tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32362551.post6615198972883020423..comments2023-12-13T16:57:33.142-06:00Comments on Blogodidact: The Real Educational Trojan Horse: Deleting Western Civilization 101Van Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32362551.post-75064409509366238612012-08-15T22:50:49.901-05:002012-08-15T22:50:49.901-05:00Anonymous, this post was not directed towards the ...Anonymous, this post was not directed towards the teachers, but what, how & why it is that what they are having to teach, is being taught. Let me put it this way, you mentioned something at the end, which I believe is absolutely critical, you said: <br /><br />"Whatever the case may be, when I see them 5, 10, 15 years after the seventh grade, I ask how they are, what they are doing for school/work and most especially....are they remembering the things I tried to instill in them. Being polite, caring, friendly, respectful, responsible....... Thank you."<br /><br />, which is something that marks You as being a TEACHER, and I thank you for that.<br /><br />But here's my point, how does something like this:<br /><br />"The Ancient Greeks believed in many Gods. Zeus was the king of the Gods and was believed to have ruled the world from their home on Mt. Olympus.<br />Review questions:<br />1. The king of the Gods was ____ and he lived on ______________."<br /><br />, help you to teach what you know are to be the most important lessons to be taught? How does being quizzed on a name and place or date, help to teach that?<br /><br />How is any child possibly going to pick up an inclination towards, a passion for, a resolve to be, someone who is 'polite, caring, friendly, respectful, responsible', from filling in the blankety-blank space with the most likely word from the sentence above?<br /><br />What you speak of, teaching a student to be polite, caring, friendly, respectful, responsible, that is the stuff of an actual Education, and it will not, it Cannot, come from this desiccated gray textbook pap peddled as 'educational materials'; any child that does manage learn such things at school, does so not because of the what, how & why's of their particular school district policies, but because some Teacher who actually cares for their students and their responsibility to them, managed to Teach, in spite of the what, how & why's of their school district policies.<br /><br />The entire point of Homer, was to teach. To teach how to live and why, and through imaginative plot and action, the Iliad teaches that above all; it teaches how 'God like Achilles' was brought face to face, by the staying hand of reason, with the uselessness of his glory, brought to the realization that great and fearsome as he was, if blustering Agamemnon could take from him who he loved, then he had nothing; and that his last nod to that glory cost him the life of his dearest friend Patroclus, and then he had less than nothing left, but rage at life itself.<br /><br />And of 'man-killing Hector', who loved his wife and his dearest son, and knew himself and they were soon to be lost, and yet he had to do what must be done nonetheless.<br /><br />And Priam, a king and a father, who lost several sons and his dearest son Hector, to Achilles, had to bend his knee to the man who killed them, in order to retrieve his body and bury him properly, before the loss of all he had spent his life in building. And to 'Godlike' Achilles, that and all else broke in on him at that moment, quenched his rage, and brought back his humanity to him, his own loss, and the importance of repaying the sorrow of the old king with decency and respect and generosity because that was truly all that mattered and was worthy of glory.<br /><br />Homer, despite the teaching of some fools, did not glorify war, the Iliad reads far more like something written from the Vietnam era, than a gung-ho WWII movie, it teaches - if its story is allowed to be fully communicated, rather than chopped into freeze dried spoonful’s - the importance of "being polite, caring, friendly, respectful, responsible", and what the world is like with and without those lessons being learned.<br /><br />The fact that Teachers such as yourself are deprived of the best materials ever conceived for your purposes, and instead must find some way to manage to teach such things Despite the materials, purposes and motives of their 'curriculum', is an epic tragedy all its own.<br />Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32362551.post-72177797544981494922012-08-15T20:36:46.430-05:002012-08-15T20:36:46.430-05:00While I agree with many of your points....allow me...While I agree with many of your points....allow me to make one myself. I teach Western Civilization in a poor community where many of our kids spend 45-50 days NOT in school. I am not an expert in Greek literature nor do I present as one. You spoke of teaching to the test....yes there are too many restrictions on us when it comes to curriculum and how we deliver the state standards. This September marks the third principal in our school who will surely bring in new policies, procedures, yadda yadda. My point, I digressed...is this - I teach because I sincerely wish for my students a healthy and happy life. Do I believe that an A student is all that matters - no. I try to show each student that I am there for them...every day for 8 hours without fail. I deliver my material in a varied way where rote memorization is not mandated. We have a short amount of time to "introduce" historical 5W's of ancient civ. It is unfortunate that Homer's work is not taught in totality. In an utopian society all adults would be able to have great discourse regarding heroes and villains of the ancient world and where many may state that Hammurabi had the right idea. Let's cut down on the the cost of incarceration, right? My post turned into a mouth of marbles. Let me finish by clearing our name as teachers. While you many have encountered some that are not as versed as you in many accounts, please understand that teaching, in many ways, is not a glorious profession nor does it have a timeclock with punchcards. I know many teachers that teach for all the right reasons. Myself included. My students may not tell their grandchildren about the beautiful Helen or that the promogranite fruit can be a curse. Many of my boys will be able to tell you about flanking strategies used by past great armies and the names of Roman weaponry. Lots of girls will think about being married at a mom at age 13 and wearing metal ribbons in their hair. Whatever the case may be, when I see them 5, 10, 15 years after the seventh grade, I ask how they are, what they are doing for school/work and most especially....are they remembering the things I tried to instill in them. Being polite, caring, friendly, respectful, responsible....... Thank you. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32362551.post-88721084171021026102012-02-01T18:54:26.500-06:002012-02-01T18:54:26.500-06:00Excellent post! Would that more would read this! I...Excellent post! Would that more would read this! I wqill pass this along!Mjolnirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09341690966981769766noreply@blogger.com