By Mark
My goal is neither to roast this teacher nor defend his practice. The video above clearly doesn't give the whole story. However, it raises an question with which I myself have battled: when a teacher disagrees with a colleague's classroom practice, how should this be handled?
We've all been there. A kid comes in and complains about another teacher. We take the high road, try to give the kid strategies for conflict resolution, and hopefully, we don't take sides. If you're like me, you occasionally hear about a colleague's questionable discipline or off-target comments–we must of course take what students say with a grain of salt. But what if a kid hands you a paper from another class with feedback like what was given above? And worse, what if it isn't an isolated event, but something you've seen as a pattern in this teacher's behavior? Can, or should, a teacher try to influence the questionable classroom practices of a colleague?
What would you do? What should the administration do?
I don’t know, I think even calling a kid a name “in fun” crosses a line, especially if the name has a connotation of being derogatory.
I worry about those teachers who try too hard to be popular or to “talk the kid talk.” It is possible to be an effective teacher without sacrificing professionality in the hope of “being cool” or “connecting with kids.” I could care less if the kids like me–I care about educating them…and amazingly, when they realize that, they often tend to like me more that they did back in the day when I tried to hard to impress them.
But, as I stated in original post, there is always more to the story of the teacher featured in the video… while I couldn’t sleep at night or face myself in the morning if I wrote “you’re a loser” on kid’s paper, perhaps there is some justifiable educational purpose for calling a student a derogatory name…
So I’m going to be the voice of dissent on this one. I’m not willing to condemn this teacher until I’ve heard “…the rest of the story.” I worked with a teacher for fifteen years. He was the social studies partner of my English classes. He called the kids “pinheads” and “peons” and wrote silly comments on their papers. I was the “kind and gentle” teacher the kids would come to to complain, but only once in fifteen years did I hear them complain about that one teacher. He was a kind man with a funny sense of humor, and was, universally, one of the favorite (if not THE favorite) teachers at the school.
Now granted, the teacher in the video should have stopped IMMEDIATELY when he realized that his words were bothering this student, but I’m not ready to have him fired without hearing from others who were there.
This is so outrages. What does this behavior have to do with teaching? There can be no justification for public humiliation. Educators are to teach, improve student learning and be a model for children. This teacher totally misses the mark!
I tried to tread a fine line. I’m not claiming the union supports him, nor am I claiming teachers failed to influence his behavior. I clearly don’t know the facts. As I said: “The union may rigerously enforce every contractual safe guard.” (emphasis on may)
If this teacher worked in my district then to be suspended the allegations must be “of such nature to jepardize a student.” It may be argued that this since this teacher was attempting to “relate to students” and maybe trying to be funny?!? then the offence may not meet the legal criteria of “jepardizing a student.” As such, the teacher may receive a reprimand but this would not be grounds for firing.
In this hypothetical a union’s legal responsibility could ensure this teacher remains in the classroom (a place we all agree he shouldn’t be). I don’t mean to union bash, I’ve been a union rep, an exec. board rep, and bargained a contract. But a tension exists here- every member of the bargaining group deserves the same level of contractual protection but this sometimes conflicts with the profession’s need to maintain the highest standards.
I agree with everyone and anyone who watches this and condemns this teacher. But Rob and Chelsea, where did you get the idea that the union supports this creep? There was nothing about that in the video. Unions don’t exist to keep guys like this in the classroom. They do, however, have a legal responsibility to ensure that school districts follow established procedure before they fire someone. And they also have the legal obligation to represent teachers during a contractual dispute. But there’s a big difference between “support” and “representation.”
The ones I have the most trouble with are the ones who, in my high-and-mighty-judgmentalness, I think have poor classroom management which then inhibits student learning. I know I’m not perfect, and I know my way is just one of many ways to approach CM, but I have a really hard time when I hear or observe other teachers who are openly disrespectful or who make avoidable classroom management errors which escalate into massive disruptions…
I’ll roast this teacher. Who would take a paycheck to tell children they’re losers? That’s unacceptable.
Some parents might defend this teacher’s “style,” but he is not a personal trainer you sign up for because his abusive style works for you. He is a sixth grade teacher of children who were assigned to his room.
Yes, Mark, I would say it is our responsibility to have conversations with other educators when they do something that is inappropriate or mean. I have had conversations with colleagues that started with “_______ came to me pretty upset about _______.” The teacher defends his or her actions, or is upset that something was misunderstood. Either way, whatever it was that hurt the student isn’t simply ignored.
On top of how mean it is to write “loser” on a child’s paper, it’s completely ineffective feedback. What does it mean? What should she do better? What skill does she need to improve, and how can she improve it?
This is unbelievable to me! How could anyone think writing “loser” on the paper of a child is okay?? Teachers like this and the fact that the union does anything to support them is what give teachers in general a bad name.
I’ve been in buildings, though, where the administration is either too overworked or too unwilling to have the difficult conversations with ineffective teachers.
As a colleague, though, I wonder where the line is…what is or isn’t appropriate for one teacher to bring up to another, and how?
This is hopefully where the educational leader of the school, usually the principal, provides teacher support and if that does not improve th situation, moves the teacher out of the profession. It does not help students to have a teacher who is not capable, especially if they are not capable and do not wish to change. It is also bad for the profession.
Yes, a teacher should. So should the union.
But maybe teachers don’t. The union may rigeously enforce every contractual safe guard. Perhaps the teacher remains.
Every other teacher suffers because of the apparently low professional standards. The inexcusable was excused.