9486 in the collection
Ganbei Culture
Ohanian Comment: I'm not being facetious when I suggest that we need a special term for "explicit skills binge." Leaders and camp followers at NCTE are now insisting that "systematic, direct, and explicit" as employed in the LEARN (sic) legislation they helped draft don't really mean what they mean when employed by, say, the giant publisher McGraw-Hill/SRA. It seems that people who who claim the label "progressive," have drunk the same tea
So what's a snappy phrase for the culture of teachers delivering skills to students?
And while you're thinking about this, please write letters to the leaders of NCTE and IRA, telling them what you think "systematic, direct, and explicit" mean.
'I don't know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't -- till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.
'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - - that's all.'
Surely, it's time for teachers to stand up and shake free the chains of skill delivery servitude.
by Schott's Vocabulary
The Chinese "culture of toasting" -- in which alcohol plays a central part of work and business.
A Chinese policeman who died after excessive alcohol consumption has been honored as a martyr who "died in the line of duty," Chen Hong reported for The China Daily:
According to an anonymous insider from the police force in the Baoan district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, officer Chen Lusheng was off duty on Oct 28 when he was invited to a dinner with officials.
Chen, known for his ability to hold his liquor, soon became the target of the hosts, who one by one asked for the officer to ganbei, or "bottoms up."
Chen Hong reported that: "Ganbei culture has been popular among officials and business people, as they consider dinner tables good places to build relations and talk business."
According to Tania Branigan in The Guardian:
The case has highlighted a culture of obligatory drinking among local officials which has resulted in several other deaths. Official dinners, particularly at lower levels, are notorious for repeated toasts that warm relations and can help to gain advantage in negotiations. Declining to drink with hosts is considered disrespectful.
So serious has the problem become that some local leaders are said to hire assistants partly on the basis of their drinking ability, so they can share the burden. …
There have been other official deaths this year through what is dubbed "ganbei culture." Last year, a family planning official from Xinyang, in Hunan province, was posthumously given a merit award for dying with "honour" after he collapsed with a brain haemorrhage following an evening at a karaoke bar with fellow officials. A hospital report said binge drinking had contributed to his death.
— Schott's Vocabulary
New York Times
2009-12-29
http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/ganbei-culture/?src=twt&twt=schottsvocab
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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