one of the few reservations that i had when i agreed to transfer schools was my fear of losing what little semblance of UP-ness that i acquired during the four years or so that i studied there. which is why i vigilantly guarded my way of thinking, my worldview, and my convictions in my new school — because it is true what most people say, the encroachment of these esteemed qualities happen when one least expects it.

and, i must admit, silently but gradually, my progressive academic thinking has been tempered by my exposure to different teaching techniques, and the intrusive culture of detachment that my present academic atmosphere has introduced.

during my first semester here, i raised relevant questions regarding the issues that were raised in most of my classes, not because i wanted to pass off as an arrogant prig, but because i genuinely wanted to learn. but the present academic set-up of my new school, which is largely patterned after high school learning, has stifled my interest to actively participate in pertinent classroom discussions.

here, the teacher dominates in most of the discussions, and here too, students are expected to just listen, scribble down notes, memorize, and just have a passing mark.

more so, through time, i have nurtured a contemptuous feeling towards some of my teachers who have a penchant for just chatting the academic time away, thereby depriving their students of genuine learning.

lets take mr a as an example.

i personally don’t know if he was raised under an ultra-conservative family, or he is just subsumed under the subculture of not questioning convention, or if he is just plain bigoted, but as i see snippets of his personality in the so-so class discussions that we’ve had, i find his ideas downright offensive.

this morning, he jumpstarted the class discussion by saying that he woke up to the most disconcerting news piece he’s ever seen for quite a long time. he saw two women kissing, and said that this was in california, where same-sex marriage was recently legalized. he wondered, and out loud if i may add, why the almighty has not unleashed his full wrath over these moral degenerates yet. and as if he were the most righteous person alive, he snidely remarked: how  can these people still face society without shame?

sheesh.

i don’t even know where to start castigating him in my thoughts. it is precisely because of people like him that our society is so antiquated in thinking even when several quarters have already started to shatter the societally-constructed barriers of gender inequality and the continued oppression of the marginalized.

and, if i may add again, he bitched and ranted for almost 45 minutes, leaving only 15 minutes for actual classroom lecture. i surveyed the room for students who shared my disgust over his bigotry, and yet, there was none — heck, they even laughed with him as though ostracizing gay people was almost second nature which did not merit further questioning nor discernment.

i personally wanted to raise my hand, question his ineptitude towards gender sensibilities, and just ask him upfront: why are you so bigoted?

tsk.

for me, that was a most revolting faux pas on mr a’s part. but apparently for everyone else, it was just accepted and acceptable altogether, a daily routine, a normal remark from a normal teacher.

if that is their way of viewing what’s normal, shatter normalcy.