Students and Teachers

Posted by Krystyna Hunt in

0 comments

As I have made obvious in an earlier post, the students are young. I had hoped however, that since they chose the profession of journalism to study they would be, at least, curious and as well-informed as their years would allow. They are informed about music, movies, TV, games, the internet, ipods, fashion and everything else that caters to their age. They are very little informed about anything else. My hope of finding at least an intellectual bond with them has been....disillusioned.

Most hate reading newspapers and avoided it whenever possible. This baffles both me and the profs who never know why people like these enroll in journalism classes. Unlike the other programs in the School of Arts the journalism enrollees are not pre-screened. They know little about geography, science, politics, current events, past events or anything other or wider than their own young world. Worse, they don't seem curious. Curiosity is the most important attribute of a journalist.

When I was young I was the kind of kid who watched all the Disney documentaries (loved Adventure World) and could get lost in an encyclopedia for hours. Maybe 5 of my classmates could fall into this category. The others seem....comatose. Don't show initiative, curiosity, or interest. Sort of like grade school students who have never had to choose to go to school, or been pressured to really learn anything. Twelve years of school just happened to them - churned into the machine in Grade 1 and spat out at Grade 12 - and they've simply gone along with the process.

They don't seem to be aware they are no longer in the process, and unless they become actively engaged in their learning they will have wasted lots of money and be unemployable when they come out. But then it's their parents whose money will be wasted.  Many get a kick out of surfing Facebook while pretending to take notes and making paper airplanes during journalistic technique video screenings and skipping classes. A group of guys have already congregated at the back of the room. They surf game websites and blow raspberries during class. They look blank or make crazy jokes whenever a question that requires thinking is asked.

To give them some credit the College didn't ask much of them other than passing marks. They did not have to prove any journalistic attributes like being able to write, ask questions, or know their grammar. They could be better suited as supermarket cashiers for all anyone at the College knows. The journalism program profs have protested often about this selection of students, but administration has done nothing about it.

The Professors:

On the positive view of things all the professors have had to be working in the world of jourmalism or publishing before they could be hired. This is a requirement for all the professional programs at this College.

Judy W. is a former actress and newspaper hard news writer. She teaches Writing for Newspapers 1 and loves the hard news format.

Marilyn K. teaches History of Journalism and has written for the New York Times among others. She is a teacher of the old school - the "rap on the knuckles never hurt anyone" school. She is kind of stern, no nonsense. Never say "oh it doesn't really matter, does it?" to her. It all matters. She is currently writing her third book on grammar, a sequel to the other two.

Ellen M. is a whiz on the Adobe desktop publishing suite and teaching us Adobe Desktop Publishing. She is very motherly and extremely forgiving. Threaten to cry and she will always run to your aid.

Marshall M. is very precise which explains why he teaches Designing for Newsprint. He loves fitting text and graphics into a precise space with all the calculations that come with it. I am not a precise person and am terrible at maths.

John G. teaches History and Politics. He is 67 years old and been around the block in several careers, especially publishing. Unfortunately he is like an old fuddy-duddy in every sense of the word. He talks and thinks like an old man. He tries to understand young people but can't help be condescending to them. His jokes are full of sarcasm and put-downs of the interests of youth. It does not make him or his class popular, especially as he teaches all the things good journalists need to know - like history and politics - but that young people have been avoiding knowing all their life.

Gerard S. teaches Research Techniques and is also currently employed at a national newspaper. He has won journalistic awards and investigated the government, the police and federal agencies. He is very vibrant, knowledgeable, engaging and enthusiastic. He has a very male approach to teaching. If you ask him a question he answers, "I don't know, you tell me." He teaches you to think on the run. That means he is not going to make it easy for you to know something you can discover for yourself. He throws you in the water to teach you to swim. No pampering, no molly-coddling. Learn or get lost.