I hate it when they ask me questions that are both stupid and insulting. A student came up to me and asked, “Are we doing anything important today?” I know what she was really asking, “Can I leave your class and go work on the special project another teacher is doing?” I don’t know exactly what the other teacher said to the child but it would not surprise me if the quote was accurate.
My general response is that I do something important every day. They still leave and go to their fun activity but at least I have put in my two cents.
One of our teachers is planning a Latino Heritage assembly. Last week we got a list of students who would be missing Thursday and Friday. We were not asked, we were told. In theory a participant can have no more than one “F” in a subject or an “Unsatisfactory” in citizenship. I have most of these kids. I have looked at their records. No one else seems to be checking.
People seem to cling to the belief that children come to school to gain the skills and knowledge that they need to be successful as adult citizens in a free society. That is why I teach but I don’t live in the illusion that it is why they come.
The question could really be phrased, “Is it more important that you try to get them to see the patterns of political manipulation that perpetuated racism and bigotry in the post-Civil War South or is it more important that they paint a poster for the assembly next week?”
The answer is obvious to them. The insult is obvious to me even if it isn’t to the teacher who sent the child.
More money for education. We need more posters.
homo unius libri
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