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That's a little harsh, and also doesn't even acknowledge that the teacher has any responsibility to engage their students and spark their interest in the subjec

That's a little harsh, and also doesn't even acknowledge that the teacher has any responsibility to engage their students and spark their interest in the subject. It seems to be that the responsibility level depends on the institution. For K-12 teachers, they're definitely responsible for trying to help every student succeed. But in college the students are there voluntarily in order to better educate themselves. The responsibility to succeed lies with them. The teacher's responsibility is to teach the material to the best of the students ability to learn it. That maximizes the value the student gets (and is able to get) for the education they're paying for. A grey area would be college courses that are required for a degree, but which the student has no interest in. They're being forced to buy a product they don't want, as part of a package that includes the products that they do want. Sometimes they might not understand that the required courses really are necessary to fully understand the rest of the courses, but sometimes it's like cable TV where the under-performers are bundled with the desirable channels to justify higher overall prices.

pmoriarty 8y ago
"It seems to be that the responsibility level depends on the institution. For K-12 teachers, they're definitely responsible for trying to help every student succeed. But in college the students are there voluntarily in order to better educate themselves. The responsibility to succeed lies with them. The teacher's responsibility is to teach the material to the best of the students ability to learn it. That maximizes the value the student gets (and is able to get) for the education they're paying for." That might accurately describe the current education system, but we can do better. Viewing the system as merely a marketplace of information for rational consumers is really part of the problem. That view leads to teachers and schools throwing up their hands and pretending they're helpless when students don't consume the product they're offering. But they're not helpless. There is a lot they can do, and if they don't do it, it's their choice not to. The students aren't helpless either, but their own attitudes towards learning are shaped by those very institutions which aren't doing as much as they could do to encourage a love of learning, knowing how to learn, or any of the other things mentioned in my original post which could make a great difference in educational outcomes. The students attitudes towards learning are also shaped by parents who've been through the same often ineffective institutions, and come out with an indifference or even a contempt for learning. The schools and society as a whole could do better. A lot better.

pmoriarty 8y ago

"It seems to be that the responsibility level depends on the institution. For K-12 teachers, they're definitely responsible for trying to help every student succeed. But in college the students are there voluntarily in order to better educate themselves. The responsibility to succeed lies with them. The teacher's responsibility is to teach the material to the best of the students ability to learn it. That maximizes the value the student gets (and is able to get) for the education they're paying for." That might accurately describe the current education system, but we can do better. Viewing the system as merely a marketplace of information for rational consumers is really part of the problem. That view leads to teachers and schools throwing up their hands and pretending they're helpless when students don't consume the product they're offering. But they're not helpless. There is a lot they can do, and if they don't do it, it's their choice not to. The students aren't helpless either, but their own attitudes towards learning are shaped by those very institutions which aren't doing as much as they could do to encourage a love of learning, knowing how to learn, or any of the other things mentioned in my original post which could make a great difference in educational outcomes. The students attitudes towards learning are also shaped by parents who've been through the same often ineffective institutions, and come out with an indifference or even a contempt for learning. The schools and society as a whole could do better. A lot better.