I tell all students a truth that took me a very long time to learn -- that in the world of academics, much is, unfortunately, reversed. If the student becomes stuck in the regular curriculum with tired old profs, they will inevitably run into those who seemed determined to block their every move. This may seem like an illusion -- why would someone I am paying to teach me refuse to allow me to have a voice? Why would someone whom I am told to trust lead me astray?
I tell them this as well -- that you want to be so good that people in positions of 'authority' do try to block you. You want to be so outstanding that they refuse to teach you. They may even try to have you kicked out of school on false claims. This happened to me once. The prof claimed I must have plagiarized my papers, even though he could find a shred of evidence to support this claim, because 'nobody could be that smart.'
I tell them too, however, that if and when they find themselves in this sort of predicament, to step back, take a deep breath, and start looking for alternatives. The most important concept is that you are, ultimately, your own teacher. It is you who decide what you will absorb and what you will reject. You may have a different learning style from a prof's teaching style; it may just be a bad fit. You may push all the prof's buttons without even realizing it. You may cause them to become outraged simply because you embody the youth and excitement about learning that they once had and have now lost. You never know.
McAdams seems to be one of those teaching profs who has lost his way. Anyone or anything that doesn't fit into his narrow round holes he ridicules and discards. He may even start a propaganda smear campaign against them. It seems to be a kneejerk reaction. There seems to be no process at work at all, other than trying to make someone else look bad because he has decided they should. In his case, he has all the weapons of propaganda warfare at his disposal, and uses them without conscience. In fact, McAdams posts on aaj are perfect examples of teaching people how not to think, but how to dogpile on those they don't like; at his command, of course. He seems to attract vulnerable people unsure of themselves and their education, who are willing to let an 'expert' such as he do their thinking for them.
I tell them this as well -- that you want to be so good that people in positions of 'authority' do try to block you. You want to be so outstanding that they refuse to teach you. They may even try to have you kicked out of school on false claims. This happened to me once. The prof claimed I must have plagiarized my papers, even though he could find a shred of evidence to support this claim, because 'nobody could be that smart.'
I tell them too, however, that if and when they find themselves in this sort of predicament, to step back, take a deep breath, and start looking for alternatives. The most important concept is that you are, ultimately, your own teacher. It is you who decide what you will absorb and what you will reject. You may have a different learning style from a prof's teaching style; it may just be a bad fit. You may push all the prof's buttons without even realizing it. You may cause them to become outraged simply because you embody the youth and excitement about learning that they once had and have now lost. You never know.
McAdams seems to be one of those teaching profs who has lost his way. Anyone or anything that doesn't fit into his narrow round holes he ridicules and discards. He may even start a propaganda smear campaign against them. It seems to be a kneejerk reaction. There seems to be no process at work at all, other than trying to make someone else look bad because he has decided they should. In his case, he has all the weapons of propaganda warfare at his disposal, and uses them without conscience. In fact, McAdams posts on aaj are perfect examples of teaching people how not to think, but how to dogpile on those they don't like; at his command, of course. He seems to attract vulnerable people unsure of themselves and their education, who are willing to let an 'expert' such as he do their thinking for them.
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