[QUOTE=Marley23]
I’m surprised that people here are suggesting that teachers shouldn’t challenge students and that students should be taught to avoid controversial material.
[/QUOTE]
I honestly don’t see where anyone is saying that. I think people are saying (at least, I know I am) that, when one is considering the fact that one’s students are minors, that they may have been raised with beliefs that go against what we ourselves belief, even ones that we may find “ignorant” or “uneducated” or “stupid” and that it is not our job as teachers to then single out those children and insist they give a treatise on why they believe the way they do. They may not know why- they may just fall back on “it’s what I was taught.” And- FOR MINORS- that’s a quite acceptable answer. Teachers do not have the right to go about and say “TELL ME WHY YOU BELIEVE THIS, BECAUSE I THINK YOU’RE AN IDIOT.”
The kid in the OP is 12, possibly 13 years old. He’s spending his Saturdays in a study skills class. We can certainly infer several things about him, but the most important is that he may not want to share with the class why he believes the way he does, and it’s his right to do so.
My objection is to the tone of the OP, because I find it condescending. What gives us the right to say that Harry Potter is great literature that we should be outlining essays about, and that those who object to it are crazed fundies? We’re no better in that situation than the supposed crazed fundies running around yelling about godless heathens.
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan]
Then what is the role of a teacher, then?
[/QUOTE]
A teacher provides access to materials within and without the scope of what an individual is exposed to outside of the school setting, assists in the absorption of the materials, and allows space for polite, civil discourse on the materials. They also prepare kids to function in society- teaching social skills, basic functions like math and reading, and working within guidelines of time and expectations. They are not a parent- it is not their job to decide what a kid should/shouldn’t believe.
Look, how many arguments have we had on this board about people who want to ban books? What does it always come down to- “I don’t care what they want to do with their kid, as long as mine is able to access the information.” So here we have parents who are doing just that (one may assume): they have decided for themselves what they don’t want their kid reading, and they have passed that down to the kid. They’re not picketing the tutoring center, they’re not up in front of the school board. They’ve done exactly as countless members here on the board have asked, and in return they get called all sorts of hateful names. You can’t have it both ways, folks.
