Getting not-hired at the University of Phoenix

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A recent post by Joshua Kim, blogger at InsideHigherEd.com’s “Technology and Learning” section, noted that he had not been allowed to progress through the University of Phoenix’s online instructor course.  In short, he was told he was not UofP material.  I think he should wear that as a badge of honor–you have a soul, dear sir, and we don’t want that sort around here…

Here is what I said:

The UofP is not interested in academics.  They are a business and business succeeds on conformity, of following orders, of passing the item on down the line.  Or at least that is one version of the business model, which is the one promulgated by the UofP.

Don’t feel poorly about not being let it–it is not a club you would much care for.  They don’t like free-thinking, will over-monitor your class, and, over time, suck your free-thinking spirit from you (watchOffice Space for some pop-reference insight).

The students at the UofP, at least the older ones (and there are a lot of non-trads) know the system, probably better than you, and a class can often twist into a management of policy (did I log in enough, did I write enough, my group didn’t do any of the work…).

Consider it a dodged bullet.

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What I am reading now: Crooked Timber

I have been talking some time off of late, so in order to get back into the flow of free expression (I express, for free), I will let you know what I am reading:

• Crooked Timber blog:  a nerdy blog that talks with ease about Goethe, Bill Waterrson (wrote Calvin and Hobbes), and the arcane schools of philosophy…all within the same post.    The latest post read: as a writer, on know how to stop or move on or just simply give up…

I have wondered, of late, whether I should just give up the anonymous blogging and dedicate myself to something a little more fiscally rewarding…  You are reading my answer.

“Out of the Crooked Timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made”

…that is one hell of a blog tag line.

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What the F@#$

The following was posted to Inside Higher Ed’s piece on What Direction for Rhet-Comp?

It is not about agency (unless we are talking about adjuncts) nor it is about justifying a comp and rhet classroom with arcane literary theory.  It is, or should be, about teaching writing and how to read (the composition and rhetoric aspect that seems to be lost in the whole “presentation” here).

It is funny that the MLA (with its very codified notions of Order, Duty and Tradition) would discuss the role of Comp & Rhet…but then again, by relegating the discussion to how best introduce Freshmen to writing, literature, etc. already tips their bias.  C&R exist, for many departments, to maintain relevancy of the English department in the broader campus.  C&R allows an English department bigger budgets, slots for graduate TA’s and an excuse to keep overflow adjuncts tethered (kind of a carrot/stick thing for graduate students and future prof want-to-be’s).

But I digress.  C&R are the untouchables of the humanities, while at the same time being the selling point to the business college (the English department will teach ALL of the majors how to write/think/succeed…) and all of the other “hard” sciences.  It comes off as though the admin sells its artists out as weekend house-painters just to make the rent, all the while keeping them from the view of polite folk.

Again I digress.  I’m pissed.  Proposition: assemble all of the chairs and deans of English into one room and don’t allow them to leave until they work out what the top five skills the department should instill in every student.  When writing and clear communication comes out among the top two, then put the budget where the priorities are–hire the C&R instructors onto the tenure track or, god forbid, make the lit folks teach writing (after they themselves bone up on the writing scholarship).

When this happens, wake me up.  Until then, I will, in the status quo, fume.

Excuse me while I impale myself

First, go to the InsideHigherEd article about the future state of English teaching and read through.  I will wait.

Where does one start?

With an “historic low” in the numbers (see point one below), what would the rational, measured, prudent choice of action be? Why stay the course, of course.

Point by point:

• In the findings bulleted list, the first notes that the listed numbers of open, tenure-track positions tracks along with the number of actual positions (about 55-65%) in the departments. This point, then, acknowledges that the adjunct (which I think is actually quiet higher) open positions are not tracked by the MLA. Why not? This speaks volumes to the status, rank, worth, etc. of the common adjunct in the humanities.
• New doctorate numbers have not decreased. More people for less positions. Great.
• Comp and Rhetoric–not why most people go into English studies–lead the open positions–because other fields lament that their students can’t write and they themselves can’t be bothered to teach them…a position English departments, hard up to ratchet up cache, have encouraged for years in a desperate attempt at relevancy.
• Only at 70% of adjunctness is a department deemed at a tipping point…Only when 1 in 4 profs have benefits, job security and prestige is there a problem. I think the real problem is with that number.
• Post-doc positions in a field where one office doesn’t speak to its neighbor because, well, most are running scared (see above bullet points) and, let’s be honest, English doesn’t, on the whole, attract the most extroverted group.
• Will one job-seeking strategy work? For one, maybe, but with newly minted, eager future-adjuncts graduating to add to the existing pool, no strategy will suffice.
• Will departments cut back incoming students (future jobless souls)? No, that would lessen the importance of the field among the colleges (said by a graduate student, though).

English departments are not heeding the counsel of their own subject. Dulce est decorum est.

Poor Disproportionately Hit By Economic Crisis : NPR

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Daniel Schorr, writing for NPR’s version of an editorial page, outlines that the poor have been ever growing, and Bill Clinton did untold damage with his “reforms.”

I was particularly shocked by the number of people receiving food stamps–a not uncommon thing here in Michigan.

Full article here: Poor Disproportionately Hit By Economic Crisis : NPR.

Pulse

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Where are you today?

Confessions of a home-schooler | Salon Life

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Andrew O’Hehir, usually Salon.com’s film/art critic, hit upon an interesting social phenomenon–having your home-schooled kids out during the day when all the other kids are in school : Confessions of a home-schooler | Salon Life.

I am in full teacher mode at home, moving to the halfway point in my second year on the job.  We do multiplication drills, sentence identification, parts of speech, and cooking.  We also have gone to a pottery studio and spun some bowls and cups (or depending on use, both).

Like O’Hehir, people approach all the time wondering why our child is not in school.  Going on nine, she is obviously of school age.  She has gotten to the point she just rolls her eyes and says “homeschool.”  As if that is enough.

Most of the time, it is.

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Ten most troubled states in the U.S. – Yahoo! Finance

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It is good to be important, if fiscally insolvent.

Ten most troubled states in the U.S. – Yahoo! Finance.

The same economic pressures that pushed California to the brink of insolvency are wreaking havoc on other states, a new report has found.

And how state officials deal with their fiscal problems could reverberate across the United States, according to the Pew Center on the States’ analysis released Wednesday.

The 10 most troubled states are: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

Other states — including Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, New York and Hawaii — were not far behind.

The list is based on several factors, including the loss of state revenue, size of budget gaps, unemployment and foreclosure rates, poor money management practices, and state laws governing the passage of budgets.

These troubles have forced these states — as well as many others — to raise taxes, lay off or furlough state workers and slash services. These actions can slow down the nation’s recovery, especially since these 10 states account for one-third of the country’s population and economic output.

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A trip into the secret, online ‘cloud’ – CNN.com

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I am going to begin to explore using various technology in instruction for the adjunct, specifically technology that is available, free and helps in instruction.

I will begin with a nice article about the notion of “Cloud computing” or, computing at a distance.  Give it a read, and then come back.

A trip into the secret, online ‘cloud’ – CNN.com.

I liked the writer’s ability to track down the abstract into a concrete, in this case server farm, thing that allows the reader to understand an often nebulous concept.  Kudos.

The Lexicographer’s Dilemma–Recommended Books – Salon.com

I have posted about how plagiarism should be encountered as if college students have their own digital discourse community.  That is, instead of brow-beating them into the “educated class,” an instructor should enable them to navigate various social strata.

It is with this idea in mind that I post the Salon.com’s review of The Lexicographer’s Dilemma (Recommended Books – Salon.com).

I make this link, in part, because the book’s premise is, surprise, much the same as my own–that Grammar Police should be shunned, that language and grammar are fluid and ever-changing, and that neologisms are a sign of a vibrant discourse, not an illegitimate one.

English teachers, tragically, threaten the very thing they hold dear when they surpress, deny or castigate irregularity in favor of conformity.  Instead, they should be encouraging boundless expression, coaching on navigating those situations where it is to the individual’s advantage to conform (no belching in church), and when to know the difference.

[I leave my soapbox now...]

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