This reminds me of trying to explain to students the way the world will judge them based on misspelling a word or using incorrect grammar. I feel like I am warning them because I know how smart they are and I want the world to see it, too. I know if they say, "I seen that online." or if they misspell a word on their resume they could be judged as not very intelligent.
Although, there is a new technique called 'blind hiring' that has been noticed by the Wall Street Journal, NPR and the Washington Post (to name a few). Instead of submitting a resume to apply for a job (NO RESUME!), this technique has job applicants work on a project, complete an assignment or write a short story about data. This technique takes out preconceived notions about people based on their alma mater or name and just looks at their skills. I think a lot of my students could shine in this type of interviews... and some would not.
Jacques case would be a perfect example of how blind hiring can be very beneficial for a company. Clearly Jacques has skills and abilities that is academic record is not reflecting.
This section of Chapter 10 reminds me of Myspace (remember everyone?:). It was a huge form of communication and literacy at one point. Now it is not relevant, other than maybe in social media/online bullying history. But on the other hand, Facebook has dominated the topic of digital literacy for business, social life for those of all ages, non-profit organizations, etc.
This statement also reminds me of the "Everybody's on WooWoo" commercial... until Mom ends up on WooWoo.
Macy,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about people predetermining things about others based on their grammar skills. That's definitely a shortcoming I have had, I guess because I'm an English teacher. But I've known many wise, talented, intelligent, and creative people who did't have perfect grammar! It would be nice to think things are done fairly, but politics is everywhere, even schools.
Your second quote makes me think of the many new teaching strategies and philosophies I've seen touted throughout the years. They do come and go, and everything is the BEST thing yet according to the experts teaching it to us. Teachers even older than me usually take it all with a grain of salt, because they know it will be gone with the wind in a couple or three years.
This reminds me of a comment I recently saw on Twitter, stating that judging someone on their grammar or spelling is the same as judging them by the color of their skin, as everyone is different and it takes looking at more than one characteristic to get to know a person. Being an English teacher, I of course want my students to be "proficient" at written expression, and it does drive me crazy to see misplaced apostrophes. However, I think there's a kernel of truth in the Tweet. For example, I wouldn't want to be judged by my inability to decode a mathematical equation. I tell my students there are reasons that informal speech is not as strict as formal writing, such as having a casual audience of friends vs. writing something for an unknown reader, like on an application, where the person doesn't get to meet you or know anything else about you. I heard about blind hiring on NPR, and I'm glad to see you connected it to our readings.
ReplyDeleteMacy, I too, like the idea of showing a perspective employer what you can do rather just what an application / resume contains. As a former Equipment Operator I would always offer the potential employer a free day... IE I'll give you 8 hours and if your not satisfied at any point simply say thanks but no thanks and I'll be on my way, but if you find that I'm a suitable candidate then we can discuss employment and wages. I never had anybody ask me to leave, yet many times they only wanted an application and I didn't get those jobs. That's why I believe in having students demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways. The saying "thinking outside the box" would Not exist if somebody (the power class) had Not built the bow to begin with... just a thought??? Good insight!
ReplyDeleteI use the same quote from chapter 9 and am glad to see it is a popular one to go with. I haven't heard of this blind hiring process, but it seems like it would be a great idea because you are hiring someone for a job and you want to know they can actually do the job well. I do think that references are still important because the project or essay does not show how that person cooperates with others. Now people usually don't put people on their contact list that would say anything negative, but it says a lot about the people that are chosen. If there seems to be teacher that can confirm the adequacy for attendance and the way they meet deadlines, it might be a red flag. Your chapter 10 quote makes me think of those game apps that get super popular and then die, such as flappy bird, and then there are some that just keep going and never seem to be going down, angry birds now has a movie so I would say they will never die.
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