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> Yeah, me. I was taught very ineffective methods of
> document design and other processes in the past, and I
> regret having ever been taught them. In some cases
> these ineffective methodologies were easy to
> "unlearn", but in other cases, it was damn hard to
> change the way I did things. Example: I was taught a
> specific way to approaching a documentation task in
> college. I'm not saying that what I was taught is
> wrong, but on the job I learned a better way of doing
> things.
>
I taught seven years at universities and colleges. Although I
started out very idealistic, I soon realized that effective teaching
required more than an enthusiastic instructor. To get the most out
of a class, students have to be ready to learn. A good teacher can
help inspire students to learn, but most of the inspiration has to
come from the students themselves. Unfortunately, for a number of
complicated reasons (mostly involving the view of education as
job-training), it is perfectly possible to get through even a
masters' or a doctorate without having learned anything about
original thought. A poor or discouraged teacher - or one who got
through on rote learning themselves - tends to perpetuate this kind
of mediocrity.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"In inclement weather, the people are fey,
With three thousand year old stories as the night slips away,
Remembering, Fingol feels not far away,
The giant will rise with the moon."
-Stan Roger, "The Giant"
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