Merry 

Christmas

and a New Year on cloud nine, and over the moon.

Education 13 - Student Or Client

Today, there are changes taking place in colleges of secondary education that should be of great concern to all of us.  For example:

• The student that doesn’t understand why plagiarism is forbidden.
• The male student that demands absence from a class shared with female students, for false religious reasons.
• The student that says it is unfair for one student to be singled out for extra homework.
• The parent that demands certain ‘extras’ because of the high cost of tuition.
• The student that believes in the entitlement of a pass mark for simply sitting an exam.
• The parent of a troublesome student that believes the fault lies in poor teaching.
• The student that attacks a teacher for not giving high marks.
• The student that believes that attendance alone is sufficient for a pass mark.

And the list could continue.  Do we now have educational establishments where the student has become a client ... a customer who is always right?  Where learning anything, has been replaced by the need of an illuminated, and worthless, diploma?

Are students of 2015 ready for a sincere graduation?

Education 12 - Trigger Warning

There is no need for concern, reading this post will be quite safe. 

But, today, in many colleges of secondary education, a new phrase is becoming noteworthy, that is, ‘trigger warning’.  Actually, this phrase has a history of more than five years.  It describes a mandated warning, given by a teacher or lecturer, before talking about a subject that may cause a traumatic reaction in certain students.

For some time, some students have voiced concern that certain subjects, for example, physical violence, rape, a clinical procedure, or cancer, can create extreme reaction in just one specific student without even the student being aware of any apparent prior experience.

In fact, trigger subjects are not necessarily of a violent nature.  The subject may seem to be quite benign, for example, a happy child at play, may trigger a terrible memory of a related tragedy.

Now, there is a reaction by some teachers (and even some students) that young adults in secondary education must learn the life skills that develop strength of character, and should not require a trigger warning.

Are students of 2015 more prone to trauma?