The schoolteacher as 'economic man'
| Autor: | Robert M. Bjork |
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| Rok vydání: | 1956 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Peabody Journal of Education. 34:138-140 |
| ISSN: | 1532-7930 0161-956X |
| DOI: | 10.1080/01619565609536725 |
| Popis: | Montaigne contended that "the profit of one man is the loss of another," and that "the merchant thrives by the extravagance of youth; the husbandman by the shortage of corn; the architect by the ruin of houses; the lawyer by lawsuits and controversies between men." Some centuries later Adam Smith pointed out that workingmen are generally far from happy with a situation which some people would characterize as a pleasing plenitude of labor. The Scotsman put it this way: "The scarcity of hands occasions a competition among masters, who bid against one another, in order to get workmen, and thus voluntarily break through the natural combination of masters not to raise wages." The point here is that the schoolteacher in a society where the contentions of Montaigne and Smith still have force must necessarily view the much heralded "shortage of teachers" with somewhat ambivalent emotions. The altruistic and generally interested side of the teacher will deplore the inadequate instruction this may mean for the younger generation and be genuinely concerned about the meaning of this shortage to our world position and to our democratic ethos and system. However, the economic calculator part of the teacher will surely look upon the shortage as a possible benefit to him personally; to imitate Smith: "The shortage of teachers occasions a competition among school boards and superintendents, who bid against one another, in order to get teachers." |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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