More Politically Correct Window-Dressed Taiwan Teachy Tosh

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

So I get an email on Tuesday (but didn’t notice it until Wed night) telling me to go onto the faculty website before Thursday and update my syllabi.

(This seems unusual since syllabi, which by decree are mostly boiler-plate policy declaration BS, are normally frozen after posting, to prevent you updating them to reflect reality. Taiwanese academic authorities generally disapprove of reality.)

I have to update with how often (1-18 times) I mention the listed SDG’s in my freshmen reading classes. Not will mention, which would be a declaration of intent, do mention.

If I can’’t/don’t (unclear which) incorporate the SDG’s there’s an Exemption Application Procedure which will no doubt be a punitive PITA.

The SDG’s are identified by number (1-17) followed by a variable number of Chinese characters apparently identifying sub-classes. The 1-17 is a clue and it dawns on me that these are probably the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

So I have less than 24 hours to travel back in time and re construct more than half completed courses around the UN SDG’s. But my GF borrowed my flux capacitor.

I send a sarcastic email.

Taiwanese are pragmatic about this kind of crap and have no problem ticking whatever BS boxes they are told to.

I probably would have too, (though being forced to lie annoys me) but although the UN SDG’s are no doubt identifiable from the number, I have no idea what the multiple sub-classes, identified only by Chinese, mean. (There are apparently 169 “targets” so I’d guess they might be some of those, but I dunno which ones)

If I don’’t know what they are, I can’t plausibly claim to be mentioning them. So I don’t.

I dunno if this is something they’ve dreamed up themselves or its descended from the MOE, but the half-assed last minute thing might suggest the latter.

Anybody else encountered this?

2

Taiwan is trying its utmost to get on the good side of western countries, given its political isolation on the world stage. Being a poster child for fighting Covid is one way of doing that. Being green and politically liberal is another.

3

Yeh.

Well 3% renewables in the energy generation mix is a bit more telling than some BS box-ticking on a University website,

I got a bit of a clue in a not-yet very threatening reply to my WTF? email.

It exhorted me to “Cooperate with the impact of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (Impact Rankings)” so this is about gaming the ranking system,

Marketing BS (The Worst Kind of BS) IOW

Deadline is pushed back to April 1st, (Massively and Ironically Appropriate, or what?) so maybe mine wasn’t the only WTF reaction.

I suppose the April 1st deadline date might ease the conscience a bit about lying, though as of now I intend to post the truth if I can find out how

4

SDG?

What’s that… soapy, dirty, girls?

5

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We use carefully calibrated indicators to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across three broad areas: research, outreach and stewardship.

Yeesh who actually cares that much about this stuff. Seems like a whole lot of wankery. Reading texts about sustainable development goals sounds like a great way to put the class to sleep.

6

sustainable development goals

7

Ah… I wasn’t even close. Drats! My acronym sounds more fun though.

8

sorry, i just woke up from a nap. i’m such a killjoy :anguished:

9

Well… I really didn’t know what it meant, so the clarification is still appreciated. :+1:

10

Dunno how sustainable it be though. Not getting any younger

11

Are you teaching a class on SDGs? Otherwise, why on earth do they care?

The first time I ever encountered those was when I decided to take a Coursea course on sustainable development because I was bored out of my mind at my public school job. I know they are relevant to the UN, but 1) Taiwan is not in the UN and 2) no developed nation on earth follows them.

SDGs aren’t really something you weave into your average college class just for the heck of it…

12

Especially your average freshman class, where they’re sitting around like deer in headlights with their mouths glued shut, expecting to be spoon-fed via IV.

13

:point_down:

14

So they just want you to have SDGs mentioned in your class so that the school can be ranked higher?

Sometimes I hate Taiwan. Always doing shit for the sake of being ranked higher than everyone else but with no context or meaning for why it’s being done.

15

I told you why. No one reads anymore.

Its to game the The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings so the institution gets a better score and can use it in marketing.

I’d guess when they get me a translation/translator (who will be wrong, because they always are) I’ll be expected to lie about it. We’ll see.

16

This is fast becoming one of my big pet peeves on Forumosa, next to not admitting or adjusting when one has clearly been corrected

There is probably some split between politics (e.g. uni rankings & international face) and good intentions (sustainable development is an important goal, including for Taiwan); 90/10?

Administrative last minute BS is never a good thing, but depending on what you teach this could be just a box-ticking exercise. I hear your frustration, and if it is helpful for you I have some experience in this area, so feel free to PM me :slight_smile:

17

Yeh. A related complication is that they may sometimes actually believe their own BS, since critical thinking isn’t a big thing. I’m not sure I can always tell.

Re the offer of tactical advice (?) my current plan is something along the lines of a Kamikaze charge, not very tactically nuanced IOW.

When I’m less irritated I may get back to you, thanks,

18

I doubt they care much whether SDGs are mentioned in my classes, but they want me to say they are mentioned in my classes. (I’m assuming here the Times lot have no way of verifying if this is true.)

I’m also unclear whether they’d need to be mentioned explicitly, Some of the reading material is relevant to some of the SDG’s, and they’d probably want to count that, but that isn’t what they say.

Also, some of the SDG’s relate to education. Since one is trying to do education when running a class, is that enough for a “tick”? Dunno.

19

The international rankings for universities are pretty much all useless, yes.

Good questions. I imagine your admin hasn’t thought that far yet?

20

I’d doubt they thought much at all, or would care if they had, since they just want the boxes ticked.

The website SEEMS to be talking about explicit mention of the SDG goals, but Taiwanese are not usually into being explicit, so I doubt they mean it,

I bet the wholly Chinese version is a lot more smoke and mirrors

I feel an attack of the “YOU THINK TOO MUCH” zombies looming.