Back to In-Person Teaching, but Still Behind a Screen...a Plastic Shield, That Is (with Thanks to Dr. Suzie-Q from Last Year)

I didn't have a problem teaching in-person all summer, and as vaccinated professionals, we spent the majority of it without masks. We had our own pod of sorts, and there wasn't a thing called the Delta variant. Well, we also were one of a few tiny groups occupying spaces on campus. We did our thing, saw rarely anyone, and had a fantastic summer (without masks - it was great).

Up until then, all teaching and all professional development was conducted online. I've been used to digital spaces for over a year now and, to be honest, I've grown comfortable with them. They work. They helped me to establish less waste, less time stuck in traffic, fewer meetings with no purpose, and definitely less headaches. I actually feel more learning occurred from home than when at work. Teacher evaluations were strong, content was managed, and DJ-ing in digital spaces made sense. We could produce a lot of collaborative learning in a tight window of time, all through the digital tools of brilliant engineers. A better safe than sorry motif led the way.

Returning to campus now, however, has a totally different feel. Spaces are loaded with people learning and teaching, and the mask rule seems to be hit or miss. Even if there's a county-wide mandate and our University has made the case for them, it was 50/50 depending on where one traveled on the first day of classes. To each their own. I've always aligned with science and research, and I also read fiendishly to keep up with what is best. I realize most don't have the time or luxury to live life as I'm able to do...nose in books, keeping up with minute-to-minute details, and having constant interaction with health professionals who work both on campus and in local hospitals. I'm able to keep tab. Or at least I like to think I do.

Never been worried about me. I'm an optimist. I just worry about others: family, friends, kids in school, and anyone with difficult health issues. We all want this to lift...the sooner than better (and I'm ignoring the dooms-dayers who report it is likely only to get worse - a new way of living - yikes).

I'm unsure what comes of this. In higher education, the telescope is definitely on the ridiculousness of pretty much everything. Bottom line is tuition dollars and making customers happy. 

But bigger than this is the silliness of so many institutions competing for those tuition dollars AND the cost of it all. I don't want to argue myself out of a job, but education, K - graduate school, has needed a major overhaul for probably 30 years. The wrong people control the mechanisms. 

I'm not sure what the revolution is (or evolution), but Covid seems to have introduced the cracks that have always been there. I love teaching. I love doing great work. I love working with teachers who do the same. The systems of higher education, however, that leech of our national economics for their own fluff and superficiality...well, I'm not sure that it is a good thing they survive. Maybe these locations need to go under, need to be frustrated, and need to be afraid. If today's consumer culture realizes what a sham the higher education system is, they may turn against it. I wouldn't blame them.

I'm all for degrees. I'm all for expertise. I'm all for knowledge and feeding minds for a better tomorrow. That, however, has not been the system for students at all. Rather, in higher education, it's a straw to the finances from hard working family members....sort of the nursing home motif, but at a much younger age. Slurp slurp slurp. You want to advance in society? Well, take out this mortgage payment for a two bedroom, 10 by 20 dorm room. 

And it's wrong. It wouldn't be if the money was used to improve education...but that's not true. The money is used to create a better commercial of looking good so more people feel they are getting a quality education. That's the game. Prey on the paranoid and naive.

I've always been a dork, and never needed to look good. Not in person...not on screen...or behind a mask. I just like to teach, question, and hope we can do better for more and more people. Something tells me this is the antithesis of how higher education has ever worked, though. They want the performance, because they want the dollars. 

The Gods Must Be Crazy. Then again, they always have been. Lucky to be alive and to have a short window at this life thing.  Fortunate to see the possibilities. Frustrated I only have a fork to empty this ocean.