kind of makes sense. The stupid people are the ones who want to teach elementary kids. It's really sickening and sad, though.
Ostriig on 9/11/2008 at 17:16
Quote Posted by fett
It's called 'developmentally appropriate methods' and I'm sorry if they don't have those in Germany. We're actually trying to teach kids to think here, not prepare them for a militia.
You could probably get your point across just as well without the xenophobic bullshit.
AR Master on 9/11/2008 at 18:35
starr and me may be on opposite sides of the political spectrum but nobody can deny she's evenhanded and smart
june gloom on 9/11/2008 at 22:21
Quote Posted by Ostriig
You could probably get your point across just as well without the xenophobic bullshit.
How was it xenophobic? He was merely pointing out the stark contrast between Kolya's education vis-a-vis the rest of the world.
Ostriig on 9/11/2008 at 22:43
Quote Posted by dethtoll
How was it xenophobic? He was merely pointing out the stark contrast between Kolya's education vis-a-vis the rest of the world.
He was implying that Germany's educational system would still be fundamentally flawed today, conducive to "preparing children for a militia", when Kolya was making a reference to either an experience during the time of the GDR or practices reminiscent of that period, not long after.
I obviously agree agree with the rest of his post, but that bit was uncalled for.
june gloom on 9/11/2008 at 22:44
I can see where one might draw that conclusion, but if he had said "didn't" instead of "don't" would that help?
Ostriig on 9/11/2008 at 23:06
Yes, I believe so, it would make the statement quite accurate. Still not truly necessary for the point he was making, but that would be just nitpicking on my part. There's no denying that the educational systems in countries under Communist regimes had (and, unless I'm mistaken, the remaining ones still have) some very strong components of political propaganda, attempting indoctrination at a young age. Though, as a sidenote, if the people who grew up through these system are any indication, such attempts were largely failures, thankfully.
fett on 10/11/2008 at 04:27
Quote Posted by Ostriig
You could probably get your point across just as well without the xenophobic bullshit.
Oh cut it out - you know what I mean. I'm an Air Force brat and lived in Germany and Italy most of my teenage life so I know a bit about the cultural climate over there in the 80's and early 90's (assuming Koyla isn't either 12 or 89). You and he have both made the case for his education being Communist in nature without me adding anything to it, which isn't the point anyway.
Concering Koyla - His rationale for the teacher's behavior being ok is that similar things happened to him too and he's just fine. Look, just because you were booty raped in 3rd grade and came out "ok" doesn't mean I'm going to let my 8 year old sleep over at Michael Jackson's house, right?
FFS its the principle of the thing. She failed miserably at education, with camera's rollling, even. What the hell do you think is happening in that classroom the rest of the time? Fair, balanced cultivating of free thought and logical problem solving skills? Just because something/one "turned out ok" doesn't mean that what happened IS ok. I was just calling bullshit on his screwy rationale for excusing the teacher, under the banner of "telling the truth."
Kolya on 10/11/2008 at 09:33
I think that a truly neutral discussion of current politics is quite impossible, in a classroom or elsewhere. So the point was that I learned to appreciate honesty in these things.
Note that there is a difference to the rationale you gave, which is of course retarded (that rape story). The content of what the teacher said was ok by me, though not the way she did.
And yeah, the kids would need more information, more context. But then we only saw a few minutes of teaching which might have been unfortunate.
