Persons wrote in news:sci.electronics.design - |------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"American education isn't all that demanding. Giving the kids low marks | |upsets their parents. Being analytical about how far some kids fall | |short is equally unpopular. | |> | |> I didn't take any Australian tests. I don't even speak their language.| |> | |Australian and American are mutually intelligible dialects of English. | |You do speak a language that pretty much all Australian's can | |understand. American shows on Australian TV don't need sub-titles." | |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Is it a myth that "Road Warrior" has subtitles in American English, where "Road Warrior" is the 1st version of "Mad Max 2: Road Warrior" in cinemas in the United States of America (where it had not been presented as a sequel to "Mad Max", which supposedly had not yet been released in the U.S.A.)?
It is not a myth that I in the West did watch English subtitles on TV of a non-"Road-Warrior" video of a man speaking in Australian English. These subtitles are for all viewers (i.e. not just persons who cannot easily hear). They are not for a comedic effect.
A teacher in the United States of America wrote to the SciFraud LISTSERV (Discussion of Fraud in Science): |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"Dewey, | | I feel bad that I put you in a not-so-cheerful mood. Some explanation is | |necessary. | | | | >What are you trying to state, or imply, in this message? That you | |caved in to parental pressure, and GAVE a mediocre student an "A" grade?< | | | | I was threatened and intimidated by these people. Despite what I value as | |a strong sense of integrity, I was going to give the girl an A. I have a | |family to support. I mentioned that story to point out that I was prepared to| |fudge the grade for my own self-preservation and that the existence of | |conditions which would actually favor the parent in this situation, should | |not exist. It has become so common for parents to browbeat teachers, with the| |support of their local school boards, that most teachers wouldn't dare to | |challenge the system by setting standards which would make them stick out | |like a sore thumb. | | When I first started teaching, I heard a principal challenging a teacher | |because his students got almost all A's and B's in his classes. About ten | |years later, I heard a principal criticize a teacher for giving too many D's | |in a gifted and talented class. This was the consequence of parental | |pressure. Times had changed quickly. Two years ago, I asked the principal why| |a legal absence is given to a student who took four days extra vacation and | |didn't even have the required note prior to the absence. He responded by | |telling me the absence was legal because he said so. These things happen | |constantly. When students start their summer vacations two or three days | |before the end of the school year, we are specifically instructed to | |calculate the student's grade on the basis of the work possible as of the | |time of the student's departure. No extra work has to be submitted. | | So yes, as a matter of confession, and one of which I am not proud, I was | |afraid to give the student anything but an A when the parents threatened to | |have my job. For two years, our principal published grade stats by | |department, making sure to commend those with the highest grades for being | |the most successful teachers. He announced at a parent back-to-school meeting| |that the goal for the year was "success for all students at all times." I was| |probably the only teacher who really listened to this and I was extremely | |stressed out at the implications of how such a thing could be achieved. | | My story was not to support the notion of grade inflation. I was, in a | |self-effacing way, pointing out how I, as a teacher, have been a victim of | |the trend. Furthermore, I know that the principal has the authority to order | |me to change a grade or suffer disciplinary action for insubordination, | |ultimately ending with his authority to change the grade anyway. (BTW, this | |wasn't a high schooler, it was a sixth grader in Technology Education, | |formerly Industrial Arts.) What I didn't say is that the student's B was | |largely due to the fact that she had not completed a major project. After I | |got roasted and was clearing out the room after students had left for the | |summer, I found the part of the girl's project which had been missing. She | |had put it in the wrong place. One simple step now, and the project was | |finished. The missing part was an assembly which constituted most of the | |work. Fortunately, I didn't have to lie about her grade, but I am pretty sure| |I would have. | | | |>And that their current difficulties must be the fault of the | |university professor--because they KNOW that they are "A" students. Because | |their high school teachers said so.< | | | | The girl was an excellent student. She had always made straight A's. I | |know this doesn't mean as much as some would like it to. I also know that my | |subject can often be inconsistent with other grades, either to the student's | |advantage OR disadvantage. Most parents realize how different my subject is, | |especially for 6th graders, and usually accept that as an explanation for an | |unexpected grade. Some students are successful in school, not so much because| |of their raw intellectual ability, but more because of their ability to | |conform and anticipate. The methods and activities in my subject do not | |follow the format to which many of these children have become accustomed. | |Some weaker students benefit from this and some stronger students have | |trouble making the adaptation. She was one of the latter. | | | | All I can do is apologize for being tempted to lower the standards, but I | |do so in the context of a complaint that conditions demand it. That's why I | |want to get out of teaching." | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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