Hi, everyone.
For our next class meeting, I'll discuss chapter two of The Ethics of Teaching. In addition to this reading, I'm e-mailing an article, "Schools, Prisons, and Social Implications of Punishment: Rethinking Disciplinary Practices" by Pedro A. Noguera for your review related to our topic of punishment and due process.
Questions and ideas to consider:
First case study: To what extent, if any, was the degree of punishment justifiable? Does the initial punishment in this case do more damage to the whole group than a narrower form of punishment? How far should one (teacher/administrator) go to illustrate a learning example to students?
To what extent does this case study illustrate the dangers of peer pressure--of students preferring solidarity to learning? Is this case study a good example?
Second case study: If the headmaster decides to overrule his teachers, do you think this is a justifiable decision on his part, and take into consideration in your answer the teachers, students, parents, and families and possible consequences of his decision, if it occurs?
Noguera article: Reviewing the initial contextual scene that Noguera describes, what's your reaction? What, if anything, could the principal do to rectify this situation instead of stereotyping/labeling the child?
In reference to the consequentialist and nonconsequentialist models, should we give all students equal treatment, or should we, and to what extent, have a difference based on our subjective assumptions since many cases and scenarios are based on levels of degree?
If a student is suspended due to school/legal protocol, but his or her home environment perpetuates certain behaviors, is it fair to place the child in that setting for the length of the suspension? In reference to Noguera's assertions, do we as educators and members of society propagate the problem by our practices and policies? Is it more detrimental for such a child to be outside the school community or remain within it? And to what degree is our current society effectively dealing with such issues when children are expelled and are no longer a part of a school environment?
Other questions:
What can teachers and administrators do to minimize and decrease the frequency of cases such as with the last case study before it goes into the legal process?
Based on the readings that we have read, is part of the responsibility of a teacher to become a social worker in addition to one's teaching responsibilities? Can you provide specific examples from the readings and your own experiences?
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9 comments:
Wonderful job. I look forward to comments here and discussion next week.
I will be on top of this discussion , unlike the last one ! See all of you wed.
George
In response to the first case study, I do believe the punishment of the class was justified to a certain point. These are high school students and they are accountable for each other. It is similar to being on a sports team or a team for work; you are prized and punished together. I do not think the 30 page paper is justified though. First, a child should not be graded on something that is not age appropriate. I do not think this paper is anywhere near fair or reasonable.
Mr. Fuse had an anonymous note on his desk stating it was Alex who caused the explosion. This is only circumstantial evidence and Alex should not be punished in this manner. Someone could have put that note on Mr. Fuse's desk blaming Alex because they did not like him and simply wanted him to be punished. The author stated Alex was known for his size, strength, and aggressiveness. I am sure Alex had some enemies and someone thought this could be a great way to get back at him.
I believe the best way for Mr. Fuse to get the information he was looking for was to interview each child individually. This way, Mr. Fuse could possibly find out the truth on a confidential level and no one else would know if they told or not. The student will need to give detailed information about how Alex broke in and what tools he used, etc. The problem is you need more than one person to say it was Alex and still you are using others to say Alex caused the explosion. Without evidence or Alex confessing he did this, it is hard to punish appropriately and effectively.
It is hard to say that Alex received the right punishment by Mr. Fuse failing him in chemistry. If cheating took place, I would be completely for Alex failing the class. It sounds like the person who caused the explosion, Alex or not, wanted to have fun and didn't think about the repercussions of their actions. If Mr. Fuse got enough other students who said Alex caused the explosion, I believe after school detention for the month or two and a paper would be sufficient enough for others not to cause another explosion. High school students dislike writing papers and they hate staying after school for anything because it cuts into their "me" time.
I believe Mr. Fuse needs to change the locks on the cabinet that was broken into. Maybe the cabinet should be kept in a closet so it has a couple of barriers to get through. Mr. Fuse could possibly put a camera facing the cabinet as well as a deterrent.
In the end I feel like how far one should go to illustrate a learning example to students depends on the situation. Explosions are a serious matter and one that shouldn't be dealt with lightly, especially since the students are in high school. If the teacher doesn't have enough evidence to prove someone guilty, I believe punishment for the whole class to a limited point is justified. As a teacher, you know how your students will respond to you and your punishment assigned to them. If it proves your point that you want to get to the bottom of something and enough of your students don't want to be punished, they will come forward.
Also, you must factor in how the parents will respond to your punishment given to the class as a whole or just Alex.
Okay, I could play devil's advocate too but this is just my opinion. I believe these cases in the Strike book can be a little extreme but they definitely make you think on your toes!
Have a great night!
I agree somewhat with Meredith. I think it is okay for Mr. Fuse to punish the entire class for not speaking up. He definitley needs to look into a better security system for his stuff, and honestly, he should never have left the class with an experiment going on. He could have found another teacher or admin to watch the class with this. Too many teachers want to lay blame because of what they know about a child (see Lauren's other article). We need to continually question our motives as teachers. I think Mr. Fuse needed closure and needed to feel like he was in control of the class. I think failing the boy is ridiculous. Give him due process. Interview the students, but they may all tell different stories. I would work with a principal on something like this and not go with my first insticts which would be to punish everyone.
Reading "Rethinking Disicplinary Practices" really made me think about the teachers that I know who have written off so many students as bad or not reformable, maybe as teachers we need to rethink our system of discipline and get to the heart of the matter. We should be asking ourselves "why did the child do this?" Not "why can't he behave?". Students do things for all sorts of reasons, if a student does not believe his education is going anywhere or that he is wasting his time, he is going to do something drastic. Maybe Mr. Fuse needs to be drastic in his teaching methods. If school is just about "sorting, socializing, and social control", we will all be very dissappointed and unhappy when we get into the system. We need to engage students and make them feel like they too are relevent to the classroom experience. Discipline has its place, but we need to admit when we are wrong. If teachers can apologize and set an example, maybe students would follow.
I am right along with Meredith and Billie that Mr. Fuse was just in punishing the whole class, but unjust with the 30 page paper assignment. I agree with Billie that despite the emergency phone call there should have been some procedure in place where the class was watched by another teacher or administrator and all of this would have been avoided. I understand these are high school students and they should be old enough to behave accordingly but for their safety and the peace of mind of Mr. Fuse it would have been better for him to ask the secretary or a teacher nearby to watch his class while he stepped out to take the call.
I do believe that it was in fact unfair to fail Alex without physical evidence to support the fact that he had caused the explosion. If it was based on a annonymous note, where is the validity in that? It could have been written by someone who personally did not care for Alex and "had it out for him." By not coming forward in person that student has no obligation to the professor and in turn got Alex in trouble none the less. I agree with Meredith that each child should have been interviewed individually right after the incident, but it was a safety issue and it needed to be taken seriously. As far as failing Alex, I believe that should have been at the discretion of a panel of both teachers and administrators so it worked in a more judicial way, so Alex would have gotten the opportunity to defend himself and present his case against Mr. Fuse and his accusations. I am all about setting examples but sometimes setting an example for the group can ruin the lives of one or several students to "set" that example.
Peer pressure is definitely evident in the case study of Alex and Mr. Fuse. It is apparent when no one steps forward, until the annonymous note and even then no one is stepping up, they are taking to cowards way to solving the problem.
As far as giving all students equal treatment I believe you have to. Despite the fact that some students claim that they did not see what was going on, how can that be proved? It can't. It is true, Mr. Fuse convicted Alex and punished him on weak circumstantial evidence. Failing Alex was not appropriate in that the explosion had nothing to do with his actually ability in chemistry, and the punishment did not fit the crime, especially when grades are supposed to be based on achievement alone.
In regards to the second case study, I believe that the Headmaster needs to back up and support his teachers and the English department in their decision to fail Nancy and have her make up the course in the summer. Ethically it is the right thing to do, and Nancy brought it upon herself by passing in a paper on two books she didn't read and passing in someone elses work for her own.
If the Headmaster tries to overturn the departments decision and allows Nancy to graduate it sends the message that with money you can "buy" your education and a diploma and you don't have to work for it like everyone else. Despite the fact that her mom is a trustee member, if her parents were ethical and good people they would understand that it was out of the schools hands, and that what their child did was wrong and she needed to be "punished" accordingly by failing the course. The school was allowing Nancy to make up the course in the summer time, which would allow her to start college on time in the fall, if they were trying to be unfair they would have failed her and told her to make up the course next fall, postponing her attendence to college.
Coming from a graduate of a private boarding school I knew many students like Nancy who believed that the family they were born into and the amount of money they had was a "golden ticket" to the best things in life including acceptance to an ivy league school and the ability to slide by without hard work or discipline.
I agree with you, Amy. If the headmaster were to overturn the department’s decision it comprises the integrity of the school and all involved. Unfortunately, the mentality of the “golden ticket,” as you note, is a reality. I saw it firsthand when I worked at a large private school and it was disheartening. I’d like to think such circumstances would never occur.
From dealing with a stressful plagiarism case my first semester as an English teacher and then supporting a colleague when she had two cases in her first year (one on discussion board posting of all things!), we (educators) have to remain cognizant of this pervasive issue and stay true to our ethics. I was pleased to see the way the teachers in this case study handled the situation, but I think sometimes teachers/professors simply do not want to deal with all the paperwork and legal proceedings. When I had to deal with my student’s plagiarism case at such a busy time in the semester (prior to finals), I was indignant because I saw it as a clear violation (entire paper was plagiarized). Now as a look back, I appreciate the process and the professional manner of those conducting the hearing. Because this student had another offense with the Academic Affairs Office, the student then had to leave the university. Even though students make these choices, as a teacher it was heartbreaking to see a student throw away a college career.
I just want to share a little story about punishment. I do not know if everyone remembers about the girl on my team that continually acted out and was disrespectful but I was thinking about how I am going to either change my approach this season or stay the same. After some thought I decided that instead of punishing that one girl everytime, the whole team will have to deal with the consequences of her actions. (I decided this well before we read chapter 2 of the Strike book.) After reading the situation with the chemistry class it reminded me of my situation and I kind of agreed with the teachers decision to give detention to the whole class instead of trying to place the blame on someone that could or could not be guilty. With this being said the other day at practice the same girl contintued to act out after I told her numerous times to get to work. SOOOO... I had the whole team get on the line and run sprints for HER behavior. I could see in her teammates eyes that they were upset that they had to run for her mistake. The good thing out of all of this is that as the practice continued I noticed that her teammates were making sure she was doing the right thing and it was not me who was yelling at her. She finally settled down. I havent had practice because of the weather since then but I will get you updated on if my punishment style worked!
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