Stop, Look, and Listen

Are College Lectures Unfair? Read Marquel, TPVs NYTimes Spoon Feeding Section correspondent.

Evidence suggests that it’s not the right form of teaching for many women, minorities and low-income students. According to the studies, white males can go into a lecture hall dummies and come out geniuses. But women, blacks, and poor people go in as dummies and leave just as much dummies.

Marquel wondered how that could be. Haven’t classes, since the Greeks, been conducted as lectures? How can you fail to learn from a lecture. Listen and learn, right? Marquel knew he’d have to reconsider that because of the research reported by the Times. How come women can’t learn from lectures? He asked some women.

“Maybe we don’t like being lectured to.” Said one woman.

“Maybe men don’t like being lectured to even more,” said Marquel, “after all they’re men.”

“What’s that supposed to mean,” she asked.

“Just that if we’re going to get involved in stereotypes, men have always been the ones to be stubbornly self interested and against authority.” Marquel said.

“Maybe women just get bored with some stiff reading out of his or her notes for an hour and a half.” She countered.

Marquel went to find some poor people. They were all over, just like Bernie Sanders says. Marquel asked them why they couldn’t learn from lectures.

“Hell, man, I never been to a lecture. What’s it like?” Asked one.

“Just some teacher talking in a monotone for an hour or so.” Marquel explained.

“I don’t know, the only lectures I been to involve a cop smacking a leather club into his palm while he’s accusing me of J walking. So I think I’d like a real lecture for a change. It sounds calming.” He said.

“It’s definitely that,” I said. “But apparently even if you’d like it, you wouldn’t learn anything.”

“Cause I’m dumb?” Asked the man.

“No, cause you’re poor,” I explained.

I went to find some black people. There were plenty to talk to so I did.

“How come black people can’t learn from lectures? ” I asked. “The Times says they can’t”.

“Well I really don’t know,” said a young woman on the A train. “Put me in a lecture, I’ll listen and learn.” She said.

“No you won’t,” I said. “It says right here that blacks, the poor, and women don’t learn from lectures. They need ‘active learning.’ ”

“What?” She asked.

“How can I take part in the class? I ain’t the teacher. If I already knew the class why would I take it. Isn’t the teacher the expert? I wanna listen to him. Or her. That’s why I take the class.” She said.

“You can’t do that in a lecture?” She asked.

“So what do I say in a class I’m taking cause so far I know nothing about it? My nails? I should talk about my nails? I can do that without a student loan, you know.” She said.

She hit me twice with her handbag, saying, “get outta here! Get outta here!”