Forum Post: Punishing Tolerance
Posted 11 years ago on Nov. 29, 2012, 6:53 p.m. EST by shoozTroll
(17632)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
South Lyon — The South Lyon Community School District is standing behind its decision to suspend a middle school teacher for playing a popular song about being gay during class.
Susan Johnson played the song, "Same Love," during her eighth grade performing arts class at Centennial Middle School after a student made the request."
You would think 8th graders in a performing arts class would be allowed to listen and work with a popular song about tolerance, at their request..
Punishing the teacher, was the wrong reaction.
Over time, one can only hope the ACLU can get her her back pay.
According to your link she apparently did violate district policy as written in the handbook. Lots of ways to work tolerance into your lessons without resorting to running any video a student wants you to show without previewing it or writing it into your lesson plan. There was no need to show the clip immediately, she was at best careless.
There is some hope of recovering her pay if similar infractions by others were handled differently. If there is some history between her and administration that would indicate she's subjected to an excessive or unfair punishment. Of course it's also possible she's routinely getting poor observations, doesn't plan well, or violates procedures.
Yeah, we don't wanna edumacate no kid without going through central planning.
We don't want 'em listening to anything they don't approve of.
Especially if it promotes tolerance towards them gays.
As soon as we corporatize and profitize it, they will only hear songs approved by the record industry. insuring better profits for them too.
We don't need no education. We just want that thought control.
Who knows what the teacher's motivation really was? The clip was given to her at the beginning of class, by a student. From the article in your link, there is nothing to indicate the request was from a group. She didn't view it ahead of time and had not planned for any kind of lesson on tolerance. As a matter of general policy, it's irresponsible to simply throw a topic out to a group of 13 year olds without any planning, thought, or preparation at all. Schools have always required teachers to submit lesson plans and teach a specified curriculum and the public does have the right to determine what is in that curriculum.
None of this is even remotely connected to thought control or some kind of corporate take over of schools. A clip was shown, a student complained and administration reacted to the complaint. They have a responsibility to respond to their students complaints, whatever they are. This time it was embarrassment over a clip, but it doesn't matter. The administration wanted to know how this fit in with what the teacher said they wanted to accomplish for that day's lesson, based on her plans. She was apparently unable to do so.
I've known good teachers that could take and turn a random event into a great teaching moment. I've also seen poor ones throw anything they come across up on a screen just to fill time and get them out of actually doing their job. I'm open to facts that would support either one of those views here. I'm not interested in letting my prejudices take over and blindly assume who is wrong or right without facts.
What you really need to know and NEVER even questioned, is what is the motivation of the school board?
No one ever asks this the,,,,,,MOST important question of all.
So here you go. Here's the back story that's almost as buried already as the teachers suspension.
http://www.eclectablog.com/2012/11/michigan-republicans-move-to-privatize-public-education-under-the-guise-of-reform.html
The REAL prejudices are in the (R)epelican't party.
What has this second link have to do with the topic? You make an issue about the treatment of one teacher over one music clip and now throw in something that has absolutely no connection to it what so ever. If this second idea is something you consider "the,,,,,,MOST important question of all" then perhaps you should have written about it instead of Sarah Johnson's totally unrelated and self inflicted problem.
Get ready dude. You're about to be sucked into his vortex. It's funny and depressing at the same time. Expect to be told that you aren't answering his questions, a lot.
Thanks for the warning, but I don't think I'll waste the time playing that game.
Everything.
Sara.
http://sarahj-art.tumblr.com/
Let's see what Mister Sneekeerz thinks about, say, a teacher showing students how to operate a firearm or pray.