Hi. My name is...David

Posted by $ servo75 6 years, 6 months ago to The Gulch: Introductions
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I'm very happy to have landed in the Gulch... I've been asking who John Galt is for some time now.

I am a teacher, and while I have been fortunate to have worked in relatively "red" areas, I think we have a duty to the younger generation to nullify the lies they're being told by some of my less than honorable colleagues, The James Taggarts and Wesley Mooches in the business. They are a tiny, but vocal minority. But my "pet cause" is school choice and educational reform. I'm glad to be here, but like Dagny Taggart, I believe the "outside world" can still be saved.


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  • Posted by mshupe 6 years, 3 months ago
    Welcome to the Gulch David! What kind of educational reform?
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    • Posted by $ 6 years, 3 months ago
      I'm a proponent of homeschooling, and the revamping of classroom education. We should in math be teaching more from a real-world practical and critical thinking aspect, rather than a lot of the useless rote learning we have now. Needless to say, these are not popular sentiments among math faculty.
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      • Posted by mshupe 6 years, 3 months ago
        Yes, school reform is essential. The 19th century Prussian model is designed for indoctrination and compulsory govt monopoly education is just a bad idea.
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        • Posted by $ 6 years, 3 months ago
          Yes, in Atlas there was reference to two professors in Galt's Gulch who were there because they refused to conform to the system. I'd be the third. And it's not JUST the compulsory part of it. The entire math curriculum needs revising, and most privately run schools aren't that much better.

          Once at a faculty meeting we were discussing something involving curriculum, and I went on a mini-rant about why are we teaching half of these topics, that students will never use and will forget one hour after the final? It was taken very well by a few but looked down upon by most.

          The problem is that among faculty positions, there is very little turnover because of tenure, so fresh ideas are rarely brought in. When they do get new blood, those new faculty members are beholden to the more experienced ones for their tenure, so they tend to clam up as well. I loved my job but grew weary of the profession itself.

          Maybe Galt will hire me as a teaching assistant, or better yet, maybe I can get a loan from Midas to start an academy in the Gulch, where we can do education the way we feel is right, rather than what some accreditation board dictates.
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          • Posted by mshupe 6 years, 3 months ago
            Thanks for relating this. And what you describe is not unique to education. It is endemic to all hierarchies. I work at a major bank, and this happens in government, corporate, and non-profits - entrenched interests stifle creativity, you are told what your opinion is to be. The only solution is to escape the hierarchy and instead establish networks to get your vision advanced. I'm no expert on this, but I suggest looking at some of the content on www.centerforindividualism.org
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