Thomas J. Cottle

Always Unquestioning and Always Unchallenging

So much was taken for granted in our society,

even by the highly educated, especially when

it served self.

One such fellow* told me the other day, he

believed that poor teachers ought to be fired.

So I asked him what a poor teacher was.
Was it someone who didn't get

the PC teacher-of-the-year award

or someone who dared go upright and

criticize his colleagues and administrators?

Was it someone who spoke rude truths in the

classroom and in so doing upset the coddled

or someone who actually taught students

to question and challenge their university?

Or was it the old “you’ll know a poor teacher

when you see, hear, and observe him”? 

The fellow, unsurprisingly, never did get back to me. 

……………………………………….

*Thomas J. Cottle, Professor of Education, Boston University

 

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The poems I've posted here recently illustrate the importance of naming names as a vital means of quality control.  They also illustrate how one can create from  dubious statements made by others.  They were written in 2008 and 2009 and form part of a new collection tilted Triumvirate of the Monkeys. which will be published in a couple of weeks.  BTW, I am not a fan of those who obtain degrees in educationism.  Much of the stuff taught in university schools of education is as inane  and utterly boring as it gets.