I’m all for staying positive (duh!), but you need to recognize that there are times that being positive blinds you. No, this isn’t about being a positive realist. It’s more about being an active idealist.
I recently sat in on a class filled with first year students. During class, each student expressed how great it was that the teacher’s lecture mimicked exactly what is in the book they had to read. Being positivists, they noted how it really sets the information in their memory. I laughed.
I’ve been in the lecture and I’ve read the book. Not only is the lecture a copy of the book, but the professor goes through the slides so quickly that it’s hard to keep up anyway. Oh, I also need to mention the slides are posted online for the students to view at their leisure.
Bravo to the students for turning a negative into a positive by saying that the repetition of material is beneficial. But shame on them for not changing the professors ideals, not challenging the method of teaching, not suggesting improvements.
Repetition is valuable, but the students can repeat all the information by looking at the slides or rereading the book. When it comes to the lecture, that’s two and a half hours of wasted time.
By all means, stay positive, but be skeptical.
Not all things that are positive should go unchallenged.
Stay Positive & Make Things Right, To Your Heart, Not Your Mind
Garth E. Beyer
