It's really hard to believe that school is almost over. Kids can't wait for the last bell to ring, the last test to be written, the last bus ride home. Teachers, bless their hearts, likely feel the same way. After all, they're the ones that have to put up with your kids all year, and they really deserve a break.
And your kids probably need a break from them, too.
There are teachers, and then there are, well, teachers. I have very fond memories of many of my teachers—mostly in elementary school. I wish I could sit down today and tell them what I think of them, how much fun we had together, and the positive influence they had on my life. I'm sure most of them have passed on by now, and I regret not taking the time to thank them..
And the other ones? Well, I would just pass on any sort of visit. Some them seemed too old and tired and cranky to have the honourable role of teaching someone else's children all day. No doubt they started well, meant well, but they weren't doing well by the time they got to me—or would that be by the time I got to them?
I say the above because I am a teacher—albeit a part-time one at this point—but also because two separate teacher stories are in the news as I write. Both have been or are on the verge of being fired. And that, my friends, is possibly where the similarity ends, because one represents a parent's worst nightmare; the other, a parent's hope.
The former has been fired for showing a clip of the murder of June Lin to his Grade 10 class in Montreal. I understand that the monster that butchered the Chinese exchange student a few weeks ago recorded it for the world to see. And the world, in the form of a Civics 10 class, did indeed see it—at the initiative of this teacher.
The other teacher's situation is much more intriguing, but less disturbing. He is in Edmonton and he had the gall to give his students a zero for work not done. Maurice, that would be “no marks for no work”.) However, apparently that's against school board policy and philosophy. No student can receive a zero, if I have my facts straight.
I was repulsed by the teacher's actions in Montreal and I believe his firing is the correct response and the least of his problems. Parents hand their children over to the other adults for the better part each week, for most of the year, for a total of twelve years. That's generally the process, if they choose not to home educate.
On that basis, the parents need to know that these various teachers are trustworthy, responsible, and good, that they will reinforce the family's values and standards, that coming under their influence will not undermine the home. Ideally, that's when the school and home should work together.
I know many, many fine teachers, and they are doing a wonderful job. It can be a thankless task many days, when the home is not supporting the school, not just the other way around. I don't know where the breakdown occurred in Montreal, but that teacher is a very bad example of a noble profession.
As repulsive as the Montreal scene is, the Edmonton one is a tragedy; and I'm not referring to the teacher's action—I'm referring to the board's policy. What a travesty at every level! In the good old days, when you did nothing, you got nothing. No work, no pay; no effort, no reward. (Maurice, just remember: This is how things work in the “real” world.)
At home, you don't do your chores, you lose privileges; you violate curfew, you get grounded. You don't eat your veggies, you pass on dessert; you sleep in, you miss the meal. The same rules can be applied to work: One of the purposes of school should be to prepare students for the real world. And part of that real world angle is to do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.
And now the school board has a policy that turns that common sense on its head, with its approach to life and living
The public school board in Edmonton is doing a serious disservice on two fronts: One, they are telling the students that they can do nothing (ie., don't hand in assignments) with no con-
sequences. And two, they are undermining the authority of a teacher, who is making a gutsy and moral decision.
It takes significant courage to stop a certain course of action and say: Enough is enough. While I don't recommend defying one's boss under most conditions, there are times when one must act as a moral agent, despite the accepted protocol.
As for our friend in Edmonton, anyone who has the moxie to do what he did shouldn't be fired. He should have no problem getting a better job, with better pay, with better management over him. In fact, with his understanding of how to prepare kids for the real world, he would make a great Minister of Education. The Lord knows that we need men and women with those sorts of scruples leading our students into the future.
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