universities / WizWorld structure

[Kavitha Kannan]

No: HPFGUIDX 24314

Speaking as a high school student—who won't apologize for her age, 
since it can't be changed and who instead chooses to write as well as 
she can— I have never had a Snape for a teacher.  And asking around 
on AIM, noone I know has.  I think he's exaggerated well past the 
point of caricature.  Embittered, biased, downright nasty 24-7
he 
would never survive in a school unless he's shown to be more nasty 
than he really is, which, given the POV (Harry's) is possible.  He's 
a combination of mad scientist puttering around in black robes and 
doing strage experiments on his hair, and professor who hates 
children and is only in the job because he gets to work in the 
research facilities of the school. 
As for the teaching methods employed, even the students in the 
Potterverse mourn the amount of non-practical lessons they suffer 
through.  When Lupin tells them that they will be having a practical 
lesson, they're all very excited.  Of course, this could be due to 
Lockhart's idiocy, and their other classes seem more interesting.  
The magnet program I go to is operated in the same way, with a great 
deal of hands-on experience, and prides itself on claims of being 
similar to college, so I think it's reasonable to draw parallels 
between Muggle university and Wizarding grade school.  This spirit 
seems to continue after school, so that their extremely hands-on 
university is the same as their job.  Also, the last five years (3th 
through 7th) seem to double as college, with students receiving 
specialized training in fields of their choice.  One would imagine 
that by seventh year, the classes would be like internships.

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Yis M Koslowitz <tkoz1 at j...> wrote:

> Jennifer wrote-
> >Hmmm, I sometimes get the impression that Hogworts is taught more 
like
> >the universities in the Muggle world than any middle/high school 
I've
> >seen -- based on teacher experience/behavior (how many public 
schools
> >woule *really* allow a teacher like Snape?  I can tell you, I've 
met
> >several college profs like that, but none quite that bad in public
> >schools), on class selection (some required, some electives), etc. 
> >Granted, there aren't 20-somethings running around, and in that 
respect
> >it's quite like any other school for that age...but there's 
something
> >about the style of instruction & school life that feels more like
> >college to me.  Any thoughts on this?
> 
> Unlike boring Muggle schools, a lot of the Hogwarts learning is 
hands-on.
> There doesn't seem to be a lot of dreary theory completely divorced 
from
> action. Even in McGonagall's class, with assignments like 
"Describe, with
> examples, the way transfiguration must be adapted doing cross-
species
> switches" (inexact quote)
> the work isn't totally theoretical, they actually DO a cross species
> switch. 
> I did an internship in a progressive Greenwich Village private 
school
> that operates on this principle. Kids learn by doing. 
> Come on, teachers out there. Wouldn't your "ADHD" kids really do 
better
> in a class where you get to actually operate on the environment in 
some
> way and get immediate results? I think it's one of the charms of the
> series - kids love it because they'd love to go to such a cool 
school. 
> And yes, as a graduate student, I can see that as I get further and
> further up in my training, my learning experiences are less 
theoretical
> and more hands-on. 
> Robyn