I believe that in the West we should really separate the concepts of "teaching" as compared to "credentialing."

What educators call an "essentialist" style of instruction is very common in the USA as you go into high school, and as you go on to upper crust universities. This is a system where someone lectures, and then tests you to see if you've gained a certain requisite amount of knowledge and skills. It used to even be a common method in elementary schools. In fact, the phrase "toeing the line" was coined when children would stand up in front of the room with their toes in a neat line, and recite what they had learned.

This essentialist technique, in my opinion, is not teaching. It doesn't qualify as such.

According to my sensibilities - a teacher, by definition, cannot pass or fail or grade his students in any way shape or form. This practice runs counter to the aims of teaching. A teacher does not let the student who doesn't understand the material, or who is not gaining the skills, slip through the cracks. A teacher can assess how well he himself is teaching the children - by seeing how much they're learning. But that's a grade the teacher gives himself - not a grade he gives the students.

Now, a person offering a credential, must test the knowledge and skills of those seeking that credential. Indeed, some people will pass that test, and some will not. Certainly, passing fifth grade, and graduating from high school are both credentials - so you need to have someone there who will test the children... and assess whether they have met the requirements of the credential. But that ought not to be the teacher's job.

The fact that we conflate these two ideas - teaching, and credentialing - really hurts our society, in my estimation. All over the net you see people offering tutorials in technical trade knowledge who have no idea what teaching is. They have run through the gamut of the credential system at a demanding university, and they thought that they were being taught. In reality, they were teaching themselves well enough to get their credential.

I watched a few MIT lectures the other day on introductory computer programming. This "professor" was not a teacher, in my book. He was throwing out concept a b c and d, and expecting his students to pick up the pieces. It's shocking to me that we regale this kind of practice as if it were the best kind of teaching in the USA.

It's also disturbing to me that university students don't know how to demand a better educational product from their schools. People in tertiary education are typically fresh out of their parents' homes. They've been children their entire life. And they're used to being told what to do, and complying. They meekly accept whatever odd curveballs their department or their professors throw at them; if they can't get an assignment done because they simply didn't have enough time or resources, they are cowed and hang their head in shame, and believe it's their fault. Somehow, these young people rate their college choices based on a rating institution's assessment of the university. Youth believe that they need to work hard in order to get into a "selective university." Instead, they ought to realize that they are the customers with money in hand, who are going to give this money to a business called "a university." They, as customers, are the ones who need to call the shots - demanding the kind of educational product which they want. Uni students need to demand better pedagogy from their schools.

Recently, I've been very impressed with what I've learned about the Australian educational system. I don't know much about uni over there - but their high schools and elementary schools seem to have a really cool pedagogy. Their high schools are very much focused on vocational skills - and on what that person will need for his life when he leaves home at 18 years of age. They call this "Outcomes Based Education." In contrast, we in the USA have "Standards Based Education;" educators in North America think that the most important thing is that kids get a foundation of knowledge in science, and social studies, and literature, and so forth.

You young people at the university aren't kids anymore. Wake up and demand better professors... and yes, be willing to work hard for credentials. However, please don't confuse teaching with credentialing. They are two very separate things.