Two teachers standing next to each other were supervising a large group of students when two of them began wrestling.
One had the other in a headlock.
They weren’t laughing. They were bent over, red-faced, breathing hard.
It may have been a fight. Or one may have been bullying the other. Or maybe, though it appeared unlikely, they were just roughhousing.
It was impossible to know.
One of the teachers ran toward the two students shouting “Let go, let go, let go!”
The students immediately complied. But as the teacher began asking who they were and who their supervising teacher was, both students turned their back and started walking away.
The teacher caught up to them only to have them refuse to give their names or the name of their teacher. Suddenly, one of the students turned and faced the teacher with an aggressive posture.
The other teacher, the one standing and watching, never stepped in to help.
The involved teacher, in the meantime, was now alone with two students who were considerably taller and heavier.
The teacher was able to back away and out of physical range while calming and influencing them just enough to walk toward what was now assumed to be their supervising teacher.
Once there, their teacher asked the students what happened. The two weaved a tall tale and claimed that the teacher who broke up their “messing around” was lying.
The supervising teacher responded by explaining that all stories were valid and that there just may have been a difference in perception.
Essentially, the teacher who jumped in to try to ensure the safety of those two students, and all those looking on, was hung out to dry. Made a fool in front of the now proud and pleased students.
Shameful.
The teacher who didn’t get involved, even in a back-up capacity, as well as the supervising teacher, were cowards. In the moment, when it counted, they scurried away like mice in the night.
They opted out and kowtowed in the name of self-preservation.
But maybe, just maybe, it’s not entirely their fault. Maybe they’ve been hung out to dry before too. Maybe it wasn’t worth it to them anymore and they checked out.
When school administrators lay out policies and procedures meant to ensure safety and conditions most conducive to learning, then turn around and ignore them, everyone else follows suit.
You see, no one wants to stick their neck out only to be undermined by those above them as well as the very colleagues they thought had their back.
If your school or district has cell-phone, cursing, dress-code, and conduct policies that aren’t followed as written, then you as an organization are dead. It will and does transfer directly and profoundly to learning and behavior in the classroom.
All the self-important discussions over curriculum and methodologies and academic standards – blah, blah, blah – mean nothing if you don’t have student boundaries that ensure effective implementation.
It’s all hot air, laughable if it weren’t so tragic, exhaled by pretenders rather than doers who spend their careers fooling themselves into believing that they’re making a difference.
They’re not.
Yes, it’s possible for SCM teachers to create a peaceful sanctuary in the midst of chaos outside the classroom walls, but your students only have you as their teacher for one year.
So what to do about it?
Say something. Set up an appointment with your administrator or get yourself on the staff-meeting agenda and calmly speak your mind. I know it’s hard, and it very well may be a lost cause.
Your colleagues may look at you as if you’re from Mars. A deafening silence may fill the room of your principal’s office.
But you’ll be able to live with yourself. Years from now you’ll be able to look yourself in the mirror without regret, without knowing that you gave in and quit on a generation of students.
A big reason, among many, we’re failing as a public school system is because we’re afraid. We’re afraid of parents. We’re afraid of students. We’re afraid of the outspoken teachers who push agendas that harm and separate.
In a misguided and misinformed idea that permissiveness is progress, we’re running away from right and wrong as fast as we can.
Our students are too young and don’t have enough life experience to grasp the importance of a dress code. They don’t understand why they can’t listen to music while they’re reading.
They don’t get that the reason we make a big deal about threats and “wrestling” and bullying is because we don’t want them to get jumped after school or picked on incessantly by those with the power and will to do it.
Our leaders are huddled in their office, so proud and important, fiddling while Rome burns.
Brows furrowed, they discuss everything but disciplined behavior and real content learning. It’s all a smokescreen, a ruse that masks their fear of doing what really needs to be done.
They’re afraid of students protesting or passing around petitions. They’re afraid of parent complaints and the media. They’re afraid of defending their policies and pointing out that having guardrails that protect students and learning isn’t racist, sexist, classist, or any other i-s-t.
Rather, they’re the very thing that ensure students get an equal shot at a good and free education.
It’s the framework upon which you’re able to build inspirational learning, knowledge, and life-lessons students can take with them into the future.
Without sensible rules, policies, and procedures enforced consistently by serious adults and a focus on skills like reading, writing, thinking, mathematics, and the arts—
All hope is lost.
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Interesting read! I’m constantly floored at the responses I get to misbehavior that I report to my administrators. My school used to have a uniform policy and asked us teachers and the students during the summer our take on the policy. For 5+ years I’d been fighting kids to adhere to the uniform policy in so many different ways — no outdoor coats and jackets, no non-uniform tops — I plainly said, in the survey, I’m opposed to the uniform policy only because there seems to be a problem with admin actually enforcing it.
Awesome article!
Holy cow, do you live in my district??? How did you know?
this is why cameras need to be in the school and the classroom. That way students and teachers know they are being watched.
Ugh, enough cameras in the world already. Who wants to be under surveillance their whole life?
Why would any teacher sign up to be on a reality show? This would never fly, nor should it.
Damn good article and advice!
“They’re afraid of students protesting or passing around petitions. They’re afraid of parent complaints and the media. They’re afraid of defending their policies and pointing out that having guardrails that protect students and learning isn’t racist, sexist, classist, or any other i-s-t.”
– I agree that admins are afraid of all of these things and more, but I think it’s also true that some of these “guardrails” need adjustments. When dress codes predominantly affect what young women wear or the hairstyles of Black students, we need to make changes. It doesn’t mean we’re giving up on boundaries, it means we’re willing to change as an organization, something schools desperately need to do if we’re going to serve all students with equity.
Yes, thank you for this. My sentiments exactly!
Couldn’t agree more!
This sounds reasonable, but given your typical tone…it also seems strangely reactionary. Not to mention, I’ve been following your work for over 10 years and have never, EVER heard you mention race, class, sex, etc. until now…when defending nameless “guardrails.” “Outspoken teaches who push agendas that harm and separate…”
What are you on about here? The general idea is consistent with your emphasis on, well, consistency! Saying what you mean, doing what you say you will, explicitly outlying expectations, and holding fast to consequences. But, this has also a decidedly different, defensive tone to it. And I’m sensing some overtures to ruffled feathers re: CRT…
I don’t appreciate the dismissive tone regarding allegations of racism, sexism, or “any other i-s” ms. Your scenario, for example – Surely you must realize that the scenario you describe is one in which the issue isn’t that a rule against fighting isn’t in itself racist; but a disproportionate application of the rule toward students of color is. A rule against fighting isn’t sexist; but a teacher’s subjective decision that it isn’t fighting and is rather “roughhousing” when the subjects in question aren’t Black or Brown is…
Why would you make such an emphatic point to be so dismissive and reductionist in your treatment of this? It’d be a real shame if this tonal shift is evidence of some sort of “not in my backyard” resistance to ideas about culturally responsive teaching and the like. Always inspired by your work and have been spreading it like the gospel since I was took my first college credit Ed. Classes in high school. But something about this rubbed me the wrong way (again, not due to the main thesis here; but the extraneous snide remarks made to support the point).
I used the word “sexist” above when I meant to repeat the word “racist.” Apologies for the lacking due diligence in proofreading my own comment.
Dear Christopher,
Maybe read the article again, then look around at the cancel culture, see how people who have the best interest of others are being bullied with these labels of …ist. Listen to the soft padding on eggshells that everyone must walk on. Notice how school discipline has eroded since the child and the parents are right and the teacher is wrong. Then look inside and see if cowardice isn’t there. I know it is for me.
I thank you Mr. Linsin for the exhortation to be brave and courageous to speak truth and not compromise with the lies that swirl about.
For a self-described leftist, I, too, take exception at much of what I think can safely be called “cancel culture.” I think it replicates the carceral state, discourages open dialogue, and sends a message that no one can learn and grow from a place of not knowing. I do think that the usage of the phrase “cancel culture” tends to be used as a scapegoat to avoid accountability and the broadness with which you’ve used it here seems to take the same tact.
CC’s comment above made the point much more eloquently than I could. I agree with the main sentiment and reasoning of the OP. If building administration and infrastructure does not support the enforcement of rules or codes of conduct, then it stands to reason that students won’t respect those boundaries and teachers won’t want to die on the hill knowing they’ll not be supported or worse, blamed.
Furthermore, I think the very consistent and persistent design, implementation, and accountability measures of simple, clear rules or codes of conduct CAN serve to PROTECT students who are Black or Brown, female students, queer students, etc. because it limits the gray area in which teachers or staff need to use “judgement” versus a system. But, as CC notes beautifully above (or below, I’m not sure where the comment is), some of the rules or codes of conduct often need to be reworked or re thought precisely because of the ways in which they exclude or harm these students. The tone I got from the article seemed to fall along the lines of your tone here: ideological and rooted in the language and ethos of “culture wars.” Perhaps that’s a conclusion I shouldn’t have jumped to with Linsin because I’ve followed his work for a very long time and NEVER have sensed that. May have been knee jerk on my end. But I stand by what I said and think, coincidentally, it probably applies much more explicitly to your comment than to the OP.
The cancel culture cancels anything that isn’t inline with it’s marxist BLM, pedophilia-driven LGBTQ, pro-death (abortion, euthanasia, unregulated “vaccines”) agendas in order to promote all of the above. Wrong is right, right is wrong, do whatever makes you feel good… it goes on and on. Teachers are not generally supported by their administrators and have lost their voice in defense of truth for fear of losing their jobs. Parents? Practically non-existent; the nuclear family has all but just about disappeared because men have been pushed out of the picture. There are no male role models at home. Of course the students depicted in the scenario are not going to respect the teacher who tries to intervene.
Amen!
You said, “… a rule against fighting isn’t in itself racist; but a disproportionate application of the rule toward students of color is.” If more black kids than white kids are fighting there’s likely to be more disciplinary action against black kids. That’s just common sense. Not racism.
“Disproportionate application…”
Disproportionate implies that, in this hypothetical scenario, Black students are NOT fighting more than white students but are being punished at higher rates and with harsher punishments (a statistically verifiable phenomenon).
But if you don’t understand what I meant by “disproportionate,” I highly doubt you’re the authority on what is or isn’t racism. Thanks for the insight though, Bruce.
The author did not mention the color of the students’ skin in the proposed scenario. That’s how you, Christopher, are envisioning the scenario in your mind’s eye.
Christopher,
I agree that something is very different about this article…
I agree with you Christopher!
Thank you for expressing my own thoughts in the reply above. My belief is that when the “guardrails” are White Supremacy, sexism, etc. the guardrails need to be replaced.
I’ve been feeling the same way about this news letter since the pandemic began. I too have been following and promoting this website and educator because I believe that his discipline practices were fair and showed us educators how to be objective. However, like you, I’m noticing a particular tone and I’m a woman of color over the age of forty and usually when I sense these things I am correct. I purchased his classroom management plans years ago so I will keep my copy of those and unsubscribe to this email letter and keep it moving. I’m thankful for what I’ve learned from Mr. Linsin but I also recognize that some people only come into my life for a season. I’ve learned the lessons he has taught me and now it’s time to move on without recommending this site to colleagues nor saying anything negative about him as well. This has served its purpose.
Christopher,
Here is what Michael actually said:”having guardrails that protect students and learning isn’t racist, sexist, classist, or any other i-s-t.”
He didn’t dismiss actual racism, sexism, classism etc. These things do exist, but there is a growing tendency in education to see ALL aspects of culture, including the very presence of rules and procedures, as instantiations of various ‘isms’. As Michael points out, this is destructive of learning for all students, including (and I would argue, especially) the more disadvantaged students.
If you are finding it hard to discern the difference, and would rather criticise the ‘tone’ of this article, then maybe you ought to examine some of your own beliefs and assumptions.
Please don’t ever be “that” teacher who doesn’t enforce the rules or support a colleague. Also, don’t be “that” teacher who doesn’t ensure that students are accountable for the behaviors. Unfortunately, it is all too common these days. Thank you, Michael.
“their fear of doing what really needs to be done.”
I believe this is the basis of the concept being addressed. There are so many teachers that know there is a right and a wrong. I have seen them willing to stand up and speak for what is right and speak against what is wrong. These are the teachers who are making a difference.
“How Coward Teachers & Admin”…
From the suggestion…No, a teacher can’t go before a meeting to speak. The personnel who are cowards will all deny that anything is wrong, making it look like something is wrong with the teacher who is being ethical. The ethical teacher may then be shunned-bullied-harassed by those denying that there is a problem.
There are no longer Ethics among many in the field of education, only denial that problems exist. Politics has taken over.
Amen.
Everything you’ve written in this article is accurate and has happened to me. Administrators, parents and students have become the bullies and teachers cower to them. If you don’t use their cowardly ideas, they call you “old school”…or worse. Thank you for having the backbone to write about this subject.
I have been on both sides of this. Definitely better to be living my values and dealing with the consequences, than to be compromising out of fear and hating myself for it.
Well said, Nicole!
Thank you, Michael, for boldly standing up for what’s right!
Thank you, well spoken.
“We’re afraid of the outspoken teachers who push agendas that harm and separate.”
“They’re afraid of defending their policies and pointing out that having guardrails that protect students and learning isn’t racist, sexist, classist, or any other i-s-t.”
A comedian/ political talk show host brought up this point last night on his show- that liberal policies are becoming absurd and if the actions sound like they could be from a headline in The Onion, then it only contributes to the negative reputation of liberal policies.
But equity in schools does have a place. That’s not to say that there are problems with how schools are implementing equity, especially when there is a lack of representation in the decision making process about equity practices and how they are enacted.
I think the cowardice comes into play when we, as teachers, don’t acknowledge that racism, sexism and other isms have been built into the structure of educational systems. Our students are not being forced to recognize inequity or being made hyper aware of inequity by the cowardice of liberal policies. They are being given a name for what they are already seeing. It was only a couple years before I was born that IDEA was enacted and only a decade before that were schools desegregated. And they are still being desegregated.
Schools are not the same in every state, which leads into another issue about our education system. I do believe that things like what you describe in the opening of your article happen. But encouraging empathy does not remove you from the category of sensible adult or make you a “libtard” and the other childish nicknames thrown around when emotions dominate logic. I didn’t get into education to enact my own agenda on the young people in my community. My desire has always been to deepen my understanding of myself and the world out of a desire to get closer to the truth. I identify with Wonder Woman much more than I identify with Marty McFly, so being called chicken doesn’t bother me when I know why I do what I do. Some people are ok with Rome burning when they are the ones being thrown to the lions.
As always, I appreciate your articles and use your strategies in my class, so thank you for sharing your ideas to increase the diversity of thought in education.
“That’s not to say that there are not* problems with how schools are implementing equity. . . “
Well said!
Well said! I am a retired teacher. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I was told, reprimanded for calling a student’s behavior to attention. I finally decided unless the student in question was drawing blood I would not bring it to the administration. This is not true in all schools. Thankfully, as a substitute teacher I found a school that backed their teachers one hundred percent. It was truly a team effort no matter how many perceptions there were of a given situation. Support must start at the top and work it’s way down.
I’m a retired teacher, too. Many teachers do not take problems to admin. because of the time and paperwork involved. At my old school, the reporting teacher had to fill out two forms for an incident. One form actually asked what the TEACHER did to handle the situation appropriately, and what could have been done to prevent the situation in the first place BY THE TEACHER! Unreal. Also the onus was on the reporting teacher to tell the classroom teacher, and the classroom teacher had to call the parents (even though an incident happened at recess); the office should always make the call. And when nothing is done at the office to consequence students, teachers figure there’s no point in sending a student there. So they learn they can get away with things. And when teachers bend the rules for students, it makes it harder for the rest of the teachers. For example, when the field was covered in ice, and every day there would be a head injury, some teachers would still allow students to be on the ice and run and slide on their feet. Then I would forbid it, and I was then the mean teacher who got disrespected. I have to say that it was a lack of admin. support that pushed me to retire early.
Yes.. thanks for sharing this message. Don’t delete it if you get backlash like you did with another other great article a few months back about the traits of clown-like teachers.
Agree, Sam. Please Michael leave this post for teachers and administrators to consider.
Well said. This is probably my most favorite post you have written.
Thoughts on DEI training for teachers of elementary children? Especially professional development about gender/transgender issues and anti bias training etc?
I love this article. This is why I’m a proponent of video cams all over campus and in the classroom. It’s gotten to the point where other parents are needed to police the bully parents of the lawless students. Of course, only parents should have access to complete videos that show context. The precedent was already made last year with teachers having webcams on in the classroom for simultaneously teaching in-person and distance learners. Parents could see what was going on live in classrooms and with students learning at home. Cops have to be on video…so why not teachers?
This is 100% true. I totally agree with you. Thank you for speaking up.
I must be very lucky because this is not my experience right now at all.
Wow! I can’t believe you wrote this. Very brave. I applaud you. Unfortunately, the exact things you listed above are the exact cause of why I left the profession. This generation does not respect authority. If the delinquents on the street do not obey the police, think they will obey their teacher? My passion was to educate, not babysit or be a prison guard. These inner city kids are out of control.
May I completely agree with you? Teachers cannot control impulsive and disrespectful actions of students. I’m in year 3…and it’s not really a profession at all! I’m in my later stages of life and wanted to share my knowledge. Got out of professional business to make a difference. The last thing I get to do, and the most infrequent, is teach.
And whose fault is that?
Thanks for this post. My school had an excellent comprehensive student behavior code; students were taught the appropriate behaviors, PE coach reinforced the behaviors during early-in-year PE classes with a refresher later on. Great!……However, there was a lack of cohesion among school staff —many staffers’ unwillingness to enforce the code led to the same situation as you described. Those few of us who followed through were labelled as ______(derogatory epithet) Needless to say, this was not an enjoyable environment to work in. I retired as soon as I was eligible.
Thanks for writing this article and bringing up this topic and giving specific examples of the cowardly behavior. Thanks for calling out their behavior!
There is a clear moral right and wrong which can’t be defended. Kudos for expressing that!
The parents are breathing down the neck of administrators and some succumb to it. Instead of helping create adult like behaviors among our students, (and some parents) administrators often tip toe through such confrontations and defer to parents’ desires rather than state that their kids need to learn life lessons, not just get their way. This is discouraging and does not support teachers’ efforts. This lack of support is defeating education’s overall goal; you are right.
No student of any color should be given a pass on being held accountable for obeying a particular rule in the classroom. If a student is allowed to get away with misbehaving because of their skin color, that is racist, no matter what the color is.
This is why I’m retiring as soon as I am able to even though I absolutely love teaching. It’s so messed up and sad. Public schools are in such trouble.
Michael, this is so true. I observe this everyday at my school and it is surely a sad thing. It reminds of a famous quote from one of my favorite mentors:
“If you want to see the poor remain poor, generation after generation, just keep the standards low in their schools and make excuses for their academic shortcomings and personal misbehavior. But please don’t congratulate yourself on your compassion.” Thomas Sowell
Years ago I worked in a district that was very much like the situations you are describing in this post. It was a downright dangerous place. This was not an inner city school. It was a middle school in a suburb of Boston. Students wore gang attire, they would swear at teachers, bash lights out, draw swastikas on desks. When teachers would leave their room to take their class to the computer lab, teachers would come back and find bookshelves and desks overturned and the classroom ransacked. There were bully behaviors yet when a student was, for example, pushed down the stairs by a bully, the victim would be interrogated as to what they did to instigate the matter! When a teacher would ask students to stop, to discuss an inappropriate behavior, students would just keep walking. I regularly stayed late working in my classroom, which had large windows. I would observe students hanging around after hours, outside the building, throwing rocks at the windows at night!
Passing time between classes was especially dangerous. Because I couldn’t be both in the hallway and in the classroom at the same time, I remember instituting a policy which my students followed. I explained that because I wanted to ensure that each student feels safe, I would be monitoring the hallway while taking attendance for my class. Before the start of class, my students stood with their left shoulder touching a locker, looking straight ahead. When everyone was lined up, I would greet each student with a smile, take attendance and we would file into class quietly and learn math. When we passed from our classroom to the computer lab, my students walked without talking, in a single file. Teachers would often ask me how I got them to do this. I actually think I got the idea from this blog! Para-professionals would let me know that the only hallway they felt safe in the building was my hallway.
Speaking of hallways, most of them had so much trash on the floor that you had to kick your way through the piles to get from point A to point B. Before dismissing students at the end of each class, I would ask students to check the floor near their feet and pick up any papers, scraps, etc. Even if they didn’t drop the paper, would they kindly pick it up. Which they did! In the midst of the chaos, we were a safe and tight classroom community, where students were kind to each other and took pride in the room. The desks were sanitized each week, floors were clean, counter tops tidy, and our learning was joyful. Students knew that in addition to helping them discover the power and relevance of mathematics, they would feel safe and develop personal responsibility for our classroom – both physical materials as well as the climate.
In response to the increasingly hostile climate, I remember doing exactly what you are calling on teachers to do, Michael. I asked for a meeting with my Principal to share an idea I was having about improving the culture. It was a simple initiative that I wanted to introduce at a faculty meeting called, “Stop, Turn and Listen”. Three simple actions that students would do when any adult in the building asked to speak with them. But because the Principal may have felt threatened, she brought in the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, and my idea fell on deaf ears.
After 16 years in that district, I finally left to go to another district, where there was a refreshing mutual respect between students and staff. In this new district, students were held accountable for behaviors. I remember an incident where I gently placed a paper on a student’s desk. It was a zero. I whispered, “if you show the work you’ll get the points.” The student became furious with me. She crumpled the paper into a ball and hummed it near my face. The student was suspended for an entire week. Night and day between how the two districts handled discipline.
Dear Michael,
You must be overwhelmed by the number, length, and speed of the comments to this article.
Today you advised us to speak up, which is the opposite of what you’ve been writing. Be quiet in staff meetings, be quiet in the hallways, keep conversations to a minimum, and the like. But today you tell us to Speak Up and tell admin how we feel. Why?
I’m the union rep at my school and in general a very vocal person. I’ve always felt that I could never be a true SCM disciple because of this. I’ve been doing my best for years now to balance my “big mouth” and the SCM way.
I suspect something important happened to you at your site that never happened before and you are evolving. There’s nothing wrong with evolving. I’m remain a SCM believer and can’t wait to see what you write next week!
At first read, I couldn’t believe this was a smart classroom management article. But the more I read and re-read, the more I found myself understanding the premise of your words. Schools are microcosms of the world and society. No wonder we have problems with accountability and respect for authority and humanity. No one wants to be ostracized for speaking up for what’s right, so the submissive culture continues. I’m starting to think that school is more about conformity than doing what’s right, and it’s not a good thought. Appreciate your boldness in speaking up!
Most probably a woke school.
Thank you. Well said as always!
Amazing! Brave, Honest; a beacon of light in a sea of fog.
Thank you! This article is so helpful!
I am guessing that this topic will outreach to more teachers than any other subject. Administrators are the bane of my district’s existence. PreCovid: burn through all teaching talent ASAP, then complain you have no teachers. Make it a lucrative budget item to find more. PostCovid: continue the plan, unfettered, as if there were no global pandemic.
Current admins have NO IDEA what it’s like to teach in an online classroom. NONE OF THEM HAVE EVER DONE IT. They should ALL go back into the classroom (teacher shortage!) along with their “admin-in-training” Learning Strategists. Especially for those districts close to last place in their rankings, like ours.
Admins now have kleig light exposure on their antics. School board meetings are frozen in bad public behavior. Teachers saw (and heard) EVERYTHING on GoGuardian. So did parents who caught the floor shows. “…One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” became a standing joke–literally. Galling. Kids are soaking up all of this.
There are not enough teaching staff, counselors, social workers or support staff at a DIRE TIME. It’s criminal. It’s unequitable. And all of it paid for by a fresh infusion of federal monies that working parents/teachers put in the pot. For admins to play with…
And don’t have me start on the “teachers who share…..”. Pure BS. I’ve never seen such hateful, uncharitable behavior in my life. In a school building, of all places. Charitable teachers? Teachers who speak up? It breaks out to about the same percentage of charitable or outspoken people you meet in life–no different.
Knowledge is power. We need more of it.
RE: to CC’s comment
In order to serve all students with “equity” all students need to be held to the same rules. Tolerance of rule-breaking by some but not by others is a major contributing factor to the kind of misbehavior described in this excellent article. So when do teachers and administrators flex their muscles? When dealing with the poor students who generally follow the rules. They are the ones that will get penalized for the slightest infraction. The others, the ones that act rough (as in “Don’t mess with me”) and entitled (as in “Those rules don’t apply to me”) have managed to intimidate too many teachers and administrators. Indeed, we’ve gotten to the point where it’s obvious there’s a gentleman’s agreement to actually avoid disciplining them. Of course, this is followed by much useless tongue clucking on the part of teachers and administrators.
Ignoring this huge elephant in the room only causes the problem to become more firmly entrenched.
Thank you for saying what has to be said. I entirely disagree that anything in this article promotes racism. I believe that holding children from underprivileged backgrounds accountable just like everyone else is the greatest gift we can give them. We’re telling them “you are capable, no matter of your color, gender, or ethnic background” What can be less racist than that?
Michael,
Thanks for spending your energy and time on the articles you post. I have become a better teacher since finding your site. As others have mentioned, this article seems to be in response to an awful experience you had or witnessed. If so, then context is important. You always have great intentions, but this time it looks like the impact of your words has been validating to some (“woke!”) and indicative of how deeply the education system is built to maintain power for some, and suppress the rest (I’m in this category).
I hope you will give context to the genesis of this article. And I am really impressed at the respect your readers here are showing in their comments. Thank you
Learners lie like cheap watches at a drop of a hat. Educators have to be so careful today as there is no support from their colleagues, the school management team or the parent body, when learners lie.
An excellent article…but so sad that it is true!! Students run the school, just as kids now run the homes.