How should a history teacher handle the "N" word?

[Miggs]

Pepsi Cola donated thousands of copies of this movie edited for k-12 education. All districts in Utah have access to this movie and all schools that I've worked with have had a copy specifically to be used in 8th grade.

You're free to believe that this teacher and elected school board member broke Utah law and showed an unauthorized R rated version of this movie. Which would easily result in stiff disciplinary action from his school (possible termination) and possible loss of his elected position on the board.

Or, you can believe that he used one of the thousands of edited copies donated to his district/school.

Care to place some money on which one of us is right?

Some things never change.

 

[babe]

I'm old school, with a dim view of PC issues in general. I go with "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." I think we're being "schooled" for mass manipulation by literal mobs of paid operatives, say folks answering ads on Craigs list for $50 to show up, carry some signs, and say stuff to random passersby to make the news out that we're a nation of haters that need to be rounded up and re-educated.

oh, I've had my share of hate coming at me, I just don't givadamn.

Any word that exists in history, or in our imagination, should be spelled out in full, and pronounced as people ever pronounced it. We can then discuss the intelligence behind some people's use/misuse of it, and express better opinions. Stop with the campaign against freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, freedom of thought; teach the abused to laugh it off and prove the haters ignoramuses, that's all.

oh, and yes, I think PC patrolmen are haters of the worst kind. Who do you think you are?

 

[colton]

I feel like I'm piling on. You're a good guy Colton. But you're completely in the dark.

The state of Utah has a requirement for educators to provide parents with a list of movies they are going to show that are above a G rating. Teachers will then include this list and permission slip typically at the start of the year usually in their disclosure.

Students who don't Return this slip cannot legally watch these movies. Alt assignments are then Provided.

Legally, teachers in k-12 cannot require students to watch any movie that their parent/child objects to.

So basically he violated two policies:

* He used the n word
* he didn't include the movie on his movie list. A surprising oversight I'll admit. But certainly nothing worthy of termination.

I never called for his termination.

But still, not including the movie in his movie list and requiring students to watch it without an opt-out (which violates the "students who don't return the slip cannot legally watch the movies" policy you quoted), and using the n-word repeatedly in class, are not behaviors appropriate for 8th grade teaching, I guess we all agree. If he had followed protocol then we wouldn't be having this thread.

 

[colton]

In all seriousness, how many of you would've been offended by me having those flags placed on a table as props during those units? I never thought that people might be offended by them. It's not like they were flown or pledged to. They were used as props. The days I had the Nazi flag out it was used as part table cloth for the WWII and holocaust books I had on the table for the students to see and even check out if desired.

I thought I was being a good educator, not a selfish racist trying to make kids feel Uncomfortable.

Not sure who you're directing this to, but no one here has expressed offense at that type of thing. Seems reasonable to me. And no one has called you a selfish racist.

 

[JimLes]

* he didn't include the movie on his movie list. A surprising oversight I'll admit. But certainly nothing worthy of termination.

I have a question about this one. I obviously don't know how things work in Utah, but here in Alberta, we have a provincial curriculum which provides you with a list of pre-approved texts for say, English Lit classes. Texts here nowadays very explicitly includes movies, too. Now, the curriculum says this is simply a list of recommended texts, but a teacher can feel free to teach other things, using their judgement.

The pre-approved list is bulletproof, though. You absolutely cannot be questioned on showing anything on that list, as long as it's recommended for the given grade. If parents have issues, it is their job to look at the list(freely available online) and figure out if they have a beef with anything. There are no forms sent home to be signed or anything like that. If you have an issue with a text, it is your responsibility to inquire into whether the teacher is teaching it and ask that your kid be given an alternative assignment. If you fail to do that ahead of time and the book or the movie is on the pre-approved list, your kid is going to read/watch it.

So, what I'm trying to say her is that I'm unclear on whether there is such a master list in Utah. I know this is Social Studies and not English, but do you have to get prior approval for something that is explicitly part of the curriculum?

Also, I'm pretty sure when I've shown Shawshank Redemption, which is nearly mandatory for grade 11 students, it was the version that played in theatres.

 

[Deleted member 365]

I have a question about this one. I obviously don't know how things work in Utah, but here in Alberta, we have a provincial curriculum which provides you with a list of pre-approved texts for say, English Lit classes. Texts here nowadays very explicitly includes movies, too. Now, the curriculum says this is simply a list of recommended texts, but a teacher can feel free to teach other things, using their judgement.

The pre-approved list is bulletproof, though. You absolutely cannot be questioned on showing anything on that list, as long as it's recommended for the given grade. If parents have issues, it is their job to look at the list(freely available online) and figure out if they have a beef with anything. There are no forms sent home to be signed or anything like that. If you have an issue with a text, it is your responsibility to inquire into whether the teacher is teaching it and ask that your kid be given an alternative assignment. If you fail to do that ahead of time and the book or the movie is on the pre-approved list, your kid is going to read/watch it.

So, what I'm trying to say her is that I'm unclear on whether there is such a master list in Utah. I know this is Social Studies and not English, but do you have to get prior approval for something that is explicitly part of the curriculum?

Also, I'm pretty sure when I've shown Shawshank Redemption, which is nearly mandatory for grade 11 students, it was the version that played in theatres.

Yes, districts here have approved reading lists which teachers must follow. If a teacher wants a book to be approved it must be submitted to the district's committee and they must read and approve it. Typically this takes months to accomplish.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Not sure who you're directing this to, but no one here has expressed offense at that type of thing. Seems reasonable to me. And no one has called you a selfish racist.

It wasn't directed at anyone here but was in reaction to the mommy (and people like her). In the article i linked, mommy was calling for this teacher's termination, how she would expect that type of language at a KKK rally, etc.

When I taught us history I had flags from Japan, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany on display. I had pics of those dictators on display. The way some crappy parents look for ways to get educators (this state's punching bag) in trouble explains a lot on why there's such a teacher shortage and why education is slipping.

 

[Deleted member 365]

I never called for his termination.

But still, not including the movie in his movie list and requiring students to watch it without an opt-out (which violates the "students who don't return the slip cannot legally watch the movies" policy you quoted), and using the n-word repeatedly in class, are not behaviors appropriate for 8th grade teaching, I guess we all agree. If he had followed protocol then we wouldn't be having this thread.

Right. He violated protocol. That's it.

99 percent of all 8th grade classes this month are watching this movie and I guarantee you most will have a discussion about that racist term too.

 

[Miggs]

I guess this thread is what happens when The Thriller is on sabbatical from Jazzfanz and has enough pent up anger built up to renenact Nagasaki.

 

[Deleted member 848]

I'm finding it hard to believe that people in this thread are saying that the teaching of the history of a socially charged word is something seemingly incomprehensible to 13 year olds yet say that the concept of religion and baptism and everything that comes with it is perfectly understandable for an 8 year old...

I was in a private religious school when I was 10 and was shown a movie where the teacher very explicitly explained that there was use of the word "*******" as a term of endearment and that we weren't to use the word because we couldn't be in such a situation at our age.

Also, given the importance of the subject matter, not sure how this is any different from math. Has to be taught. Responsibility of education in general to do so given the political location of the institution (read: USA) since parents can't be fully trusted to do so. The manner in which it's taught is of course up for debate, but this sort of method likely isn't something new for the teacher with nothing noteworthy happening the last x amount of years the teacher has taught, so my thoughts on why this has come up is due more to sociocultural reasons than educational.

this post deserves another bump