I agree that computational systems are far from ready to respond to student
writing and creative efforts. They may never be able to do this insofar as
matters of judgment result from a lived habitus of the teacher and
participation in a community. As Peter says, it is not easily predictable
just what in a students efforts we will respond to, so even comprehensive
criteria of evaluation -- which are computationally feasible -- would not
be sufficient. When computers get this good, they will be _members_ of our
communities, not tools or agents.
Still, I wonder just how often and at what levels in various fields this
higher order teaching is done and needs to be done. A lot of what is to be
learned still involves mastering the use of concepts and the application of
skills in relatively standardized and predictable genres of writing and
other productive activity. And, as Peter says, on-line interaction with
teachers may be just as effective, up to a point, in getting this
higher-order work done; the role of FTF contact is still undetermined.
I cannot, however, quite share Peter's optimism about turning the ranks of
the unemployed into a talent pool for secondary school and especially for
university teaching. Without going into a rather complex analysis, let me
just point out that it seems to take a certain habitus to succeed under
present modes of university teaching (needed to become qualified as even a
secondary level teacher, much less a university instructor), and both those
modes, and the habitus of candidates, are long time-scale, extended network
phenomena (some examples for the dialogue with Naoki Ueno, which I hope to
continue at some point, but this is too busy a time for me right now) and
neither can be quickly changed. It is not enough to bright and reasonably
emotional stable; it is necessary to have profited in specific ways from
higher education in order to become a teacher, and success in this respect
depends on a match of habitus, which develops over years (matters of
identity, interest, values, acquired aptitudes, 'instincts', style, ...)
and the expectations and demands of the present higher education system
('clarity' 'organization' 'logic' 'a sense of what matters most' 'insight'
etc.). We know that this match favors a middle to upper-middle class
habitus ... which is not where the talent pool of the unemployed is
concentrated. I regret to say. JAY.
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JAY L. LEMKE
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
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