[lbo-talk] MH & DG on university

[Wojtek S]

Jeffrey F: "As for students not liking the work, i'm partly venting
frustration, but it
ought to be understood as symptomatic of the structure we're in. But the
truth is that i actually get a lot of students who enjoy the class and
enjoy the challenge. If not at first, then eventually, when they start to
feel like they're getting somewhere. So, there's that. But when they first
get to me, they generally expect me to hand them everything. They've been
trained to it, afaict. It's not just laziness (although i reckon some of it
is). It's a symptom of the structure."

[WS:]  You are absolutely right.  I also think, based on my own
limited experience, that this is a generational and gender thing.  I
used to teach (many years ago) classes attended by students freshly
off high school and older folks who came back to school for one reason
or another.  The latter had it more difficult to get back into the
school routine (classroom attendance, assignments, papers, etc.) but
they also tried harder to succeed.  The younger ones expected
everything to be handed to them and complained about "too much
reading."  Also women tend to be better learners than men - they
actually make an effort to learn.  Men tend to be arrogant assholes
who either  assume they know everything and they do not need to learn
or that they need to be entertained when they show up for class.

Wojtek