Happy Thanksgiving

I am taking a vacation until after thanksgiving.

Wishing you and yours a good holiday!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III
The ETeam

Ending the week with positive news

Sometimes we need to just celebrate the simple things in education rather than pointing out the big bad things, so, on that note I want to share something personal.

My now 7 year old daughter told us almost a year and half ago that she was going to the Olympics for gymnastics. As parents, we sometimes do not realize how determined kids can be, myself included. Yesterday, she made the official team, and this particular team has been a feeder for various US national gymnasts.

It looks like she is one step closer to the Olympics and I am filled with pride about her!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Sexual assault is about the victim not the school’s reputation

It seems sexual assault ‘embarrasses’ certain types of institutions; professional sports and college campuses. What bothers me about the college campus is that it is supposed to be a place of learning and enlightenment, so they should know better.

Instead of absolute outrage at the fact that students were sexually assaulted on a campus, we get outrage that the campus’ good name might be tarnished, we get spin control, we get threats of retaliation; but we do not get a serious solution.

It is great that the schools have policies on sexual assault and that on paper they take it very seriously. However, a piece of paper is not going to protect the victim; they can wave it all they want but it will not help them.

What are schools doing to put absolute fear in potential rapists? What are schools doing to change the culture to the point where rape becomes a distant memory of barbaric times instead of an everyday occurrence?

“Spotlight on Campus Responses to Rape Puts Presidents in a Bind”

“When seven current and former students at the University of Connecticut filed a federal complaint last month alleging that the university had failed to protect them from sexual assault, the response from the president there was brusque”.

“"Astonishingly misguided and demonstrably untrue," the president, Susan Herbst, deemed the allegations in remarks to the Board of Trustees. "I completely reject the notion that UConn somehow doesn't care about these all-important issues, because nothing could be further from the truth. I cannot speak to the motivations of the people who have suggested this."”

“The reaction to her comments, on the campus and beyond, was scathing. "Tone-Deaf," declared a headline in The Courant, a Hartford newspaper. "Defensive" and "surprisingly dismissive," a state senator said. One of the students who had filed the original complaint, with the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, posted the president's comments and a plea for advice on a private Facebook page for anti-rape activists. Her word for the president's remarks: "violent."”

“In the weeks since, the university has found itself in a harsh spotlight’

Read the whole thing here: http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/143199/

Two steps forward three steps back. It is about the student; please keep them safe, that is all.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Sharing an article 11/20/13

My purpose of sharing this is to make you aware, and hopefully start talking about this issue.

“The Hard-Knock (and Downright Dangerous) Lives of Teachers”

“The Associated Press this week reports on the dangers teachers face on a daily basis”.

“"When a 16-year-old student slammed a metal trash can onto Philip Raimondo's head, it did more than break open the history teacher's scalp, knock him out, and send him bleeding to the floor," the Associated Press writes”.

“Violence against teachers isn't new ground, it's just progressively sadder ground dampened by further bloodshed. In September, the Teaching Now Blog's Hana Maruyama wrote about other recent physical assaults on teachers, including incidents in Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Georgia; the Brooklyn borough of New York”

“A master's degree in teaching does not confer upon the recipient any form of invisible shield. It does not bestow super strength or airbags. Teachers are no less immune to a violent climate than their school's students, and yet they're in a position to have a vastly greater influence, both positive and negative, than a single student likely is”.

“Earlier this month, I wrote about the Broward County, Fla., community-wide agreement that would establish the point at which police should become involved in school discipline issues; it's basically a flow chart. Everyone in Broward County, based on the enthusiasm expressed at multiple events pertaining to the agreement's adoption, seems thrilled. But some were quick to point out that discipline is a reaction to an event, not a proactive solution. Or, in less diplomatic terms:”

Read the whole thing here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2013/11/the_hard-knock_and_downright_dangerous_lives_of_teachers.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3

 

This is not an easy topic because as educators we sometimes feel we need to be prepared to ‘bleed’ for our students. However, violence is not part of the job description, and placing blame is not a solution.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

 

Sharing an article 11/19/13

“For-Profits Step Up Gainful Criticism”

“Representatives of for-profit colleges stepped up their criticism Monday of the Education Department’s efforts to rewrite the “gainful employment” rules that would apply to their institutions and vocational programs at community colleges”.

“As a federally appointed panel kicked off a second round of negotiations over the regulations, the for-profit-college members of the committee lamented a lack of information and questioned the department’s rationale for putting forth a stricter, more sweeping proposal than the department originally suggested in its first draft”.

“The department is now proposing standards that include a debt-to-income measure, a program-level cohort default rate, and a loan repayment rate. With that more aggressive proposal on the table, the negotiators Monday appeared even further apart than they did during the first round of discussions”.

Read the rest here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/19/profit-colleges-step-criticism-gainful-employment-regulations-negotiations-continue

So it continues…

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

An interesting piece of research

First and foremost, I am simply presenting a piece of information not a political opinion. This information is not new, but the author has presented in what I found was a fresh and riveting way.

My hope is that you will read this and see that there is not just a social problem, but a systemic education problem that threads itself through systems from beginning to end. I am a firm believer that educators have or can find the answer to this issue.

“The American Police State: A sociologist interrogates the criminal-justice system, and tries to stay out of the spotlight”

“ On a winter afternoon in 2004, a woman waits in the detective unit of a Philadelphia police station. Two officers, outfitted with combat boots and large guns, enter the room. The cops place their guns on the table, pointed at her. The woman is 22, tiny, and terrified”.

“The officers show her a series of photos of men from around her neighborhood. Two of the men are her roommates, Mike and Chuck, low-level drug dealers who keep crack and guns in the shared apartment. Some of the photos were taken in front of her home. Spewing obscenities about the woman's supposed appetite for casual sex, the cops press for information about her roommates and threaten criminal charges if she fails to cooperate”.

“In a book to be published this spring, Alice Goffman, a sociologist at the U. of Wisconsin at Madison, describes America’s prison boom through the story of a group of friends in a

Will Steacy

"If you can't work with us," one cop says, "then who will you call when he's sticking a gun to your head? ... He'll kill you over a couple of grams. You know that, right?"”

 

“Such scenes are nothing unusual in the lower-income black neighborhood where this woman spends most of her time. Girlfriends and relatives routinely face police pressure to inform on the men in their lives”.

“Unknown to the cops, though, there is one difference this time. The woman under interrogation, Alice Goffman, has been watching them”.

In a book coming out this spring, Goffman, now a 31-year-old assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, documents how the expansion of America's penal system is reshaping life for the poor black families who exist under the watch of its police, prison guards, and parole officers.

Read the whole article here: http://chronicle.com/article/The-American-Police-State/142965/?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

 Focus on the topic and not the irrelevant and titillating questions that might pop into your head, please do not miss the point!

Educators, we regularly find ways to help people with physical disabilities, mental blocks, ADHD, dyslexia, etc, etc. I am convinced that if we look at this revolving system of institutionalized damnation, we can come up with a workable solution for this as well.

 

No politics here just about people.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

“Teachers Share Advice on Classroom Management"

“To improve their classroom-management skills, teachers are often advised to seek help from talented peers. To that end, we recently sent out emails and tweets to teachers asking: “What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received regarding classroom management?””

“Over 40 teachers replied with tips on everything from timed activities to relationship building. Here's a selection of their responses:”

Read it all here: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/10/14/cm_advice.html?tkn=YXLFg8Pkn%2BGLNZzj1Eqpx0r4NHi6w3gDHwyv&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

“Google's $3.2 Million Grant to Help Student Veterans”

“Google on Wednesday announced a $3.2 million grant that four organizations will share to produce data-based research on how student veterans are faring in college. The Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Student Veterans of America, Posse Foundation and Veterans of Foreign Wars will study which colleges are the most successful at supporting student veterans, which campus programs have the biggest impact and how veterans' majors of study match up with employment opportunities. The resulting report will be made public, Google officials said, and the company will fund the expansion of programs that are found to be the most effective”.

Read it here: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/11/14/googles-32-million-grant-help-student-veterans

I found this interesting and pleasing to see since there is not a whole lot of “tracked” data out there about this subject.

A bit of self-promotion here, please feel free to read my dissertation on this subject (much smaller scale); http://gradworks.umi.com/34/93/3493015.html Comparing the academic achievement of civilians to that of military veterans at the San Diego campus of Brandman University by Akerele, Flavius A. B., Iii, Ed.D., ARGOSY UNIVERSITY, SAN DIEGO, 2011, 89 pages; 3493015

 

The more people who get involved with this type of research the better.

 

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Alcohol and sexual assault on campuses

Alcohol is contributing factor to sexual assault on college campuses; there I said it aloud. Couple it with the fact that moderation is a scarce practice when it comes to alcohol on college, and you have the teenage stupidly (yes it does exists).

The primary purpose of college is to educate (we can talk about college preparedness later), so you are not attempting to educate yourself accept at the bottom of a beer glass, you should make room for those who want to learn. This is not to say you cannot have fun at college, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere.

“Academic Approach to Alcohol”

“Beginning this year, University of Idaho freshmen will face immediate expulsion if their grade-point average is below 1.0 at the end of fall semester -- and whether or not alcohol is to blame, it's part of an effort to curb underage drinking”.

“The idea may be unprecedented, student affairs officials and substance abuse experts say. But as part of a broader overhaul of alcohol policies, it will likely help those students be more successful academically and also improve the overall campus climate, Idaho Dean of Students Bruce Pitman said. (Expelled students who suffered extreme circumstances such as an illness or death in the family may be readmitted via an appeals process.)”

““This is both, we hope, compassionate intervention for students who, quite frankly, probably don’t have a plan and would simply languish another semester accumulating bad grades and debt,” he said. “but it’s also about an effort to improve the dynamics of our students as well, because many of these students who quit coming to class become disruptive in their living environments.””

Read the whole thing here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/23/idaho-will-expel-low-performing-students-part-alcohol-prevention-plan

With sexual assaults, not going away anytime soon, what do you think of this approach? Remember, in the end it should be about the best interest of the student.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Delayed repairs in Higher Education Institutions

It seems a popular tradition that crosses all countries and cultures of higher education; the classroom that is need of repair.

As a teacher, it can be embarrassing, even though you do not hold the purse strings, and as a student, you wonder why there is a brand new BMW outside for one of the higher ups but the lights do not work properly.

The article I am going to share speaks for itself; I am not judging any school, and I certainly not recommending teachers do this. However, you do have to admit this was clever:

“Classrooms of Shame”

“Leaky ceilings, dim lighting, roaches, mold. Those images don't evoke the ideals of higher education, but for the growing number of professors posting pictures of their rooms and offices to the social media feed called "Classrooms of Shame," they're an everyday reality”.

“Karen Kelsky, who runs the academic career counseling website "The Professor Is In," and who is a former tenured professor of anthropology at the University of Oregon and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, started the Tumblr feed. She did so several months ago, "after hearing so many anecdotal stories from my clients and readers of the deplorable conditions of adjunct teaching facilities – offices with no phones, leaking roofs, mold, bugs, etc.," she said via email. The idea was to give academics a place to "vent and share, and know they are not alone."”

“And share and vent they did. “Classrooms of Shame” is full of pictures of leaky ceilings, some with makeshift fixes, such as a sheet of plastic funneling water into a trash can at what’s labeled as a “liberal arts college.” (Most posters don’t label their institutions by name, for fear of damaging their careers or – among adjuncts in particular – losing their jobs.) There are photos of classrooms with dead insects, leaking windows stuffed with rags to keep out the rain, and holes in the walls. Other professors have posted photos of their “office space” – in one instance, a group of three chairs at the end of a hallway”.

Read the rest here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/12/social-media-outlet-sheds-light-substandard-teaching-facilities

 

I will add a small personal observation and say that the public schools seem to be the worst offenders.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

A History Lesson

“Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognised as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month," in accordance with the Armistice, signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. ("At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am) World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.^[1]”

“The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I. This was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.^[2]”

“The Initial or Very First Armistice Day was held at Buckingham Palace commencing with King George V hosting a "Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic"^[3] during the evening hours of November 10, 1919. The first official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the grounds of Buckingham Palace on the Morning of November 11, 1919. This would set the trend for a day of Remembrance for decades to come”.

“The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields". These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day

Be Well and Remember!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Sharing an article 11/8/13

I felt this article was worth passing around because the topic is one that often creates strong debate in K12 education. Whether you agree or not, we all need to pay attention.

“Momentum Grows Against Zero Tolerance Discipline and High-Stakes Testing”

“Across the country, resistance is growing against public education's increased dependence on high-stakes standardized testing and on exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions, expulsions, and school-based arrests. Whether from grassroots demonstrations, test boycott and opt-out campaigns, school board resolutions, or Congressional hearings on discipline, the message is the same: "Enough is enough!"”

“Parents, students, teachers and communities increasingly recognize what the research community has already established: overreliance on exclusionary discipline and high-stakes testing does not improve achievement or make schools safer. Instead, these practices damage opportunities to learn, particularly for our most vulnerable youth. The two policies are intertwined, with both having dramatically intensified in the NCLB era.   State and federal governments must overhaul both to ensure that all children can succeed in a high-quality learning environment”.

“Truly outrageous cases related to discipline and testing often garner public attention. Six-year-old Christian, permanently expelled for "inappropriately touching" his kindergarten teacher; fifteen year-old Damien, expelled for a first offense of possessing a cell phone; sixteen-year-old Roger, "encouraged" to drop out weeks before standardized testing; young children breaking down in tears, even vomiting, as they face test after test in increasingly dreary classrooms. These cases are the tip of the iceberg”.

“Exclusionary discipline policies exacerbate the already serious racial skew in the justice system. The UCLA Civil Rights Project reported that schools suspend black students at more than three times the rate of whites.  This widens the opportunity gap. A student who is suspended or expelled is nearly three times more likely to be in contact with the juvenile justice system the following year. Justice system involvement - especially secure confinement - actually increases recidivism. Nationally, about 70% of youth who have been incarcerated drop out of school”.

Read the rest here: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/11/momentum_grows_against_zero_to.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3

 

Sooner or later we will all have to agree on something because this is about our children.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Burying our heads in the sand

The subject of racism almost always opens a ‘can of worms’ in this country. When it comes to racism in education and society, I personally find that it is difficult to have honest and/or non-confrontational conversations with people in this country. If you think about it, civil rights for almost all citizens has only happened recently (within living memory), I say recently because 50, 60 years is not a long time within a 400 year history.

We are not color blind, not by a long shot, although the next generation seems to be melding together better. Actually, being color blind and tolerant of differences is still just ‘passing the buck’; that is not healing the problem.

 

An article I read today got me thinking about how we deal with it in education, or do not deal with it:

“Facing Racism”

“Adding the element of race to a discussion makes people uncomfortable.  It is as if some illusive, powerful force has entered and takes up all the air. For all the hope we hold as our national image, we can be a hard place. In fact, we have a horrible and unhealed history. It becomes difficult to move forward because we are not expanding our understanding. It is a rare moment....and one of true opportunity...when someone opens a door to welcome a different perspective and a dialogue is entered that can hold multiple truths of those whose life experiences are vastly different.  Yet, educators cannot avoid these face to face encounters...in fact, we must seek them out... if we aspire to create environments safe for all students and produce a generation of young adults who will lead well in a multi-cultural, multi racial world”.

“What must it feel like to be judged by our appearance? Most of us have had an experience with otherness. We were the farm child at the centralized school, the girl who wanted to play hockey, the boys' sports, we were the only Jewish family in a community, or we were the lone black child on a bus or the Asian child struggling to learn English. Remember when people feared that a Catholic president would turn the country over to the Pope? There may be some among us who have always been the majority. We live in a country in which good-looking people are elevated to hero status, especially in high schools. Taller people have traditionally risen to higher ranks of leadership than shorter people.  Men have been accepted into top positions more than women. Many have worked to break those barriers but barriers are strongly embedded in our culture”.

“While NBC and other news outlets report on the recent incidents in which persons of color were held and questioned because of purchases they made at Macy's or Barney's, our students are watching.  Why did suspicion arise over those purchases? The youth of America are watching as even well known personalities are held for questioning for simply purchasing an expensive item. They watched while the television reported how Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. Now, another Martin in Florida raises race and bullying. Our students are watching as Richie Incognito tosses racial insults into the Miami Dolphins rookie hazing and the team and the sport struggle to determine what is in bounds and where the lines are drawn”.  

Read the whole thing here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/leadership_360/2013/11/facing_racism.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3

Differences make some people uncomfortable, especially when they cannot be put into a category that fits their perception of the world (my own diverse background often puts me on the receiving end of someone’s confusion).

I do not claim to have the answers, but what I do claim is the right to keep this conversation going so that the collective “we” can find the right answer. I claim the right to make people uncomfortable by not fitting in the box they wish to put me, and I claim the right to make sure my children live in a world where they are more than just tolerated but part of a seamless patchwork quilt of society.

 

The next generation is watching what we do, so let us do the right things.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Higher Ed News 11/6/13

News about a major player in the higher education industry:

“For-Profit Ashford U. Forms Alliance With Forbes”

“Ashford said on Tuesday that it would pay Forbes Media LLC $15-million upfront, plus a minimum $30-million over the initial 12-year term of the deal, for the rights to the company’s online content for use in bachelor’s and master’s programs in business”.

“The for-profit university will also rename its business school the Forbes School of Business. (That’s a twist on the way naming rights work for schools and buildings in nonprofit higher education: There, the colleges usually receive money in the form of donations in return for naming rights, rather than paying for the rights to the name.)”

Read the whole thing here: http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/for-profit-ashford-u-forms-alliance-with-forbes/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

 

Thoughts?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

The occult in higher education?...

The story I am about to share has already been reported in quite a few journals; however, it is showing no signs of going away anytime soon.

“Faculty Were Called 'Satan' Through Pay Raises At Cleveland-Marshall College of Law: Complaint”

“A group representing faculty at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law claims several members were called "Satan" through specific numbers represented in their pay raises by Dean Craig M. Boise”.

“The American Association of University Professors chapter at the law school, part of Cleveland State University, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the State Employment Relations Board of Ohio in late August. It was picked up this week by TaxProf Blog”.

“The complaint alleges retaliation for the formation of a collective bargaining unit at the school, the Wall Street Journal reports”.

“Six AAUP organizers received merit pay raises of $666, and two did not receive any raises, according to the complaint. Other faculty received raises of $5,000 and $3,000, and the amounts were decided by the Dean based on based on scholarly influence, student evaluations and service”.

“"In effect Dean Boise has called AAUP's organizers and AAUP Satan," the complaint states. "Dean Boise's actions are a poorly veiled threat in opposition to AAUP's organizing and concerted activities."”

“CSU insists the numeral for the pay raise was just coincidentally landed at the number representing the devil”.

 

 

“The Charging Party cannot point to a single directive, or even a reference, from the Dean to a '666' or satanic merit pay amount for certain allegedly union-active faculty members," the university said in a statement to TaxProf. "The $666 merit award was the result of mathematical division, not anti-union animus."”

Top o

Bottom of ForThe school further explained in an Oct. 8 response that the lowest merit pay raise was initially supposed to be $727, but was lowered to $666 due to an incorrect salary in the merit pool, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports. This explanation "eviscerates the claim that Dean Boise intentionally demonized union organizers through the amount of their merit pay increase."

Read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/30/faculty-satan-pay-raises-cleveland-marshall-law_n_4178594.html?utm_hp_ref=@education123

Rather than comment on who is right and wrong, I want to point out that I am fairly sure there are more important issues prevalent in higher education.

 

I will however say I believe it is the ‘hand of math’ rather than ‘the hand of Satan’.

Thoughts?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

 

 

Interesting, amusing, and sad article

Whether you have worked as an adjunct or not, you will find this story interesting in some way.

“Off Track: Adjuncts Are Addicts”

“I know I’m not supposed to admit this, but I’ve lived my entire adult life on the edge of financial ruin. I’ll be 34 in a few months and I’ve never had a positive net worth. Ever. My debt has always overshadowed my savings. About two years ago, I was in the worst financial shape of my life. My debt-to-income ratio was pitiful and I had no idea how to change it”.

“I was six months out of my graduate program, and my financial-aid payments were about to kick in. I was buried in credit-card debt that I took out to stay alive as I finished my thesis and began looking for a job”.

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Wait—what? This is your story, too? If you’re nodding your head in recognition, you might be an adjunct”.

“I’ve just started my fourth year as a non-tenure-tracker, and I’ve done some dirty things to feed my teaching habit: sold plasma, gone entire days without eating, came damn close to getting my car repossessed, borrowed money from parents and friends, pawned possessions, sold my entire collection of music and films. At one point, my apartment was a Thoreauvian nightmare of hyper-simplicity as my furniture vanished into the Craigslist void. Have you ever watched Jeopardy in a lawn chair? I don’t recommend it”.

“My teaching habit is expensive and it’s cost me everything. One of these days I’m going to kick it. One of these days ...”

“Sounds familiar, I know. Since February 2012, about 7,000 adjuncts have taken the first step toward kicking the habit by admitting they have a problem. They have visited the Adjunct Project and admitted they have an unhealthy obsession and are in an abusive relationship”.

“We admit that we are powerless over [teaching]—that our lives have become unmanageable.”

“As long as we refuse to admit we have a problem, we’ll never be able to change anything. Too many of us continue to sacrifice over and over again for this addiction. And why? For the students? They wouldn’t know the difference. For the institution? God, I hope not, because they obviously are not sacrificing for us. For ourselves? That doesn’t even make sense. For the craft? A romantic ideal, but the only craft you can eat begins with a K”.

“The fact of the matter is tens of thousands of us fall on our swords every year. Just like any good addict, we are expert manipulators—except we are the victims of our own justifications”.

“Got a class? Anybody got a class? Just need one class to get me through. You holding?”

“But that one class only gets us back to normal. We’ll never get ahead, never have enough. The system is designed that way. You realize that, right? Living as a full-time adjunct really is a lot like living as a drug-addled tweaker”.

“Over the past few years, I’ve talked to adjuncts across the country who are living this trainwreck every semester. It’s a measly manner of existence, as Biff laments in Death of a Salesman”.

“Ultimately, there’s only one way we can guarantee our freedom from this destructive addiction that plagues the majority of university faculty members: Admit we have a problem and then take steps to change the situation so we can reframe our careers in a way that’s mutually beneficial for us and our employers”.

“Some might interpret this message as me telling you to quit. I’m not. I’m telling you to step back from your situation and think clearly about it. Defamiliarize. Decide if you are spending your time, intelligence, and money in the best way. Would it make more sense to head in another direction?”

“For me, the answer is yes. It makes more sense for me to cut back on teaching and focus more on writing. For you, the answer might be different. Maybe teaching is the best place for you. Or maybe you want to hang in there and work to change this inequitable system from within. If so, I applaud you. I would never suggest that anyone knows better what to do with your life than you. But whatever your situation, confront the circumstances and make an informed choice”.

 

“Personally, I hope five years from now I can tell you a totally different story. I hope we all can. It’s possible to break the addiction. You just need to take the first step”.

“So, here goes ... My name is Josh, and I’m an adjunct”.

Read the whole thing here: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/91-off-track-adjuncts-are-addicts?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Interesting stuff!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Ending this week November 1st 2013 on a positive note

I could pick all kinds of negative stories to talk about today, because the news is full of them. Instead, let me just say it was a joy to watch my kids trick or treating last night.

The smiles of children is often the best medicine to cure anything!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III