Thursday, October 14, 2004

Necessary evil or common good?

To effectively write on this issue I had to look up the word indoctrination and I found in most of the definitions provided that education and indoctrination are the same thing. That they are the same really makes sense because anytime that anyone teaches us anything are they not teaching us their own way of thinking? When we sit down to tutor someone are we not teaching him or her to write according to how we, or their teacher, or their audience want them to write? Is not our job to teach students to write and think a certain way? When some of them (I admit not many because most are attempting to work from the indoctrination of their teachers) come in have they not brought in a paper full of their ideas and in their own style and form of writing only to have us tear it apart and teach them a new way, our way, of doing things? According to most definitions indoctrination is our job. We are the indoctrinators! We are here to make sure that they are adhering to the indoctrination of their teachers so they can get the teachers stamp of approval (their grade) that says that this person has become sufficiently indoctrinated. This person thinks and writes and knows what I want them to think and write and know. They have taken tests that show that they now think the way I do so they pass. For example I was marked down on a math test the other day, not because I got the wrong answer (because the answer was correct) but because I did not work the problem the way that the teacher wanted me to. When I went in to see the tutor for math they facilitated the teacher by teaching me the correct way to work the problem. The tutor reinforced the indoctrination of the teacher.
An even better example is when I took an oral exam for my Spanish teacher. He corrected me on something that I said that I had heard Hispanic people say all the time. When I asked my Spanish tutor about it, she said, “well it means the same thing people will understand what you are saying either way, the way you said it was just more slang then the way he wanted you to say it.”
Have we ever said anything similar to our students?
I could go off on discourse communities here, I suppose, but I will not.
I am not saying that teachers are evil or that they way we do things are wrong, but I am saying the whether we choose to acknowledge it or not we are taught by indoctrination. When we are being indoctrinated we are being educated. So where does that leave us as tutors? I suppose we choose how far we take that indoctrination. So maybe a better question would be; how far is too far?

I know that is not the argument that is being asked for but it is something interesting to think about.

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