Who is a teacher?

[InfiniteNow]

Read post #78 and #82.

[Ananke]

So because you have nothing further to say you declare the discussion over? Nice use of moderator privelage.

[infamous]

So because you have nothing further to say you declare the discussion over? Nice use of moderator privelage.

A little advice for you Ananke; If you don't learn to be a good neighbor and keep your insults to yourself, you'll be shown some additional moderator privileges. A word to the wise is sufficient.........................Infy

[IDMclean]

I would say two things. First is that Anake your statement of there being more falsehood now than ever is a puzzling claim. It has a number of interps that make my head spin. One is related to conceptualization, in that we can not abstract that which we have no concept of and we have no concept of what we have not experienced/observed.

 

Under that context I would take the meaning of the statement to be more accurately "We are aware of more falsehood, on earth, now then ever before." though in it's unaltered contexts I take it to be a statement on the same order as "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." That is grammaticly correct perhaps but missing precission and innate meaning.

 

Furthermore it would be indicate to me in it's unaltered form that there is falsehood generated, which wasn't there before. In which case I would argue set theory and logic. Failing to get my point across by that means I would fall back upon arguing history.

 

Now as for Infinitenow? I am not siding with your arguement either. It would seem to me that the original context of this and Spike Blood's comments are appropiate, in the discussion of teachers, education and falsification. We are as much talking about what constitutes a teacher as we are talking about what constitutes the student and the search for truth.

 

Spike blood's responce is dialog, that is exchange between two people, regarding Anake's proposition. It is an attempt to be impartial in one's examinations and to put forth one's reasoning for others to see and scrutinize, and is in my opinion better dialog form than "supply evidence." and "see post #X". Which are not only not terribly helpful to the person who is under rebuttal but also rather annoying to read and lacking in content regarding the subject under discussion.

 

Anake provides a very important aspect to this discussion, in that he(?) plays Advocate for the otherside of things. True many of us here would seem to value education, but why educate? It is an equally important question for this discussion. when do teachers teach, and when do teachers instruct? Is an instructor a teacher?

 

What are the reasons to teach? Does a teacher have to understand some or all of these reasons?

 

In common philosophical language, a proposition is the content of an assertion, that is, it is true-or-false and defined by the meaning of a particular piece of language. The proposition is independent of the medium of communication.

 

Since the definition of proposition is such a crucial matter to various topics in philosophy, the nature of propositions is highly controversial. Even the existence of propositions is sometimes called into question. As a result, the term is widely used even where the term is not explicitly defined, and confusion can arise.

 

prop‧o‧si‧tion  /ˌprɒpəˈzɪʃən/ [prop-uh-zish-uhn]

–noun

1. the act of offering or suggesting something to be considered, accepted, adopted, or done.

2. a plan or scheme proposed.

3. an offer of terms for a transaction, as in business.

4. a thing, matter, or person considered as something to be dealt with or encountered: Keeping diplomatic channels open is a serious proposition.

5. anything stated or affirmed for discussion or illustration.

6. Rhetoric. a statement of the subject of an argument or a discourse, or of the course of action or essential idea to be advocated.

7. Logic. a statement in which something is affirmed or denied, so that it can therefore be significantly characterized as either true or false.

8. Mathematics. a formal statement of either a truth to be demonstrated or an operation to be performed; a theorem or a problem.

9. a proposal of usually illicit sexual relations.

–verb (used with object)

10. to propose sexual relations to.

11. to propose a plan, deal, etc., to.

 

An instruction is a form of communicated information that is both command and explanation for how an action, behavior, method, or task is to be begun, completed, conducted, or executed.

 

in‧struc‧tion  /ɪnˈstrʌkʃən/ [in-struhk-shuhn]

–noun

1. the act or practice of instructing or teaching; education.

2. knowledge or information imparted.

3. an item of such knowledge or information.

4. Usually, instructions. orders or directions: The instructions are on the back of the box.

5. the act of furnishing with authoritative directions.

6. Computers. a command given to a computer to carry out a particular operation.

 

Now remember, play nice, and play fair.

[InfiniteNow]

So because you have nothing further to say you declare the discussion over? Nice use of moderator privelage.

Hopefully your misinterpretation is not intentional, but I'll clarify what I've said. If you'd like to discuss my actions further, please limit that discussion to Private Message (PM) with me so this thread will not be hijacked while we clarify the issues and find common ground. When I referenced other posts, it was because I had already stated this numerous times.

 

 

Who is a teacher? It's many things, and is specific to the individual to define. Much like all else, it is relative to the observer. For me, I think the following:

 

Teacher - A person walking a particular path, who kindly shows others what they've seen and encourages them down their own.

[Tormod]

As to insecurities, I am not prone to such a thing. Neither do I seek to elevate myself over others. That I am well above average is simply a fact, and I see no reason to deny it.

 

Such a humble approach. I have no idea where you would be (because I have no idea what the global average is, which you evidently think you know), but I also think you and I use different measures to categorize people.

 

I would like to pick up your previous question as to whether a caveman was not able to comprehend all the knowledge that was available at the time.

 

1) How can we know the amount of knowledge that was available?

2) At what point in time?

3) What methods were used to transfer knowledge?

4) What was considered necessary knowledge?

5) Did they have teachers?

 

Since I don't think the term "caveman" has any useful meaning let's talk about people at a given point in time - say, 50 000 years ago.

[Tormod]

Anake provides a very important aspect to this discussion, in that he(?) plays Advocate for the otherside of things.

 

What, exactly, is "the other side of things" in this discussion? I'm curious.

 

What are the reasons to teach? Does a teacher have to understand some or all of these reasons?

 

These are very good questions. IMHO a teacher cannot possibly understand everything that is being taught, because I think the act of teaching is the act of making someone else understand the process of learning, of finding out for themselves. So the art of the teacher is not really to teach a subject, but to teach someone why they need to learn it, and how.

[IDMclean]

Well in this, it would seem clear to me that it is nessessary to identify what constitutes a Teacher, and what does not. Now from my perspective, I am limited because I am of the belief that a teacher is a useful individual, and that knowledge is worth pursuing for it's own sake. (not quite accurate, but for the sake of arguement.)

 

I am a supporter of the concept and defend it, as my personal beliefs depend upon it. This may not be so for Anake, and from what I have read, this would make Anake a critic of the proposition being discussed. Gives one resistence to work with, because without proper conflict it becomes a nodding session. The critic and cynic are as important to the discussion of an idea as the supporters.

 

Where as many of us are explaining our definitions of a teacher, Anake is arguing, from what I read, that there is no such thing as a teacher and that the pursuit of knowledge is on the same level as pleasure.

[Michaelangelica]

So the art of the teacher is not really to teach a subject, but to teach someone why they need to learn it, and how.

Yes, to facilitate learning.

(Rather than filling an empty vessel the 'vessel' fills itself.

One reason why philosophy and logic are important subjects)

The true teacher eventually does himself out of a job.

[Tormod]

Gives one resistence to work with, because without proper conflict it becomes a nodding session. The critic and cynic are as important to the discussion of an idea as the supporters.

 

It is interesting that some think conflict is necessary in order to discuss. I work a lot with innovation seminars, brainstorming sessions and idea generation, and "proper conflict" is not an issue. "Opposition" is one thing, aggressive conflict creation is something else entirely. I will agree to disagree on how it has panned out in this discussion, but I think cooperation and playing devil's advocate is more fruitful than "resistance" for the sake of resistance.

 

Where as many of us are explaining our definitions of a teacher, Anake is arguing, from what I read, that there is no such thing as a teacher and that the pursuit of knowledge is on the same level as pleasure.

 

I think that arguing that there are no teachers is basically the same as arguing that there are no human beings because we are all animals.

 

We can't define away something that does in fact exist.

 

There are no "truths" in this discussion apart from the FACT that we have teachers. The questions is "who is a teacher" (and also "what"). Arguing that there are no teachers because they do not match someone's opinion of what education is seems to me pointless.

 

The pursuit of knowledge is innate in human beings, but it is also important to note that as creatures we would be completely unable to survive our first years in solitude. We are helpless as babies, less so as kids, and then we fill the entire spectrum from "hopeless" to "self-sustained" as we grow up.

 

The role of the teacher should not be underestimated, even if it is not clearly understood.

 

Edit: I forgot to add that I do in fact think it's okay to see education as enjoyment. Being a Master student in addition to a full time job, I have to take courses that I think are fun and interesting. Studying, however, is not fun for me - it is definitely both hard, time-consuming, and requires energy when I am drained after a long day.

[Michaelangelica]

I think that good teachers are no longer being attracted to the profession.

There is better money to be made elsewhere.

especially as government pays the bills.

as a result we are all the poorer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501625.html

Stemming the Loss of Good Teachers

 

Perhaps what we need is a No Teacher Left Behind program.

 

Certainly we should do something: Schoolteachers are less qualified today than they once were.

And you can blame growing opportunities for women in other, higher-paying professions -- and stingy government officials -- for the teacher brain drain, says economist Marigee P. Bacolod of the University of California at Irvine.

 

Bacolod examined standardized-test scores, the selectivity of colleges that teachers attended and other measures of excellence.

She found a dramatic drop in teacher quality since the 1950s, with the biggest decline occurring in the 1980s.

 

For example, she found that in 1970 about 30 percent of women in their twenties who scored in the top 20 percent on IQ and other tests became teachers, compared with only 8 or 9 percent of twentysomething women in the 1990s.

That's key, because about 70 percent of teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade are women, a proportion that has not changed much in decades.

 

At the same time, the proportion of smart women who entered other professions soared as doors to other, higher-paying professions slowly swung open.

One answer: Raise teacher salaries. Bacolod's findings indicate that that would significantly increase the percentage of smart women -- and men -- who become teachers.

[Tormod]

While teacher salaries may need a boost, I also think there is a dire need to improve the quality of the education of teachers. Here in Norway, studies have shown that the colleges of education (ie, teacher schools) simply are not up to the task of churning out good teachers. Now that's kind of ironic, isn't it...