Teacher and Student Freedom of Expression

Yesterday Lily, David and I presented teacher freedom of expression and Dawn and Audry presented student freedom of expression. While there are a different set of standards that apply to students versus teachers; the restrictions that are imposed on our First Amendment rights are concerning to say the least. While we attempted to answer exactly who should regulate what is appropriate expression and what is not, we weren't fully able to answer that because there is such an inconsistency statewide, countrywide and court rulings wise. In 2 of cases we covered the teacher who said she blew her horn for peace was fired, whereas the teacher who posted homophobic messages wasn't even reprimanded. What does this say? In the case of the Pledge of Allegiance covered by Dawn and Audry, is it really that big of a deal that the student didn't stand? And what about the Tinker case that both groups covered, again I ask is it really that big of a deal to wear an armband. No one would have noticed that they were wearing armbands if they had not been reprimanded.

How do we judge if our expression is out of line or within boundaries? Should we judge by the times? Couldn't we accept that we as individuals have opinions, thoughts and statements that should be expressed within reason (atleast in the company of the little ones;))? So with that my conclusion is that yes expression can be offensive but only if we allow it to be.

This is my class reaction....too bad for me that I didn't react to previous classes. Sorry if it sucks!

Teachers as Moral Exemplars

We ended class last week or perhaps two classes ago with a statement from Dr. Pope that teachers are help up as moral exemplars for their students. This is an awesome and uncomfortable proposition all at once for me and I still haven't come to terms with the implications of the statement.

I understand that students will look to me as an example for all that occurs within the classroom. As a Girl Scout leader, I am in the same situation whenever I am participating in a Girl Scout event.

My discomfort comes when I consider the implications of being a moral exemplar when I am not in these roles. For example, if I am at Festifun in Fort Mill or at the Come See Me festival in Rock Hill, or any other public event, do I need to try to conceal the alcoholic beverage that may be in my hand if I happen to see one of my students or scouts? what if I am participating in an outdoor event or happen to be on the lake or at the beach, in any case dressed in attire that would not be worn in front of the students or scouts - am I somehow obligated to try to cover up? I say pah! to that idea. And yet from the cases that have been reviewed in class, a photo of me with a beverage in my hand or dressed in a way that would not be appropriate in school could appear on the web or in the school, through the efforts of others, and thereby cost me my teaching job and/or my scouting leadership position. I don't think it is fair to hold teachers to standards that 'normal' adults are not accountable for, and then I remember that fairness does not have anything to do with any 'ism' in ethics. I feel violated.

Thoughts on last class

Here are some of my thoughts about the ethical questions that were brought up in class last week.

Plagarism is wrong and should be punished yes, but some students do not understand how they can quote, paraphrase, or cite works; they should have to learn, because I am disappointed by the fact that some schools are not providing adequate instruction on this.

In our own judicial system there are different levels/grades of punishment, and there is inequality in that system also based on whether or not a person can afford to buy their way out of the issue with a high priced lawyer or are given an underpaid and overworked public defender.  This is a serious issue because it teaches our children that fame and fortune can fix all problems.  This becomes a problem because they do not learn morals, they simply learn to desire wealth.  I do believe in punishments and rewards, our current system does little to promote this system but hopefully we as teachers can do something to reintroduce this system into our classrooms.

The situations posed in the book also brought to mind a personal story that I would like to pose to everyone, there were two children that I babysat for in my teens, they were so unruly and aggressive that I decided not to babysit anymore after sitting for them (they also made me not want kids of my own for over a decade).  Their mother became principal of a local middle school and I heard that she was exerting pressure on her children's teachers to pass them on to the next grade, this seems seriously unethical behavior, would you not agree?

Plagarism

I know this case can be discussed for years without any one person coming to a complete conclusion as to what they believe is the appropriate action, but I think everyone realizes we as teachers need to prepare for these kinds of situations. I find myself in a struggle looking at this Plagarism issue because I played 4 years of college basketball and have experienced similar situations. One of my best friends in college graduated high school second to last out of 500 some people, which is crazy. He was one of the star athletes on the team and contributed to the team in many ways. I remember him struggling to pass papers and exams often throughout his college career, but never gave up. He ended up graduating college, marrying a beautiful woman and now holds a sucessful job. He honestly says, he would not change his current life for anything. In this situation, I saw what he experienced and, it gives me and many others hope and inspiration for the struggles he survived. That is one aspect. I also have coached many sports up to this point and plan on contiuning to coach throughout my life. What would I do as a coach in this instance if my best player who means so much to the team and athletic program fails to follow the rules and plagarizes in the final paper. The answer to that is, I don't know. I would struggle with it until I found a way to best suit him, because that is the job of a teacher and coach. I would more than likely contact the teacher and talk with her about alternatives because I believe it is something I must do for his sake. Which brings me to a question. What is the fundamental difference between coaches and teachers, and why does it seem there is a conflicting issue here. Do teachers follow the rules more, and coaches break them more? Do coaches or teachers care more about the individual? Who struggles more over an issue like this? In this case, I believe the coach and team will struggle more because they are the ones left playing and living without him if he is accused, but the teacher only has 48 hours to make a decision, and it's done.

Class Reflection on the Mr. Fuse Case

The discussion on the Mr. Fuse case brought me back to a similar incident in fourth grade: The Case of the Missing Lenten Money.

At Sr. Adele’s suggestion, our homeroom class took up a collection for Lent. Every morning we would bring in our spare nickels and dimes to add to the collection box. By the fourth week of Lent, our meager contributions added up to about $65, a sizable sum of money at the time. But before we could donate the money to The Home for Crippled Children, the collection canister turned up missing. For two hours, the nuns interrogated us as we sat in our rows of wooden seats, glancing suspiciously at each other. At one point, they told us to remove our shoes and place them on our desks, so that they could check our shoes for the missing money. When this tactic failed to recover the money, they told us that unless the guilty party admitted to the crime, they were going to spank all of us, going in alphabetical order. It just so happened that the alphabetical system of doling out spankings would have meant that the two worst troublemakers in the class, Christopher Aiello and Jimmy Bosack, would have been spanked first. I didn’t think it would come to this, and I felt confident that they would never spank me. In fact, I found the whole incident rather amusing until I noticed Mary Ann Wood, the star pupil, seated beside me, reciting the Our Father between choked backed sobs. That got me thinking. Maybe I should take this threat a little more seriously. I formulated a plan. If Sr. Adele attempted to spank me, I would kick her as hard as I could in her bony shins. My parents would understand. I would explain to them that she was trying to punish me for something I didn’t do.

The guilty party never came forward, no one was spanked, and after lunch, class resumed as normal, much to my chagrin. When I got home that night, I told my parents about the incident. My dad’s reply was, “You tell that nun to go to hell!” I’m sure this conjures up an image of my father as a raging alcoholic, much like Mr. Pugnacious. To the contrary, my dad is a well respected member of his church and community who also happens not to indulge in even the occasional glass of wine. But he does have an acute sense of what is just and fair. In his view, even the threat of punishment was an unjust act. What did I learn from this incident? I learned that punishing everyone for the actions of one or a few is a warped application of justice that favors punishing blindly to not punishing at all. Also, this practice does not always ensure that the guilty are punished. Who’s to say that the janitor didn’t take the money? Or, maybe that explains why Sr. Adele showed up the next day in a spanking new pair of black shoes. ;)

Lily's Post

Note: There have been some technical issue with the blog lately. While I try to figure out what they are, I am posting Lily's excellent class reflection that appeared in the comments to Leigh's post.

I’ve been thinking about the summary that Dr. Pope provided in wrap-up to Dewey last class: “The fundamental job of the Deweyian teacher is to understand the experiential makeup of her students as well as to understand the environment beyond the school and to construct a classroom environment that will connect the two so as to be conducive to growth.” Assuming I’m understanding Dewey correctly (huge assumption), as a future business teacher, I strongly agree that the classroom environment has to connect to the environment beyond school, but I don’t necessarily agree with Dewey on this first point; that is, the need for the teacher to understand the experiential makeup of her students in order for the classroom environment to be conducive to growth. I don’t think the students’ past experiences are all that relevant. I think that sometimes the “Duh” moment (to paraphrase Leigh) comes later. An hour later, a day later, often years later. To illustrate this point, my fourteen year old son mentioned to me the other day that he really has an appreciation for architecture. He had studied architecture in third grade and said that he thought it was really “dumb and boring” at the time, but that he really likes it now. The unit of study had concluded with a tour of downtown Pittsburgh (where we lived at the time). After the tour that day (five years ago), I had asked him what he had found most interesting about the tour. He replied, “I don’t Mom, I wasn’t paying attention.” In retrospect, he said he thought he was too young to appreciate it at the time. To the contrary, I argued and he agreed, studying architecture, despite having no prior exposure to it or appreciation of it, enabled him to appreciate it more after having studied it in the classroom. I believe that students might not appreciate, connect with, or even understand what they’re learning at the time, but that, regardless, the experience will enrich them. At least, that’s what I plan to tell myself when I look at my future classroom of business leaders of tomorrow, slumped in their chairs, yawning, doodling, and rolling their eyes.

Contentment and the Value of Learning

I feel there are two variables that conflict theory is not addressing. These are the individual's level of contentment and value of learning.

I understand that there are some biased rules in the world, but not everyone that is in the working class is there because of unfair rules in the school system. Some people are just content with less and are not consumed by the race to secure a high paying job. I also believe that if a student is discontent with his situation and he is determined to get an education and make a change then no unfair rules are going to stop him. Some of histories most admired people are those who rose above the odds set against them.

I also feel that the value of learning is not necessarily defined by the financial value an education will provide. I keep thinking of the Willis's case study with the lads and how they chose not to accept the teacher's bargain of respect for knowledge that would lead to a rewarding job. I have seen and heard this in school and have been guilty of using this bargain myself. However, I have realized there is a danger of defining the value of education by the rewarding, high paying job you will receive from it. Sometimes this is just not the case especially if the economy is in a recession and not many jobs are available. When this is the result it is tempting to believe our education was all for not and no longer have the desire to challenge ourselves and continue learning. I feel instead we should choose to emphasize learning for personal growth and better understanding of oneself and the world around us. I feel students will be able to see these benefits sooner and regardless of economic circumstances.

PE teachers vs. professional athletes

In addition to class discussion about comparing/contrasting teachers and athletes, I would like to continue the emphasis about the irony between these two specifically concerning money. Many of today's PE teachers in university's, high schools and elementary schools around the nation are developing criteria to hold students accountable for learning progress. Assessments such as rubrics, journals and port-folios. These assessments are used to give feedback and enhance the level of learning in all activities. Many staff during an interview will ask you how you plan on grading your students. These are positive changes within the PE department nationwide.

How To Make Good Teachers

This article is Time Magazine's current cover story, and it is an examination of the state of teaching and teachers in America, and it examines a great deal of the topics that we covered towards the end of class on Tuesday evening. The collaborative work of the authors on this article uncovers and explores reasons for the teacher shortage, as well as, a very poor retention rates throughout the country.
From this framework the authors then examine various plans that have been proposed to attempt stem the tide of an education system that seems to be heading in the wrong direction. How can/do you truly reward those brilliant educators for a job well done? Though it gives it great consideration, the article moves beyond the merit pay option and begins exploring alternative avenues to reward. I was especially interested in the TAP system discussed towards the latter half of the article, because I feel that it is going to take this type of (teacher included) thinking to come to a viable and sustainable solution for the future.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1713174,00.html

Teachers vs. Docs

http://www.mcat-bookstore.com/complete-mcat-courses.html
http://gradschool.about.com/od/medicalschool/f/MedSchoolCost.htm
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/TiffanyYam.shtml
I agree with the class that teachers should be paid more than they are, but I stick with my statement last night that we are all aware of the lack of salaries that teachers get paid, and we are sticking with it. Yes, in the long run, doctors may make more money, but starting out, residents, interns, and even young doctors receive a great lack of respect from patients and even other doctors. My roommate is pre-med and last night we had a discussion continuing the class's discussion. She brought up a few valid points (though I don't know if it still validates the pay gap for myself yet...the debates still out...):

• Once pre-med students go on to Medical School, they are no longer taught by "teachers" but by actually doctors, in a hospital setting.
• The cost of schooling for the pre-med student is double, triple, quadruple, or more, than the cost of schooling for that of teachers; every state varies. (2nd link)
  
• The test that pre-med students have to take, the MCAT, starts out in the hundreds for a PRACTICE test. The cost is upward in the thousands depending on other cities/ universities that offer it--for a PRACTICE test, not even the final one. This supercedes the cost of the GRE and Praxis combined. (1st link)
  
• The shows on tv, "ER", "Scrubs", "Gray's Anatomy" are not real life. It's not that fun (or so my roommate says...).
  
• When interning and in their residency, doctors make little to no money.
• Looking at that last link made me sad; as teachers starting out in some states, we make the same amount today that doctors made in the Great Depression. That's the sad reality.
• Final point, I know we are all highly educated, so here is my personal opinion: I am not becoming a teacher for the money, I am becoming a teacher for the kids I will teach. I don't know if the Fundamentalists, Radicals, Marxists, or any other group would agree with me, but if that's the case, I am okay with not being grouped with any of them.