Teachers Need Education Too
June 15, 2010
|
Posted by Michael S. Langston
During a school assembly for students enlisting in the Marine Corps, two teachers disrupted the assembly by protesting the war (here):
…For the fifth consecutive year, school resource officer Nick Pasquarosa recognized those seniors who had enlisted in the military. “While Nick was speaking, one faculty member held up a sign saying “End war” and another female teacher stood beside her,” said Assistant Principal Ann Knell. “The two faculty members sat down and did not clap during a school-wide standing ovation for those students.”….
It’s truly unbelievable we have such dolts teaching our children. I guess it’s sort of analogous to the blind leading the blind, but in this case the students knew better than the teachers so it’s more like… the blind leading the seeing?
Please don’t misunderstand – I could care less about their actual stance and more about the time, place, manner, and assumptions with which they decided upon this course of action.
First, it’s well known that public schools are NOT bastions of free speech, nor are they paragons of oppression either. But through time and court precedent, educators should (and most likely do) know that the primary responsibility to the children is education. So any free speech that disrupts that process can be prevented and/or punished.
For instance, if I went to school with a pro-drug message, I would be sent home. If I wore a blank arm band in memory of fallen soldiers, I would likely still be sent home, but ultimately win.
Second, and in my opinion more importantly, is the arrogance with which the teachers acted. Keep in mind, that this is their employer giving an assembly which they believe brings value to their students (clients). Yet they still protested? I use the term arrogance, because I think we can safely say they assumed, and possibly correctly so, that they will not be fired.
This is what really gets me. Not only did they believe they were in the right to disrupt a school proceeding, but they seem to believe it’s about freedom. When in reality, if any company in the world decided to gather its employees to spotlight process X, a protest would certainly be met with immediate firings. This would also be true in a private school setting.
Yet these teachers are claiming a right to do this and that it’s a teaching moment. I would submit to them they should use it as a learning moment it should be instead instead of arrogantly attempting to parlay this into a “teaching” opportunity.
Categories: Culture, Education, Military, Politics
| 
Tags: Critical Thinking, Culture, Education, idiocy, Military
|
Leave a reply
Yes, God forbid she should have just shut up and let the kid have her moment!! Spare me from teachers who put their desires, opinions and needs ahead of teaching the kids and call it “freedom.” Guess it’s not ALL about the kids in her book is it? It’s about making sure everyone knows where SHE stands. (Which was actually already common knowledge around there, anyway.) So instead of being supportive that these kids made a “choice” (Hey I thought we were all about being able to “choose?”)to do something positive and constructive with their lives, she has to essentially throw a tantrum during a ceremony honoring them, to make it all about her. “Look at me, I don’t agree with their decision, and I am going to make sure everyone here knows it.” Would she have protested if we weren’t at war? A lot of people who serve in the military never see any action. So is it that they joined while we were at war, or she thinks we do not need any militry force at all? Cuz, you know, everyone loves us and respects our borders, so who needs a military???
Agreed – while looking up information for this story I watched a few videos from the local news there. They noted at the beginning of the story that “everyone is familiar with Mary Beth’s anti-war beliefs”… really?
Why would everyone know or need to know? What part of knowing about this teacher’s anti-war stance or another teacher’s pro-war stance is helpful to the educational process?
I’ll give you a hint – it’s no part. It might be germane (depending upon class and age) to a classroom discussion in history or political science to talk about what both sides have argued, but whether this teacher is pro-this or anti-that is absolutely irrelevant to the learning environment.
Which brings me to another trait these idiotic teachers seem to have above arrogance & that’s narcissism.