Ann George

Ann George's essay took me a while to get into and to make sense out of. It may have been the name-dropping. But once I did get into it, some things jumped out at me. I thought it was intersting how she talked about liberalism versus practicality. It's a nice idea, in theory, to let students have their own take on their assignments, or to make out of the curriculum what they will. But, in the end it should be up to the teacher to decide how they should do their assignments, because it is the teacher's job to prepare them for the real world. As much as college can seem like a bubble sometimes, it is in fact there to train students to go into jobs where they will be expected to follow certain rules. Because they still have the status of students, the want to rebel against the system. But they are slowly learning to be responsible adults, at the same time. Someone has to be in charge, and that person is the teacher. That's what she's there for. I thought it was interesting that she referred to this as a paradox. That having someone in control actually opens up the classroom to democracy.