I heard it yesterday. I heard it again today. I am in the car a lot this week and listening to the radio. Two days in a row there has been a big story about a teacher who has been arrested for improper behavior with his students. I don’t know the technical charge. I have not read the article to get at the details. There could be much to discover. It could be all hype or it could be another example of rampant immorality.
What got my attention first was that the teacher had been chosen as Teacher of the Year. It is amazing how often this happens. I have heard it before. The teacher of the year is a pervert. Obviously this does not apply to all but there are certain details that make it more common than you might expect. We had a teacher at our school a few years ago. He was praised for the way in which he got involved with students. He and his wife had them over for dinner. He would give them rides home. He was held up as a paragon of pedagogy. A few years later he transferred to high school. A short time after that he was in jail for having a sexual liaison with one of his students.
One of the problems is that to be teacher of the year you must be popular with administration and other teachers. That means that a group of people that will be voting 85% for Hillary Clinton in November are deciding what makes a good teacher.
A second problem is that the teacher must be popular with the students. I have done informal surveys of students and the qualities that come out as desirable are a cross between an activities director on a cruise liner and a doting grandmother. As a general rule when students tell me the substitute was horrible, I give them a double thumbs up.
Don’t expect me to ever get teacher of the year.
homo unius libri
This actually relates to our elected "public servants," too, as I'm sure you realize.
ReplyDeleteSad but true but consider that most of them were public school inmates at one time.
DeleteGrace and peace