I Met a Young Man

Saturday night at dance.

He is a grad student at Iowa, working on his doctorate in Chemistry.

Just my kind a guy to talk to, we have so much in common.

Actually we DID have something in common: teaching. Even though I did not tell him I was a former teacher.

Now he has NO background in teaching. I'm not sure he even enjoys teaching, but he HAS to teach as a Grad Assistant. He shared that his first semester his evaluations didn't come back so well. They were awful to tolerable. I actually couldn't believe he was sharing such information, but I do have one more piece of information about this young man that MY teaching senses picked up.

I think he had Aspergers Syndrome.

So then this added a whole new dimension to why he got such evaluations. He is all knowledge and probably very good at developing catalysts attaching organic compounds to metal. (See, I really did pay attention, I just HAVE NO IDEA, what the heck this means.) But his delivery, his understanding of social situations, his eye contact, his TEACHING ability lack.

So WHY does he teach? I know, I know, it is part of the package as he works on his doctorate, but I could only feel for the students in his class. I bet they were lost. I bet they were frustrated. And imagine the money being spent by students and parents for an education, being taught by someone who has no business teaching.

This kid was a born researcher. He has his niche in life, don't put him in a spot where he is ineffective.

There are two caveats to reflect upon here -

1) Anyone can teach. It doesn't take skill. It just takes some knowledge and a warm body. There are no techniques to use. You just dispense information and the students just absorb and then you test to see how well they absorbed. It's really very elementary.

2) Logic, common sense, a deep understanding of the goal or purpose ( students learning) seems to be missing. Instead the goal is about money. Isn't it always about money? The University is paying for this man-child to teach while they use his brain for researching topics that may or may not help the world. He does get a doctorate and hopefully a job in industry as opposed to teaching. However he did feel if he HAD to he would become a professor. (Lord, help us!)

This is representative in almost any sector, any bureaucracy, any business. The REAL purpose and logical solutions to reach a goal are most often overlooked due to budget concerns or to ineffective leadership.

I get so frustrated with our government for just these reasons. I got so frustrated with our school system for just these reasons.

What depresses me the most is that the reorganization of government isn't going to be solved in my lifetime, maybe no one's. Maybe we are on a roller coaster of no returns.

But back to the man-child. He was trying his best to dance and not doing it too badly.

Maybe he should TEACH dance.