[B-Greek] Something about Pedagogy

Randall Buth ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
Mon May 21 19:03:51 EDT 2007


Hinson EGRAPSE
 >>This article is actually about Hebrew pedagogy, comparing American
schools with European ones, but I think by implication it has some
things to say about the way Greek is taught as well in American graduate
schools.
"To complicate matters further, many American programs are not even
making sure that their graduating Ph.D. students have strong knowledge
of Biblical Hebrew. Unless corrective action is taken, there will be a
chasm between the continental, British, and Israeli scholars, who
generally know Hebrew well, and those in the States, who often emphasize
methods that talk about the text rather than engaging it closely and
carefully in the original language."
http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=320
Bless the Name
Curtis Hinson>>

It is an interesting impression. But I wouldn't get excited on either  
side.
When I was in England last Fall, I heard the reverse--quiet murmurs  
among British scholars wondering if their students would be able to  
keep up in language skills.
Without standardized, neutral, testing that will be hard to assess.  
Until then it sounds like "the grass is greener on the other side"  
phenomenon. (OK, maybe it is greener in the Land, but that would   
leave a lot of sparse pasture out there.)

I expect the field to self-regulate, and my impression is that it has  
been making a very slow improvement. There is a slightly higher  
percentage of people with high language skills than before.  But that  
is only an impression and maybe improvement, such that it is, has  
been too slow. Critical mass bringing the field to what it is capable  
of, especially with electronic text availability, has not yet been  
attained.


Randall Buth
ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
randallbuth at gmail.com
www.biblicalulpan.org






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