Has anyone else found the experience of teaching really disappointing?
The university seem to let the undergrads get away with murder these days, compared to when I did my BA (10yrs ago). My students are allowed to turn up to semnars having skipped lectures and not done their core readings for the week. Why they are there I am not really sure? When I came down on some students, one response was that they were a fee paying customer and I was being unreasonably demanding.
I am concerned that Unis seem to be passing students & handing out degrees that aren't going to mean anything.

i teach as well Pea, and i empathise with what you are saying. i try not to get wound up by the students who never come prepared. mine are worse they try to hit on me!! and bully me..coz i look younger than them. so i would say, try to see it this way. you are there trying to survive the teaching as much as they are trying to survive the seminar. if they haven't prepared, move on to the next question. if they haven't prepared for any, ask them to leave as there is nothing to discuss. whether they pay fees or not, your job is not to give a lecture, it's to check what they know. if you prefer an easier tactic, ask them to discuss what they know. then elaborate on it. who cares! you are being paid! whether or not they know their stuff ;). who'd think teachers think like that. maybe i shouldn be teaching, haha.

I can't get a teaching job at the moment. Perhaps I am not missing out on much ...

have you tried other faculties or neighbouring unis and colleges? it ain't that bad as long as you get control of the room. am actually almost starting to enjoy it :)

too many grads for too many jobs :(

i mean "few" ... typo!

Thanks for your comments. It really helps to hear people are going through the same thing.
It isn't a confidence thing with me, just dispair that they are so lazy, but getting away with it. I did send some students away & told them to use the time to do some reading (yeah right as if) & I also gave them quite a stern warning, but the amazing thing is, that I do not have the support of the department. I actually got my knuckles wrapped for being too harsh. Apparently these students "are fee paying customers" - therefore the cutomer is always right.
I'm sorry but I was under the impression that universities were supposed to be centres for learning & excellence...?

don't despair, let them do no work and ... still get a 2.1 *sighs*

pea, just remember that the student's aren't your priority. Your priority is your PhD. Whether or not they wanna study, it's their life. You have your good degrees, you're there to get some teaching experience, which you are getting, that to me is enough. Where the students end up is their own business- not yours. I hardly prepared for my undergrad tutorials and i still got a 2.1. All am saying is, each student has their strategy. Most of them, to read 24/7 two weeks before exam. So let them be. :).

am sorry to hear that Jewel. Try expressing your interest in teaching to your faculty and maybe something will come up.

I agree completely that you can not force some one to learn. It's strange, if a person is not interested in the content of their degree, yet would sign away 3 years of their life. Their student debt will follow them for years afterwards, but they don't gain any benefits ( other than the social)), by not actually engaging in the process of learning. University for an undergrad should be lots of drinking & nights out, and I do think it is a fantastic experience for most young people to break away from home and meet new people, and have a laugh, BUT- I thought it was about coming into contact with new ideas and ways of thinking aswell. It seems a BA degree is now just a way of stalling from the real world for 3 years.
As for not caring and worrying only about my research - guys again you're right. However, it is again a pretty sorry state of affairs when a) there are other people desperate to teach for all the right reasons who do care and b) it creates an attitude which feeds and perpetuates the exact system of 'pony' degrees I am moaning about.

I could go on & on, but I can see the wisdom in your thinking. I can't worry about educational policy and the standards of universities -that would be a whole new research project!