While I fully agree that teachers have the right to be the "last word" in any classroom situation (and in this case that may be the crux of the whole matter...), does the teacher have the right to tell a child that she is being judged based on "policy" when in fact this "policy" was never stated until after the fact?
What does this teach our child about the way society works? Can we be charged interest on unpaid taxes that were delineated AFTER we filed our returns? Can we be penalized for laws (even justified laws) that were instituted after the 'infraction' took place?
Thoughts?
10 comments:
I think I lost my faith in teachers...
Have the child provide an essay on the concept of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_post_facto_law><i>ex post facto</i> law</a> (or insist that the teacher look it up him/herself).
I wouldn't pass judgement without knowing the details of the infraction or punishment, but it certainly sounds lousy.
(2nd try... sorry 'bout the bad HTML on the first)
Have the child provide an essay on the concept of ex post facto law (or insist that the teacher look it up him/herself).
I wouldn't pass judgement without knowing the details of the infraction or punishment, but it certainly sounds lousy.
Many times, this situation will occur when the teacher is on the receiving end of the situation. Once a concept becomes subjective (there are personal negios involved) - which was formerly objective, anything can happen.
as a teacher, I say, no. you will never (re)gain the respect of your students again. policies are from this moment on.
and parents definitely have the right to console the admonished child and acknowledge her angst or anger.
but EFREX- you don't teach children to one-up a teacher. be a role model for positive, acknowledge what may be a wrong, call the teacher, etc. you do not have a kid look up a way to prove something to the teacher. call the teacher yourself- WHEN YOUR CHILD IS NOT STANDING NEXT TO YOU- and discuss why she is wrong.
no other way to put it- parents with your opinion are why I have real chutzpadik kids in my classroom
CB: I meant my post more tongue-in-cheek than as serious advice, but challenging a teacher who does something outrageous is not disrespectful, or shouldn't be. Teachers who know their subject, love their subject, and respect their students will overwhelmingly get respect in return. Those who don't, get what they deserve.
Question: Are you relying on a child's statement of facts regarding this incident? That might not be the "whole story." As you wrote it seems like a very irrational thing for the teacher to do. I doubt the teacher is simply that injust without any external reasoning.
RGW-
I think you must trust the child and believe that if a child states a fact then you must trust it if it makes sense.What happened to G6 in this case makes logical sense, some teachers make mistakes.
I love my kids, but very often, especially when something sounds outlandish, it is. You can trust that your kids HEARD what they tell you, but that's not necessarily what was SAID.
I'm not talking about this case in specific, because we got no specifics (hint, hint G6, we need more info), and I don't know her kid/teacher involved, I'm just responding to the comment above
FBB-
Your right some things children say are outlandish and may be made up although we don't know the full story here in G6's case.
Sometimes we might also need to play devils advocate though and think that maybe the teacher this one time may have been wrong.
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