[lit-ideas] Re: Grade inflation
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 11:16:09 +0900
On 2004/04/13, at 5:01, Steven G. Cameron wrote:
> **(Without diving back into discussion of the sublime) it is the public
> who decides when a work of art, a play, movie, book, poem, music,
> advertisement is successful. For papers and essays, a lone professor
> is
> the sole arbiter... one voice, one opinion -- no matter how honest,
> meticulous, and caring...
Allow me to disagree. The statement that "it is the public who
decides...." is surely far too simplistic. In advertising, journalism,
publishing, corporations and government bureaucracies, any and all work
must survive a series of gatekeepers before it ever gets to the public.
Most students will never say or write anything for public consumption;
they will, to survive and prosper in almost any sort of workplace, have
to learn to deal with the fact that customers, clients, bosses, and,
yes, even police and other government bureaucrats frequently make what
seem to be arbitrary judgments.
My view is that by promoting the idea that schools and teachers are
fair and that passing a course or winning praise depends on nothing
more than doing what is expected cultivates an innocence rapidly
crushed outside the classroom. That is why I tell my students that my
classroom mimics the business world in which they hope to pursue
careers. Experience has taught me that a few members of each class will
impress, surprise, and delight me; they will win the business, they
will get the "As." Those who do a credible but less impressive job will
get the "Bs." Those who seem determined to skate by with a minimum of
effort will get "Cs," and those who fail to perform at even this
minimal level will fail. I do realize that my freedom to behave in this
way depends a great deal on the fact that I am only an adjunct faculty
member who makes a comfortable living from non-academic sources. Oddly
enough, however, my courses continue to be popular, and every year
brings me a number of very impressive students.
John L. McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Japan 220-0006
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email mccreery@xxxxxxx
"Making Symbols is Our Business"
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