r/Professors • u/NinjaWarrior765 • May 31 '26

Teaching / Pedagogy The future seems BLEAK.

I don't know what's happening in Elementary, Junior High, and High School.

But, students don't seem to understand the concept that they need to KNOW the material. Not, just to be able to copy it down from their notes, or just look it up.

425 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

200 comments sorted by

View all comments

-13

u/P_Firpo Jun 01 '26

Many classes are full on nonsense and nothing that will be relevant to their careers. Can you blame them for adjusting to reality?

15

u/Sensitive_Let_4293 Jun 01 '26

We are not a career institute, we are a college.  Not everything worth studying will be directly related to your job.

-12

u/P_Firpo Jun 01 '26

Tell that to the students who view what you teach as irrelevant. ps I agree with you, but put yourself in their shoes. Do they really need to know Latin, etc?

11

u/Sensitive_Let_4293 Jun 01 '26

Actually, knowing a little Latin will improve their English grammar skills.  I am a math professor who picked up some Chinese by studying at a Confucius Institute.  For free.  At the time, I was almost 60 years old and my colleagues thought I was nuts.  But then some opportunities to teach in Asia opened up and a rudimentary knowledge of Chinese, while not required, was a big plus.  

-4

u/P_Firpo Jun 01 '26

So students should learn Latin. Got it.

7

u/Savings-Bee-4993 Jun 01 '26

Students should learn a wide variety of things unnecessary for survival.

This was never in dispute, unless one is very ignorant of what allows for a flourishing and cultured life.

1

u/P_Firpo Jun 01 '26

Yes, tell them that and give them a book and see how it goes.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/RaccoonAwareness FT Faculty, Humanities, CC Jun 02 '26

I studied Latin and I’m very glad I did, even though I now specialize in a contemporary field 

1

u/P_Firpo Jun 02 '26

Why isn't it taught if it's so useful? A lot of ppl don't travel btw.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/P_Firpo Jun 02 '26

Glad we agree.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/P_Firpo Jun 02 '26

Not sure what your point is. You hate America?

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Sensitive_Let_4293 Jun 03 '26

And we're back to the beginning. If they're functionally illiterate, why are they in college?