Tenure for Teachers

In regards to the discussions and material on teachers’ tenure, I believe that it is an issue that needs to be addressed.  I believe that the very nature of the tenure system encourages or at least permits sub par performance from teachers.  With little to no accountability for tenured teachers, many of the tenured teachers quit pushing the boundaries of their teachings and teaching styles.  Also, what makes the tenure system appropriate for teaching when it is not used for businesspeople, nurses, or law enforcement agents? I believe that most teachers continue to put forth effort upon reaching tenure, but it is obvious that some teachers do not.  It is these teachers that ruin it for the rest, but because of these teachers I believe that the tenure system should be disposed of.

Education

It has been proposed that teachers be paid based upon their results as seen in their students.  In all likelihood, these “results” would be based on standardized test scores.  There is a big problem with this, however.  That problem is that not all teachers start with the same students.  Any teacher could get high test scores from students that come from wealthy, stable families.  A great teacher, however, might get bad test scores from a class of students that come from abusive homes.  Also, this raises the question of how to pay teachers that teach handicapped students or students that learn at slower rates.  I do agree that teachers deserve to make more money.  Also, by paying teachers more, brighter students will pursue teaching as a career, and the level of teaching will increase. The money to pay teachers more, however, will have to come from somewhere, and right now I do not know where that money would come from.

Health Care Revisited

 

Dealing with the current social problems involving health care and health care reform, I am particularly curious about one aspect of reform.  I am curious as to what will happen when we take an already overburdened, undermanned health care system, and add 48 million uninsured people (according to the United States White House’s webpage) to it.  It is absurd to think that this will not decrease the accessibility of health care to citizens. For better or worse, health care will have to be rationed. I believe that the key to handling the huge burden of adding 48 million people to the current health care system is the training of more mid-level providers.  I think that this is the only practical way to offset the newly added people.  This may decrease the overall quality of the health care delivered, but if utilized correctly, I believe these mid-level providers (such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners) are the only practical solution.

sustainability

Of the key components leading to a country’s sustainability, I believe that dependable trade partners and flow are the most important.  If a country suddenly loses a previously dependable trade partner that it has become reliant on, then the consequences are both severe and far stretching.  Not only is the company producing the product being traded is effected, but all of the companies involved further down the production chain are hurt.  If paper is the product being traded, not only will that paper company fail, but logging and transportation companies will be hurt also.  The United Nations puts trade embargos on countries it is trying to punish because the United Nations understands how critical trade is to the sustainability of a country.  Overall, there are very few countries strong enough to be sustainable in the wake of losing major trade partners.

Market Failures

Within a free market, market failures are inevitable. When market failures occur in critically important areas, such as healthcare and education, corrections are necessary. The methods of corrections for these market failures should be based upon both the government and individuals. Large-scale efforts that are only possible via government intervention are often required to fix critically important market failures. In order to prevent government overreaction, however, the government’s actions should be checked by civilians, allowing them to balance the government’s power. As for the current state of health care in the United States, there is clearly a need for changes in the health care system. I am happy to see that the government is trying to step in and regulate the failed health care system. The problem I have with what is currently happening, however, is the way the government is going about it. With 49% of house representatives and the large majority of Americans also disapproving of the house bill, especially with its public option, I believe that we need to reconsider the way in which we go about fixing the health system.

Social Justice

In general, most situations accurately follow the idiom that social justice foundations stem from how ordinary people react to extraordinary situations. For an event to trigger a social justice response it is likely something that does not commonly occur. If some action is part of the social norm and people see it happening all around them, then people become desensitized to it and that action will generally fail to trigger a social justice response.

An interesting example of this ideology is currently unfolding in regards to marijuana regulation. For a very long time, marijuana has been an exception to the previously stated social justice idiom. Although almost half of all Americans, including a majority of recent presidents, politicians, and celebrities, have used marijuana, marijuana has been both illegal and socially frowned upon for a long time. As it becomes more and more apparent that marijuana use is not an extraordinary situation, and rather is a completely normal situation, political action is starting to follow. Even on the highly controversial use of marijuana, the federal government has now decided to quit enforcing anti-marijuana laws.

Tragedy of the Commons

Having lived in a fraternity house with fifty people constantly coming and going and a college house with four other roommates, I have definitely experienced many of the trivial effects of the tragedy of commons. Property, whether food or other possessions, is eaten or used whether or not permission is granted.  When things are constantly disappearing, you quickly learn to hide or protect your most valuable things. On the other hand, if something small or invaluable is missing you have to learn to just let it go.  Another interesting aspect of the tragedy of commons is that as long as everyone that is taking from the commons is contributing to the commons, everyone is happy. As soon as someone is taking from the commons without contributing, as was the case with one of my roommates, problems develop.

Technology and Communities

When evaluating technology’s influence on the growth or shrinking of communities, one must keep in mind that there is not one simple outcome. I believe that in order to best analyze community growth or recession, two types of communities should be established.  The first type of community to analyze is the standard geographically bound community that our parents grew up with. While these geographic communities were once stringently enacted by proximity, technological advances and social networks have partially overcome the geographical boundaries that restricted people to these types of communities. In the past, even if one did not like the geographical community that he or she was a part of, he or she was forced to remain a part of that community.  Nowadays, however, if one does not like the geographical community that he or she is a part of, he or she can actively engage in cyber communities or networks based upon his or her interests. These secondary, non-geographically limited, online communities represent new age communities. It is very easy for people to escape to these cyber communities and engage in typical communal activities. I would therefore argue that while geographical communities are shrinking from what they once were, secondary or cyber communities are rapidly growing and expanding.

The Worth of a Degree.

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When speaking to the worth of a college degree, or lack thereof, I really believe that one must look at specific degrees and career goals to make accurate assertions. As a pre-med student that wants to get into medical school, I have found most of my undergraduate education to be a waste of time and money. Most of my detailed education in physics and organic chemistry, for example, will never need to be recalled as a doctor. What about the non-science courses I have taken? While I really enjoyed my psychology classes, most of the information is either common sense or theoretical. I was pushed harder in my high school AP English classes than any of my college classes and my writing skills have actually gotten worse in college.

I do believe that there are critical aspects and knowledge that students should gain from their respective major. I also think that the social and personal growth that occurs on a campus can be very important parts of college. If I had to propose a solution to what I believe is a broken college education process, I think that it would involve switching to more specialized degrees similar to technical school degrees. I think that making an associates degree standard rather than a bachelor’s degree would still allow a student time to absorb critical information in regards to his or her area of interest. That student would still benefit from the social aspects of college as well. Finally, that student would only have to finance two years of undergraduate education and therefore avoid the excessive debt that often accompanies four years of college.

Values and Goals

Two of my main personal values are integrity and honesty. My educational mission statement and the university’s educational mission statement both reflect my personal values of integrity and honesty by implementing strict policies that restrict cheating and other dishonest behaviors. The only way to learn the material that I need to know is to do the work and readings myself. One of my short term goals that my education will help to me acheive is to get into an allopathic medical school. A long term goal that I hope that my education helps me to achieve is to stay current with prevailing research advancements.