HEY BUDDY, SPARE SOME OPPORTUNITY?

hi everyone,

this blog entry is a response to cam smith's blog entry (which he has given me permission to paste here) for another class. he, like myself, went and listened to regan ross present his simulation, "The Civic Mirror." There were some interesting questions that came up around it in the class, not only about the simulation itself, but the, how to put it, ethics of introducing a certain value system based on mr. ross' interpretation of "the real world."

cam poses another, more broad, dynamic that mr. ross' talk raises, YOU as a commodity. here is cam's posting, in italics. my response follows:

Knowledge as a Commodity
Hey again all,

I find myself more motivated to blog for two reasons. First, we have to have 7 done by the end of the semester and I am coming up short, but more importantly, I think I have been more immersed in school as the pressure is on (at least for me with a few different classes then the rest of you, no 401 or 406,).

Today we had a guest presentation in both social studies methods classes. He was really good, showing us his creation "The Civic Mirror." Over a few years, he has developed a simulation which mirrors society in the best way I have seen. People get to buy, sell, trade commodities all in the hopes that they can feed and house their family. Over the course of the simulation, a society is created, in which people steal, beg, borrow and deal under a government and justice system set up within the classroom. The simulation was developed over a number of years and has now been printed in a book and has an online function. Obviously, a ton of work has been put into the project and by the looks of it, it has become one of the most interesting and usable tools I have seen in the classroom up unti now.

However, there is a price tag to the item which is my reason for posting. The cost of the system is $299/first class and $99/class after that. He has offered it free for student teachers (which many seemed interested to take advantage of), probably in hopes that it goes really well and they will buy it or convince their administrators to buy it in the future. So, When it comes to sharing of materials and items such as this, to what level should people be compensated?

This presentation just made me wonder about what is worth spending money on as a teacher and what is not. Is the teacher who allows you to take all of their notes worthy of compensation? or does it need to be in a polished package such as the civic mirror in order to be worthy of compensation? This is nothing against the creator of the civic mirror as it is obvious with one look at the package that he has put time and effort into the project and deserves compensation, but how many people do not profit from such creativity and effort? I don't think that I have a single point to make here, just that as teachers, we have a commodity that is viewed in a very strange way in the big picture of the world. For most, aquired knowledge an skillsets such as those involved in teacher are open market goods. These can be sold to the highest bidder or to the most favourable environment. However, as teachers, we will be limited in the number of bidders, options for environments, and chances for our abilities to shine through and create an advantage (living in a union/seniority world).

So I guess my question is, how do we turn the commodities that we have in terms of knowledge and skills into advantages for us (i.e., getting a job)?
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MY RESPONSE...


i really have other work to do but people just keep posting such intriguing blogs. i can't help myself.

as someone who has published, i believe the obvious: the creator of the work is entitled to compensation. i too heard the guest speaker and have no problem with him commodifying "The Civic Mirror" book he created to go along with the lesson. it was a major effort and he went out and got it published. good on him.

beyond that, i have a huge problem with charging people to use an idea introduced to you (for free) by someone else, as was the case. his idea for "The Civic Mirror" was inspired by someone else doing the same thing, someone who gave him all he needed -for free- to create his own simulations. he didn't invent simulations (i saw a fantastic one at my observation school and i created one for my upcoming english class), he only published his version. yes, it's up to us if we want to use it or not (why not use it and not tell? or change it slightly to be yours? that's a lawsuit i would relish), but there are greater implications and deeper philosophical conundrums, as you allude to cam.

i'm going to look at only one side of what i'm thinking, or i'll end up writing a thesis paper. i won't talk about this program and the commodification of information as a privilege; i won't talk about one skill set of acceptable knowledge over another, less accepted version. what i will talk about is the great gifts all the teachers i have come into contact with have given me. their time, their insight and their resources. their recognition that the "commodity" being passed along is opportunity, is invaluable.

there should be no barriers between opportunity and learning. i believe our commodities, as defined in your last question, are implied in our degree. our guest the other day seems to believe that his ability to expand a tried and true teaching tool is his to own, and his emphasis on "the real world" (how many times did he say that) and instilling the capitalist ideal on his students reflects his position. but where does it end? charging per class is different than selling lessons online. he has actually tried to co-opt opportunity in a public system! isn't there enough barriers to teachers and students alike? if he has set a precedent, and again, i would love to see this played out in court, who is to stop some corporate body with the money and the people to do the same thing on a grander level?

it's bullshit.

we are here to teach young people. we should all work together to do just that. sell your books, but don't sell out your (my) students for your benefit.

thanks for the question and your provocative point cam. i think what you're getting at is going to become a major issue over the span of our teaching careers, especially as governments seek to lower costs and include more private influence in schools.