Classes started on Monday. I’m actually pretty happy about that. This summer was rather hectic and stressful in many ways. Also productive, but still. It was basically a good counterexample to the clueless types who insist that teachers only work nine months out of the year. For me, the summer tends to be harder work than the regular school year. Teaching isn’t easy, and it’s rather time consuming, but it’s familiar and predictable and routine.
Of course, if all you know about higher education comes from what you hear in the news, you could easily think that modern academic life is an endless tale of woe. Apparently our daily existence involves endlessly walking on eggshells, lest the thought police and the forces of political correctness pounce to end our careers. We are surrounded by delicate, entitled students who believe they should never be expected to address an unpleasant thought. We are expected to provide endless “trigger warnings,” lest we offend the fragile sensibilities of our weak-minded students.
Now, I don’t mean to make light of the issue. Political correctness is a real problem, and it is, indeed, an offshoot of broader trends in higher education. Nowadays kids are too often raised by parents with an excessive concern for their self-esteem, and they tend to view college as purely about gaining a credential. Administrators tend to view students merely as paying customers, and not as people to be educated. Of course, they have been driven to that view by the relentless budget cuts all universities face. The states have mostly abandoned their public universities, for example, to the point that for most of us, money from the state is actually a small percentage of the budget. But we are still expected top operate under often outdated state regulations. The situation is worse in states run by Republicans. For example, in Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker decided that it was a terrible burden for the state to have one of the premiere public university systems in the country, and has dutifully done what he can to destroy it.
All of this is true, but it’s easy to exaggerate the problem. Political correctness is something I read about in the news, I have never actually encountered it. And most of the kids I see are not lazy, entitled jerks. Quite the contrary, they are mostly eager to learn and willing to work hard. Nor are they looking for any opportunity to take offense, or eager to run up the food chain to make trouble for you if you in any way inconvenience them. The horror stories you hear just aren’t part of my daily experience, and I don’t think they are part of the daily experience of most of my colleagues.
There are plenty of caveats, of course. I work in the sciences, as opposed to the humanities. If the class is called “Calculus II,” there isn’t much mystery about what you are going to find when you get there. The sorts of issues that tend to make people touchy rarely arise in math classes, and students who take upper-level math and science courses tend to be pretty confident and tough-minded in any event. Alas, it only takes one or two jerks in a class to spoil things for everyone else.
Still, these issues do occasionally come up. I have taught a course on the history of mathematics on several occasions, and issues like the Church’s treatment of Galileo are inevitably discussed. I have never had a problem having a thoughtful conversation with the students about such things. On occasion I teach discrete probability, and when I do I make a point of showing the class the Hardy-Weinberg law. I’ve occasionally found it necessary, in explaining some mathematical idea, to discourse for a bit on the nature of science. When I do so, I make sure to mention evolution in some way. I have never had a student get the vapors over it.
So, yes, political correctness is a problem, as are all of the other issues I’ve mentioned. But the fact remains that being a college professor is still the best job there is. People pay me to do math all day. I have enormous freedom to direct my scholarly interests in whatever direction I choose. Simply put, my job is as close to do whatever you want and we’ll pay you as you ever find in life. What’s not to like? Is there some other line of work I could pursue where there are no annoyances, and where everyone you meet is pleasant?
If there is, maybe I’ll pursue that. But until then I think I will stick with what I’m doing, frustrations and all.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1N4l5SC
Classes started on Monday. I’m actually pretty happy about that. This summer was rather hectic and stressful in many ways. Also productive, but still. It was basically a good counterexample to the clueless types who insist that teachers only work nine months out of the year. For me, the summer tends to be harder work than the regular school year. Teaching isn’t easy, and it’s rather time consuming, but it’s familiar and predictable and routine.
Of course, if all you know about higher education comes from what you hear in the news, you could easily think that modern academic life is an endless tale of woe. Apparently our daily existence involves endlessly walking on eggshells, lest the thought police and the forces of political correctness pounce to end our careers. We are surrounded by delicate, entitled students who believe they should never be expected to address an unpleasant thought. We are expected to provide endless “trigger warnings,” lest we offend the fragile sensibilities of our weak-minded students.
Now, I don’t mean to make light of the issue. Political correctness is a real problem, and it is, indeed, an offshoot of broader trends in higher education. Nowadays kids are too often raised by parents with an excessive concern for their self-esteem, and they tend to view college as purely about gaining a credential. Administrators tend to view students merely as paying customers, and not as people to be educated. Of course, they have been driven to that view by the relentless budget cuts all universities face. The states have mostly abandoned their public universities, for example, to the point that for most of us, money from the state is actually a small percentage of the budget. But we are still expected top operate under often outdated state regulations. The situation is worse in states run by Republicans. For example, in Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker decided that it was a terrible burden for the state to have one of the premiere public university systems in the country, and has dutifully done what he can to destroy it.
All of this is true, but it’s easy to exaggerate the problem. Political correctness is something I read about in the news, I have never actually encountered it. And most of the kids I see are not lazy, entitled jerks. Quite the contrary, they are mostly eager to learn and willing to work hard. Nor are they looking for any opportunity to take offense, or eager to run up the food chain to make trouble for you if you in any way inconvenience them. The horror stories you hear just aren’t part of my daily experience, and I don’t think they are part of the daily experience of most of my colleagues.
There are plenty of caveats, of course. I work in the sciences, as opposed to the humanities. If the class is called “Calculus II,” there isn’t much mystery about what you are going to find when you get there. The sorts of issues that tend to make people touchy rarely arise in math classes, and students who take upper-level math and science courses tend to be pretty confident and tough-minded in any event. Alas, it only takes one or two jerks in a class to spoil things for everyone else.
Still, these issues do occasionally come up. I have taught a course on the history of mathematics on several occasions, and issues like the Church’s treatment of Galileo are inevitably discussed. I have never had a problem having a thoughtful conversation with the students about such things. On occasion I teach discrete probability, and when I do I make a point of showing the class the Hardy-Weinberg law. I’ve occasionally found it necessary, in explaining some mathematical idea, to discourse for a bit on the nature of science. When I do so, I make sure to mention evolution in some way. I have never had a student get the vapors over it.
So, yes, political correctness is a problem, as are all of the other issues I’ve mentioned. But the fact remains that being a college professor is still the best job there is. People pay me to do math all day. I have enormous freedom to direct my scholarly interests in whatever direction I choose. Simply put, my job is as close to do whatever you want and we’ll pay you as you ever find in life. What’s not to like? Is there some other line of work I could pursue where there are no annoyances, and where everyone you meet is pleasant?
If there is, maybe I’ll pursue that. But until then I think I will stick with what I’m doing, frustrations and all.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1N4l5SC
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