no politics in class

[PepperElf]

my last post here before i go into class.

this class isn't exactly difficult but the teacher is stricter than ones i've had before... and there is stuff on web design i don't know.

and i don't want to post this in class where the guy who started it might see...


last week one of the guys in class made an offhand remark about politics. now i personally thought his remark was rather uneducated, but i said nothing...

however i really like what the teacher said... that political discussions were not allowed in class.

unfortunately the kid hasn't learned the concept of shutting his mouth when he should, because he tried voicing his opinion again.

Teacher: *same thing again, no politics in class*

Kid: *i forgot what he said exactly... mumbled something that made it clear he didn't like being told to stop and that he had to get the last word in ...*

Teacher: *clear voice... i forgot exactly what she said, but basically telling the kid that she had told him specifically to STOP.*

kid: *remains silent - finally*


And I rather like that.
We're a summer class, and there's a lot of different people here, with different backgrounds and different political views.

And.. as I mentioned above, it's a class in Web Design... not a class in politics.

I rather like that. And that our teacher has no qualms in exerting her authority over such disturbances.

[MoxisPilot]

...I've always found that the people who have the strongest and most aggressive political stances (ie - the ones who won't shut up) are the ones who are absolutely, emphatically uninformed.

None of my teachers allow politics, either.

[Rapscallion]

Hmm, sounds familiar from somewhere...

Rapscallion

[MoxisPilot]

IT DOES, RAPS!

[trunks2k]

...I've always found that the people who have the strongest and most aggressive political stances (ie - the ones who won't shut up) are the ones who are absolutely, emphatically uninformed.

IIRC, there was a study on this. It studied people on a certain contentious issue (something to do with welfare), asked the participants what their position was, how strongly they felt about their position, and how much they thought they knew about the issue. Then they asked them a series of objective questions about the issue. They found that the people who felt the strongest about their position and felt they knew the most about the issue got the most facts wrong.

ETA:

IIRC, I read about the study in UnSpun: finding facts in a world of disinformation

[Hobbs]

Ugh, the problem with being a History major: every class becomes a political discussion. One time, it consumed the whole period, and we didn't cover the subject we were supposed to. Grrr....

[MoxisPilot]

IIRC, there was a study on this. It studied people on a certain contentious issue (something to do with welfare), asked the participants what their position was, how strongly they felt about their position, and how much they thought they knew about the issue. Then they asked them a series of objective questions about the issue. They found that the people who felt the strongest about their position and felt they knew the most about the issue got the most facts wrong.

ETA:

IIRC, I read about the study in UnSpun: finding facts in a world of disinformation

I love it when studies are available to back up my theories.

You rock.

[Mnemjian]

Wow, your professor is my hero. If only some of my professors would take notes on that policy. If I had a nickel for every time some loudmouth wasted my learning experience yammering about their worthless political views (not in polysci classes, either!)... well, I would have a lot of nickels, and I would perhaps be able to buy myself a better education

[PepperElf]

or buy yourself a cheaper one. this is actually a community college. Though that might be why... it's part of the state network of colleges here so they might have rules on what the teachers can say (or allow) to go on in class.

plus the teacher is very strong willed in that she's not going to let a student take over her class with stuff that's not related to the topic

[Damien]

I hate politics, I mean really hate it - and never would give a rats behind what people's opinions are, no matter how 'strongly' they feel them.

As a teacher, it is also forbidden from my class.

[Primer]

or buy yourself a cheaper one. this is actually a community college. Though that might be why... it's part of the state network of colleges here so they might have rules on what the teachers can say (or allow) to go on in class.

Due to a little thing known as "Academic Freedom," professors can allow darned near anything they want in class. The only thing they are truly bound by is the departmental syllabus stating "Thou shalt cover this much material during the semester."

And lots of professors don't follow even that.

I'm one of the few at my school that drag my students kicking and screaming through the whole syllabus at a "reasonable" pace.

"Reasonable" meaning that I don't cover 4 chapters in the last 2 weeks. The pace of the material at the end of the semester is the same as the pace at the beginning, and the pace in the middle--ok, maybe a little slower at the end when everyone hits burn-out.

[PepperElf]

actually you just reminded me of one of my math teachers who tried tossing in some politics and economics into his calc class.

but in the web design class the closest thing we can come with in regards to "politics" is to talk about building in accessibility into web pages (like for those who are blind, deaf, colorblind, etc)... and that's because it's part of the curriculum.

[mattm04]

At least it is not the Prof. who is turning a non-political class into politics.

[PepperElf]

yeah that gets boring really fast