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Christmas, et al (Pt. One)
Dec. 27th, 2005 04:34 pmSo I took the ethics test on Friday, my last day at school, the same day I incurred a student's wrath by pointing out that "open-book exam (with handwritten notes)" is not the same thing as "please bring your wireless internet-fitted laptop into class and surf while answering these questions". The guy seems to think I have some personal problem with him, and I suppose in a way, he'd be right: My problem is that he never listens, never studies, rarely turns in his work and never the work I asked for, while constantly blurting out inappropriate shit really loudly, like his head's a gumball machine--whatever appears in the back comes rolling automatically out the front, with no censorship whatsoever. Maybe he has ADD; if so, maybe he should have told me at the begining of the year. And maybe I don't give much of a crap.
The ethics test turned out to involve watching two very boring corporate videos about why just knowing the legal limits of behavior and sticking within them isn't enough--you have to gauge the potential "ripple effect" of your own actions, then make a "gut check" of your "core values" in order to figure out if what you want to do is right or wrong. As I said to the woman next to me, halfway through: "This would seem a lot more appliccable if we were working somewhere where it might be worth our while to steal things." (OTOH, as Steve points out, my usual policy of answering students' question about the school honestly might be seen as "stealing" money from the school, since sometimes the people involved do drop out.)
Anyhow. After the first video, we had a quiz; I flagged all the answers which involved buzzwords, and got 100%. Then the second video wouldn't play, and I had maybe 25 minutes to get back to class, so...I took the test anyway. Got 70%, which wasn't enough to graduate (you need 90%), but they then told me which ones I'd gotten wrong, and how. So I went back, filled those in the right way, graduated.
On my way back to class, I couldn't help but think: Were my actions entirely...ethical? Were theirs, in making me do this?
In a lot of ways, what I reject about stuff like this is that if I do comply mainly by following a philosophy of enlightened self-interest (ie, follow the rules and thus keep your job), where's the harm? You get what you want, and I get what I want. If you want more, well, cry me a river: You're making a fair amount of money off of me and my skillz, with very little security or support given in return--the fact that I consistently do things above and beyond the call of paycheque just because I think my students deserve it is my business, just like my "core values" are none of yours. I don't owe you anything but time and effort, and I give you both, so SHUT UP. This ain't brain surgery here, any more than it's fucking Enron. It's just a mid-range diploma mill which, every once in a blue moon, occasionally coughs out genuine filmmakers; frankly, considering you won't pony up for new equipment, you're bloody lucky to still have me.
So. Next time, more with the haul-iday rundown. For now, Merry Christmas.
The ethics test turned out to involve watching two very boring corporate videos about why just knowing the legal limits of behavior and sticking within them isn't enough--you have to gauge the potential "ripple effect" of your own actions, then make a "gut check" of your "core values" in order to figure out if what you want to do is right or wrong. As I said to the woman next to me, halfway through: "This would seem a lot more appliccable if we were working somewhere where it might be worth our while to steal things." (OTOH, as Steve points out, my usual policy of answering students' question about the school honestly might be seen as "stealing" money from the school, since sometimes the people involved do drop out.)
Anyhow. After the first video, we had a quiz; I flagged all the answers which involved buzzwords, and got 100%. Then the second video wouldn't play, and I had maybe 25 minutes to get back to class, so...I took the test anyway. Got 70%, which wasn't enough to graduate (you need 90%), but they then told me which ones I'd gotten wrong, and how. So I went back, filled those in the right way, graduated.
On my way back to class, I couldn't help but think: Were my actions entirely...ethical? Were theirs, in making me do this?
In a lot of ways, what I reject about stuff like this is that if I do comply mainly by following a philosophy of enlightened self-interest (ie, follow the rules and thus keep your job), where's the harm? You get what you want, and I get what I want. If you want more, well, cry me a river: You're making a fair amount of money off of me and my skillz, with very little security or support given in return--the fact that I consistently do things above and beyond the call of paycheque just because I think my students deserve it is my business, just like my "core values" are none of yours. I don't owe you anything but time and effort, and I give you both, so SHUT UP. This ain't brain surgery here, any more than it's fucking Enron. It's just a mid-range diploma mill which, every once in a blue moon, occasionally coughs out genuine filmmakers; frankly, considering you won't pony up for new equipment, you're bloody lucky to still have me.
So. Next time, more with the haul-iday rundown. For now, Merry Christmas.
