It is wholly contengent on discipline. You either have the discipline to pay attention and absorb the lesson, or you don't. Not even a death in the family changes this fact; it's a popular excuse to miss class, but the truth is quite simply that most of the population lacks the discipline required to set that aside and maintain studies. There is no right or wrong in this, just an objective fact.
I agree with you for the most part, but it's inaccurate to purport that effectiveness is wholly contingent upon discipline. For example, it's important to include high and low-incidence disabilities, social variables, environmental variables, and learning styles. What works for some kids doesn't work for others, and it's up to the teacher to be able to adapt the lesson plan accordingly.
This ties into what KM mentioned about "shitty teachers mak[ing] shitty students." Some students learn more efficiently aurally while others prefer kinesthetics, or visual cues. Since everyone unique, it is important for teachers to capitalize on as many different angles for a given subject as possible.
"Transfer", a made-up re-definition of a word, wrapped in quotation marks to emphasise this fact, designed to be highlighted in boldface in a worthless textbook, is an excuse.
I'm not sure if this is your intention, but this comes across as a little disrespectful. Calling "transfer" a made-up re-definition of a word is a matter of semantics - you can make the same argument about
any vocabulary word. The whole point of the word's existence is to aide in organizing information. To talk about it in the fashion that you chose demonstrates how little you know about teaching or about the process of learning.
There is a reason why I don't say anything about programming or coding; because I know absolutely nothing about it.
Here's why: If you base your self-esteem (SELF) on what you can, and do, accomplish, then the phrase "it's not like I'll ever need to know this" is never uttered, since everything learned has the potential to become useful, albeit unexpectedly.
This is true, but it assumes a lot on the part of a student, such as that they have a healthy self-esteem, are cognizant of their abilities and range of potential accomplishments, and have the foresight to understand the intrinsic potential of information.
Unfortunately, many children don't work this way - particularly in middle school. These are the same kids that don't understand that it's not healthy to have ice-cream for breakfast, or that they should exercise consistently to maintain a healthy weight as they age, or that they need to drink milk until their 30 in order to achieve maximum bone density.
They don't think about things because they're in the future, and the majority of youth aren't really interested in their future - especially in such a logical and pragmatic way.
Kids are interested in what they can apply to their lives at that moment, and if information is presented in a way that is conducive to their environment, they are more likely to make neurological connections developing relative associations, and are therefore more likely to remember it and utilize that information later on in their life.
I'm sure we've all heard "if you don't use it, you lose it" at some point in our lives.
Kids can't be forced to remember something, but I can have a hand in increasingly the likelihood that they will remember something.
Exactly how do you propose one capitalize on a cultural value of "smart is bad?" Excepting, of course, creating a nation of easily-controlled and easily-pacified chattle. Futhermore, what use is "illustrat[ing] different points of view" when the student's plan for the day is "I will sit here and daydream until the bell rings because school is wasting my TV time"?
That is an important cultural value to consider. I won't go into deep detail as to how I would approach it, but if you're really interested you could PM me. In more general terms, the value that you propose is just one of thousands to consider. For example, different approaches to religion / spirituality, socio-economic status, gender roles, and cultural hierarchal structure are just a few sub-headings of culture that teachers need to address and adapt their lesson plans to reflect.
Ideally, incorporating different points of view is done in a meaningful, interesting, and engaging way. Even if a student is half-way interested, they're bound to learn something. If they are as deeply removed from the class as you may suggest, then they may either have an behavioral concern that should be addressed via an IEP, or other extraneous circumstances.
Keeping things in general terms, having more points of view is like having multiple pictures showing different parts of the same object. You'll see more information that way, and you'll have a more comprehensive understand of that object. Learning in a similar fashion enables a similar function.
Before distracting ourselves with salary figures, let us establish that, in general, a serious lack of financial discipline has created a madness that mistakes discretionary expenditures for necessary expenditures; e.g., no, you do not HAVE TO afford cable TV, a vacation journey, personal cell phones for every member of the family, or a new vehicle, when you have the option of renting a book from the library, relaxing at home, sharing a phone, or maintaining your current vehicle. While arguing "more" or "less" money as compensation for higher- or lower-quality work is fine, citing numbers is unfounded without adjustments for the earner's family type, regional cost-of-living, etc.
That's one of the great things about America, is that you can be as obnoxious as you want to be, and as long as you don't infringe on the rights of others, you're welcome to be that way. I agree that many people spend their money on things that they don't need. It's easy to poke holes and point fingers, but something that I would like to start seeing are good people that ask questions like, "What are we going to do about it?" and "How can we fix it?"
As for wages or whatever, I just wanted to give you guys an idea (in case you didn't know) of average beginner teacher compensation. My brother is an Aerospace Engineer, and his beginning salary was....well...let's just say much more comfortable.
That being said, having a lower salary is kind of a good weeding-out mechanism; because obviously people aren't doing it for the money, so they must be doing it for the love of teaching and for the opportunity to influence others' lives.
I definitely agree with you guys that the educational system could be better - I'd love to see music considered a requirement. That being said, I think it's important to remember that yes, there are a lot of crappy teachers out there, and yes, students are responsible for their own education - as KM mentioned in his anecdote, the most successful education is one that is independent, and self-motivated; and yes, parents can be blamed as well - but there are also very good teachers out there, the ones trying to make a difference, and the ones that genuinely care about their students.
We need more good teachers.
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