An educated mind is an opened mind. An opened mind is a liberal mind. Teachers don't have to intend to create liberals, it happens naturally. |
On the inside:
- The Calling of Names (an essay)
- Links to other education-related stories.
- As always, the topics will be whatever you want to discuss and there will be good community.
It's not for teachers only.
Door's Open...
The Calling of Names
What if they had a special week and nobody noticed?
Last week was No Name-Calling Week. From all appearances, at least on the level of the blogs, there wasn't much notice. Name-calling is de rigeur.
Which raises a good question. If adults demand their right to call people names as part of what they think is intelligent debate, why would we expect the children to behave any differently.
It would probably be prudent of me not to mention that fact. I've never been accused of being prudent.
I think about the children. Big surprise. I'm a teacher.
I oppose bullying. I've been a victim of it and it has been and will be my foe my entire life. It is an incredibly easy stance to take. It is apparently just as difficult a philosophy to put into action.
Verbal bullying is still bullying. This is where I enter a huge disagreement with a whole lot of people. I believe in thought control if it means improvement of relations among our species. In the long run, the benefit of the human species is served by reinforcing the fact that some thoughts are detrimental to human survival since they keep us at each others' throats rather than cooperating for the benefit of us all.
Have I mentioned I'm a socialist?
I've worked with the organization that sponsors No Name-Calling Week on occasion, though I am not a member. I teach college and GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is aimed at the younger set. They do have an agenda. The entire human race should have an agenda.
GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for ALL students.
That's certainly an agenda I can get behind.
"Safe" does not mean physically safe. Learning requires a degree of self-confidence. Children who are daily subjected to verbal abuse have that confidence eroded. The door of opportunity, to be the best human beings they can mature into being, is being slammed in their face. It doesn't matter if the verbs and nouns hurled are about race or gender, ethnicity or religion, sexuality or gender identity, or disability or appearance, children are damaged by the barrage of insults they receive.
Telling them they need to develop a tougher skin doesn't help. That's just pouring acid in the open wound. Failing to teach our children that the verbal bullying is wrong and framing it as a First Amendment issue in order to excuse it allows those wounds to fester.
As an empathetic human being I can't allow that festering. As a former sissy who suffered from it, I rejected it...but it took much of my life. As a PFLAG parent, I will fight you tooth and nail about this.
Hell hath no fury like a PFLAG mom defending her child.
Don't start telling me about slippery slopes. I rejected the Slippery Slope Theory when it was called the Domino Theory back in the day. I don't care who invokes it.
Changing society for the better is a Good Thing™. It was a good that GLSEN sponsored No Name-Calling Week. It would be good if more people joined and/or supported organizations like GLSEN, organizations which, I hope you notice work to protect ALL the students. That's the thing about so-called gay rights groups. We work for all of us.
I just wish it were No Name-Calling Year or No Name-Calling Lifetime.
--Robyn Elaine Serven
--Bloomfield College, NJ
Education Round-up: I've categorized.
For examples of People Teaching, please visitPhilosophy and PoliticsStories: Ourselves and OthersFreedom and Justice on CampusNCLB/Department of Education/Standardized Testing/AssessmentMoneyAction, Advocacy and Information |
I'll be hanging around most of the day, actively waiting for your comments (actually, I'll be working in another program, but I'm close by), so at least one person will be here to discuss whatever anyone wants to discuss.
The Not-so-many Rules
- No general bashing of administrators, politicians, etc, just on general principles. If you want to bash them, have a point and a plan.
- No bitching about students unless you're talking about what you are going to do to alleviate the problems you think the students have.
- Introductions are encouraged, but not essential.
- I have no investment in hosting the Teacher's Lounge. If someone else thinks they can and wants to do it better, cool. I just want the space. And not for teachers only, but respecting the general theme of teaching and learning.
- Teacher's Lounge can be "slow blogging" if you want it to be. You don't get quality writing if you demand velocity. It doesn't have to be the case that something posted today is dead by tomorrow. I would like it to eventually be up and active 24/7, but that may have to wait until I have developed an independent blog site.
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Every Saturday I'll post a clean slate, around 12 noon EST.