Atlantean Educational Ethics

Sometimes, I peer back into that small and narrow, yet sometimes sinister and pervasive, world of Atlantean education. I see all kinds of things. There are flashes of the teaching spirit and all that is noble in that; most often, a kind of pearly grey shimmer suffuses the landscape, obviously expensive and not at all typical of the rest of the world, but not subject to analysis nor inspiring of further efforts. But sometimes, you see horrors which man was not meant to see.

For some years now, I've wondered how it is that a teacher in the system can end the day's work (or the week's work) and then make money in his spare time training the rivals to his school team. If he were merely teaching the students of rival schools, it would be odd, a bit like a lawyer deciding to do paid work for some other firm's clients but a lot less unethical (since education is a universal good, while legal consultation — as opposed to justice — is not).

Let's look at the career of one particular teacher. This is a gestalt apparition, a construct that many teachers in Atlantis would swear exists in reality.

This guy is pretty good. He recklessly scans or photocopies notes from other institutions, puts them together, and makes sure his name is printed at the bottom. He is renowned for 'his' notes. He is good at drilling into students that which will make their foundations appear strong, and they will do well. It's not education, but it teaches to the test, and is therefore successful in the short run. Since parents and students like short-term successes and scorn the long-term (especially in Atlantis), this is considered a very good thing.

He has a tuition centre that operates from behind an MRT station or (as he makes more money) a room in his own house. This doubles his monthly salary at the very least. At some point, even the cachet of working for a premier school in the Atlantean system will pall, and he will go completely into the private sector. Long before that, the school will think it needs him more than he thinks he needs the school.

How would you identify that particular point? The signs are clear: he is no longer concerned with the welfare of individual students, he doesn't take time to sit down with and nurture colleagues, he takes long holidays independent of the school's needs.

You will notice that I use 'he' exclusively: in general, this kind of person is seldom a 'she' because women tend to be more conscientious and maternal; even if they do 'go private' and set up a tuition centre, they continue to be 'caring and sharing' towards their charges. And if they are 'part-time', they seldom fall into ethics violations; they are not often the ones who copy the work of others and pass it of as their own.

What's interesting is that this kind of free enterprise is tacitly condoned by the priesthood. There are even rules governing such behaviour, thus condoning the behaviour but limiting it. This is like the rules governing prostitution in Atlantis; it's not legal, and thus not ethical by virtue of extralegality, but there is sufficient space provided within the machine for it to continue.

So which part of our gestalt teacher's career is the worst? I think it boils down to one thing, the lack of integrity that is shown by plagiarism and also in the lack of dedication to the craft of teaching. Sadly, this gestalt teacher draws upon many for his gestalt existence — for such are the underpinnings of a large sector of the Atlantean educational system.