The point was to go off and read every famous person's work on what is and isn't poetry
so that he didn't have to explain it to us. Because he was so terrifying, we did that, never knowing what he was expecting us to do.

He forced us to take immediate control of our learning, rather than the production-line force-feeding of material we'd had in secondary school, and I've been grateful for that ever since.

Writing about Star Wars, even in a Masters Thesis about Star Wars, is inexcusable.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Fri 18 Mar 2011, 16:22, 2 replies)

Seriously?
That was at university? Not having a go at you personally but is that what this country has come to? Basic comprehension skills that were taught to me in Primary school being "taught" at University....in a fucking POETRY class. No wonder the standard of graduates these days is so piss poor.
(Bushcricket, Fri 18 Mar 2011, 16:33, closed)

this was more than ten years ago now
but it was certainly a dramatic change to what we'd had at grammar school, with the grooming for A-level passes regardless of how useful the information might actually be.

The education system has been like that for some time now.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Fri 18 Mar 2011, 16:37, closed)

Yeah, I got the idea
of what he was doing, I just have a bit of an aversion to poetry.

The beret and scarf bit just makes me want to hunt him down and punch him in the face.

I suppose my list of educational achievements reflects this attitude (I got my first paper qualifiaction at age 33), but even as a first year I would not have given a teacher like that the time of day.

edit - just noticed - first year university. I was thinking 11 year olds.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Fri 18 Mar 2011, 16:35, closed)