Re: Educating Judges

[Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>]

I have sat through hundreds of judges trainings and given scores. Although many have had some lesser or greater interaction with their audience, few would qualify as anything but a lecture, including my own.  When I taught classes in college and when I have given judges trainings, I almost always hand out a survey asking how well I did. I always have been rated excellent on most parameters. But even though I make the training pleasant, enjoyable, challenging and reasonably deep, I rarely kid myself into believing I have really taught much. Many times I doubt that teaching is really our goal, there are so many ways we can do that better. But most trainings are really a matter of getting in requirements and or entertaining a group, or both. If any real learning occurs that is a plus, but is that what we are really after? We hope that AIS judges exhibit some form of competency, but even other judges often question that. Most, have the rote behavior down to a habit. It is still an honor to be an AIS judge, but it really does not define a personbs horticultural knowledge or even in a more limited way, our knowledge of Iris.  I agree with Dennis that much improvement could be made. But all of us have been trained by the present system. It would be a huge challenge to go beyond our experience to create what would be new and better. Our technology such as PowerPoint has improved, but our mindset is still 19th Century. 

----- Original Message -----
From: "R. Dennis Hager" <hager@aredee.com>
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Sent: Sunday, January 1, 2012 9:49:30 PM
Subject: [AISdiscuss] Educating Judges

There is a connection here. Just use your imagination.

bPhysicists Seek To Lose The Lecture As Teaching Toolb
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/01/144550920/physicists-seek-to-lose-the-lecture-a
s-teaching-tool

Dennis Hager

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/