What a "great" teacher! (venting)

[Micha84]

Maybe that kind of talk and attitude is why he is working as a sub and not a regular employee...
You do not badmouth anything given freely with the purpose of education. You do not tell children that the stuff they are working with is bad. What educational goal would you possibly be hoping to achieve with that?

 

[Ekulati]

Probably why he's only a sub teacher, he's a jerk.

 

[BassyBill]

I'd bet any money you like that there are a lot of bass players right here on TalkBass who could grab hold of that Squier bass and play the guy dissing it straight into the dirt. You can tell he's not that great a muso himself from the attitude - any good bass player would be way too knowledgeable to draw the conclusions he's deludedly jumped to. All the gear snobs I've ever met have been lousy musicians, and none of the good musicians I've worked with has been overly obsessed with gear snobbery.

 

[levis76]

It's a shame that that person probably got their teaching credential from some state school(or maybe even a community college)instead of Harvard.

LOL, I see what you did there.

 

[jimmydean]

The sub teacher was only looking out for the kids , I mean at least you could have gave the school a Sadowsky Will Lee . Think about the kids.......what could a kid learn playing a Squier ?

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You were that sub weren't you

I would love to be in Canada, anywhere but Quebec. So, no.

 

[Honkey tonk]

We educate so we can be better than ...

 

[Bass Man Dan]

Sorry, I need to vent, even though it's not such a big deal.

I donated a bass to my son's primary school recently. It's a Squier Affinity P. That bass sounds and plays really well and I hesitated a lot before departing from it.
The music teacher, who is a pianist, was super happy about it. Though they don't usually play electric instruments, she had planned to do a rock-oriented project with the kids.

Yesterday, my son comes home and announces that the music teacher was absent. The sub teacher who came in her place is a bassist who talked a whole lot about bass and bass playing. Great, I thought! It's not often that kids get to hear praises about bass.

Naturally, I asked my son if the sub had commented on the shiny new bass that the class had acquired... Apparently, what the sub told the students about it is: "A shame that it's only a cheap bass made in Indonesia".

What a jerk! Of course, it's a bit personal for me, since I'm the one who gave it. But even without that, what kind of teacher goes into a classroom and tells the kids that their new instrument is garbage??? Great way to incite them to play, champ!

I don't know how things are in Canada, but here in Ohio there are barely any people willing to work as substitute teachers, so when you do get one you are likely not getting the best and brightest. So any comments made by the substitute can safely be discarded as such.

 

[TreySonagras]

" It's a shame you're only a substitute teacher instead of a real one"
LOL

 

[Durham52]

With that in mind this once again reinforces my belief that of the millions of musicians out there who teach most of them are not educators.

True and smart comment. Yes, being able to do something, or play something, doesn't necessarily make someone a good teacher at it. That's a whole other skill on it's own. ​

 

[Michael Milner]

I have used this "made in Indonesia" bass on numerous occasions, and I don't recall any complaints. Something I was told as a kid was that it is a poor carpentar that blames their tools.

 

[roccobass]

I don't know how things are in Canada, but here in Ohio there are barely any people willing to work as substitute teachers, so when you do get one you are likely not getting the best and brightest. So any comments made by the substitute can safely be discarded as such.

Definitely agree on the lack of qualified sub teachers!
Regarding your last sentence….
The big problem, and the OP referred to, is that this clueless person may have jaded at least some of the class. The young minds may not have the experience to discard what was said without reinforcement from the opposite side. The OP stated that he's going in himself to do a presentation to hopefully refute this misinformation. It's a shame cleanup takes twice the effort of teaching.

 

[STRMan]

It's a shame that that person probably got their teaching credential from some state school(or maybe even a community college)instead of Harvard.

Actually, it's more likely the other way around.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

The big problem, and the OP referred to, is that this clueless person may have jaded at least some of the class. The young minds may not have experience to discard what was said without reinforcement from the opposite side.

This is why I got into this. I remember from the several schools I got sent to as my parents moved around the south of Britain a lot, that curiosity in kids is a rarity compared to received prejudice.

The role of any educator must be to do all it takes not to thwart curiosity, because if they do, they kill receptivity in kids and might as well be talking to a row of bricks.

I seem to recall that Pink Floyd had something to say on the subject..

 

[roccobass]

This is why I got into this. I remember from the several schools I got sent to as my parents moved around the south of Britain a lot, that curiosity in kids is a rarity compared to received prejudice.

The role of any educator must be to do all it takes not to thwart curiosity, because if they do, they kill receptivity in kids and might as well be talking to a row of bricks.

I seem to recall that Pink Floyd had something to say on the subject..

Your second paragraph really nails it. It's true. Sometimes (actually more) you have to pique their interest. Not being a teacher myself, I can only imagine, so correct me if I'm wrong. To me, it's like being on stage and you have to hold as well as engage the audience. That, and you have to genuinely like kids. The teaching industry, especially at the grammar and high school level, doesn't pay enough in my view. Sorry for the digression.

 

[dangevans]

Sorry, I need to vent, even though it's not such a big deal.

I donated a bass to my son's primary school recently. It's a Squier Affinity P. That bass sounds and plays really well and I hesitated a lot before departing from it.
The music teacher, who is a pianist, was super happy about it. Though they don't usually play electric instruments, she had planned to do a rock-oriented project with the kids.

Yesterday, my son comes home and announces that the music teacher was absent. The sub teacher who came in her place is a bassist who talked a whole lot about bass and bass playing. Great, I thought! It's not often that kids get to hear praises about bass.

Naturally, I asked my son if the sub had commented on the shiny new bass that the class had acquired... Apparently, what the sub told the students about it is: "A shame that it's only a cheap bass made in Indonesia".

What a jerk! Of course, it's a bit personal for me, since I'm the one who gave it. But even without that, what kind of teacher goes into a classroom and tells the kids that their new instrument is garbage??? Great way to incite them to play, champ!

I am a school band teacher, too, and decided a very long time ago not to care about the brand of things as long as it is built well and sounds good. When I got my current job 17 years ago, a cheapo Peav P bass was there, but sounded like a great P bass to me...still does. I also acquired a Rogue Beatle bass, which sounds great and feels good for younger students.

At least a couple times judges (who obviously wanted to sound smart) dissed both basses when used at contests, although they sounded fine. Also, one judge told a skinny kid not to stand in front of this big bass amp while he played bc he was "blocking the sound". And, one of my students (my best bassist I ever had as a student) played with a pick, sounded and played great that way, and the judge (not a bassist) complained about using a pick the whole time after jazz band played... Even said "Maybe try a felt pick." ***?
Everyone is an expert, I guess?

 

[dangevans]

Yes, everyone knows that, every elementary school should only have Alembics, Wals, Foderas and Ken Smiths to introduce students to the instrument.

I love any donation of an instrument to my program, but I have to admit... If anyone actually donated a Wal or Alembic (etc) to our school, I probably would start shaking and crying tears of joy, LOL. We can always dream.

 

[dangevans]

One more thought: At least in my area, almost NO SUBS are available right now. No one wants to do it- in our district, you can work almost any job at a gas station or Wal Mart and get paid a substantial bit more than a sub teacher. Plus, you don't have to deal with the issues with parents, problem students, teachers who leave you little or no plans for their students, etc.

So, if we can get someone to sub at our school when we need it, we teachers make sure they are treated like royalty. But hey...don't diss the BASS, man!

 

[bassicmike]

A well set up Squier is perfectly fine as a starter instrument, to say the least. Perfectly fine for most uses, imo.

A well set up Squier is perfectly fine as a #1 gigging instrument.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

Your second paragraph really nails it. It's true. Sometimes (actually more) you have to pique their interest. Not being a teacher myself, I can only imagine, so correct me if I'm wrong. To me, it's like being on stage and you have to hold as well as engage the audience. That, and you have to genuinely like kids. The teaching industry, especially at the grammar and high school level, doesn't pay enough in my view. Sorry for the digression.

Hi, I'm not a teacher, but my mum taught piano, and was careful to try to work with teachers when I was young, so I picked up plenty of insight, about the good, the bad, and the ugly... (She was good, taught piano to several pupils privately, beginner to advanced enough to go to specialised academies when they were ready. And patient with me about music learning, but not a lot else. .

The good: got kids interested, they explored, or worked carefully to be able to explain what they did, what they discovered. It made lighter work for the teacher as well.
The bad: got kids feeling like they were on their own, frustrated, demanding help because they never got it from where it was meant to be. LOTS of work for the teacher...
The ugly: humiliated, even beat, the kids, often mistaking genuine curiosity and willingness for precociousness. These teachers were rare, but they saw a child's exuberance as a thing to be punished. Even the kids knew at that point that it was so wrong that the kid need not blame themselves.Sometimes I was that kid, but there were others.

Long post, it sort of got away from me.. In the long run, I respected the teachers who believed I had it in me to learn, and instead of forcing, they asked only that I tried, and showed them what I got out of it later. Unfortunately, those teachers were as rare as the beaters. Too many in the middle ground where even if not exactly bad, they were utterly uninspiring. I think they all cared, they just had wildly different responses to their own progress with a class!