Who Cares?
Well I am just going to try and clarify what I was saying in class on Monday. I agree that there is a fine line between indoctrination and education. I like to think that I have it figured out though.
Growing up in New York I was forced to understand that people were going to think how they were going to think despite what I believed or hoped that they would come to believe. I am Mormon and so I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs, fool around with women, or anything like that. My friends on the other hand did. There was a common understanding that I was going to live how I wanted live and that everyone else was going to live the way they wanted to live and that such things shouldn’t really be an issue in our friendship. We often had opportunities to explain our view points, why we did things, or how we felt about certain issues, but it was on a strictly informational level. There really isn’t much sense in arguing with someone who isn’t going to change.
As a tutor I believe that I am employed to help students make solid arguments for whatever there view may be, even if it is racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-education, politically bias, or anything like that. A student could write an essay directly attacking me as a person and I would have to help them form something that fit inside the bounds of a sound argument. They have a right to their opinion. It’s my job to objectively help them understand the rules of argument and writing.
I understand that there is the possibility of having to tutor someone with a completely irrational view. If their argument is only based on their opinion then it is obviously going to be ineffective. If it is not possible to make a rational argument in support of their opinion then as a tutor I should be able to explain the basic components of a logical argument and then point out to the student how their paper doesn’t contain those components.
When I was in English 2010 I decided to write all of my papers opposing the view of my teacher. A few times the view of my paper contradicted my own view as well. I did this for a few reasons. First I did it to test my teacher, who, to my surprise, was very objective. I also did it to try and get a reaction from the other students in my class that would be grading my paper. That was fun. I also did it to see if I could argue something that I didn’t agree with or believe in. I found the whole exercise very rewarding because it helped me to understand that no matter what your view is there is information somewhere to support it. I also found that it is just an essay. No one is going to read it except for the teacher, and then it will be put in the garbage or lost somewhere on the writer’s computer. Who cares if someone has written a pro-drug paper or a racist paper? Or, in Layne’s case an Anti- Bush paper. It is not going to affect anything. No one is going to read it. The reasons they are writing, whether they understand it or not, are to learn how to argue a view point and write clearly. So I might as well help them do that, Right?
Growing up in New York I was forced to understand that people were going to think how they were going to think despite what I believed or hoped that they would come to believe. I am Mormon and so I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs, fool around with women, or anything like that. My friends on the other hand did. There was a common understanding that I was going to live how I wanted live and that everyone else was going to live the way they wanted to live and that such things shouldn’t really be an issue in our friendship. We often had opportunities to explain our view points, why we did things, or how we felt about certain issues, but it was on a strictly informational level. There really isn’t much sense in arguing with someone who isn’t going to change.
As a tutor I believe that I am employed to help students make solid arguments for whatever there view may be, even if it is racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-education, politically bias, or anything like that. A student could write an essay directly attacking me as a person and I would have to help them form something that fit inside the bounds of a sound argument. They have a right to their opinion. It’s my job to objectively help them understand the rules of argument and writing.
I understand that there is the possibility of having to tutor someone with a completely irrational view. If their argument is only based on their opinion then it is obviously going to be ineffective. If it is not possible to make a rational argument in support of their opinion then as a tutor I should be able to explain the basic components of a logical argument and then point out to the student how their paper doesn’t contain those components.
When I was in English 2010 I decided to write all of my papers opposing the view of my teacher. A few times the view of my paper contradicted my own view as well. I did this for a few reasons. First I did it to test my teacher, who, to my surprise, was very objective. I also did it to try and get a reaction from the other students in my class that would be grading my paper. That was fun. I also did it to see if I could argue something that I didn’t agree with or believe in. I found the whole exercise very rewarding because it helped me to understand that no matter what your view is there is information somewhere to support it. I also found that it is just an essay. No one is going to read it except for the teacher, and then it will be put in the garbage or lost somewhere on the writer’s computer. Who cares if someone has written a pro-drug paper or a racist paper? Or, in Layne’s case an Anti- Bush paper. It is not going to affect anything. No one is going to read it. The reasons they are writing, whether they understand it or not, are to learn how to argue a view point and write clearly. So I might as well help them do that, Right?
posted by Anonymous at 12:24 PM
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