For some reason, for the last little while, I've had a Dorothy Parker line running through my head. At a party playing word games, she was told to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence. And in true Dorothy Parker fashion, she said "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."
In my darker moments teaching, I tend to think of that as a useful summary of the more annoying aspects of my job.
Which is, admittedly, very uncharitable -- I should add a caveat that every time I get grumbly about my students, it really has more to do with my own dissatisfaction with my own performance as a teacher.
Still, "horticulture" is a fun word. I suppose there's a whole cheesy metaphor I could spin out about the cultivation of minds, but that isn't really my style. Unless we add something in there about fertilizer.
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1 comment:
That somehow reminds me of Margot Asquith (former British PM's wife) who, when greeted by Hollywood starlet Jean Harlow with the words "you must be MargoT Asquith" (with T sounded), said "no dear, it's a silent T - as in Harlow". Pretty quick thinking, if you ask me!
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