At a function here locally, a public school history teacher I know of wrote this on a profile sheet:
Hobbies: Expressing anger towards President Bush
Plans next ten years: teaching students about the other wars we'll be fighting in ten years.
So I sent him an E-Mail:
I was shown your comments on the Profile sheet....
History Teacher at . . . High School
Hobbies: Expressing anger towards President Bush
Plans next ten years: teaching students about the other wars we'll be fighting in ten years.
I wish you success in maintaining your objectivity in the classroom.
Here's his answer:
...let me assure you that I do, indeed, consider myself a success in maintaining my objectivity in teaching. Certainly I would be a poor teacher if I simply bashed our president day in and day out in the classroom -- it would end up being a bit of a bore, too... Not to mention unprofessional. It would eventually get me in hot water.
Perhaps I was under the assumption that a ... "profile" -- a bit of fluff, really -- was certainly outside the realm of my official statements or duties as a teacher. Now, I know whatever celebrities do in their spare time is VERY serious business, but teachers???
In fact, my responses on the "profile" were not entirely serious, as you might have imagined. Regardless, I would hope that even teachers would be allowed to have their own hobbies! Would you worry about someone who hunted as a hobby maintaining their objectivity in teaching?
Part of my job as a teacher is to help students develop critical thinking skills. I sometimes take positions in the classroom that could be described as conservative AND liberal. The main thing the students can expect from me is for me to question their ideas and prompt them to think!
Anyway, as you may see, I think quite a bit about the way I handle political issues in the classroom. I would hope that this would portray my professionalism more than a ..."profile".
I hope this has cleared up any misunderstanding.
We'll just have to see about those other wars in ten years! I'd like to be proven wrong!
And finally, as I prefer to take personal emails in my personal email account -- please email . . . if you have any further questions or concerns. It was on the "profile" sheet.
Sincerely,
I doubt that he's objective considering his "Plans"
At a function here locally, a public school history teacher I know of wrote this on a profile sheet: Hobbies: Expressing anger towards President Bush. Plans next ten years: teaching students about the other wars we'll be fighting in ten years. So I sent him an E-Mail: ............... Here's his answer:
"And finally, as I prefer to take personal emails in my personal email account -- please email . . . if you have any further questions or concerns."
It seems that, since e-mails in a public Government insitution may be monitored, your Bush-hating public school history teacher is getting a little nervous that a taxpayer is challenging his inappropriate use of a public school class room.
A "private" e-mail deals with family, friends, personal matters, etc. Your e-mail dealt strictly with the inappropriate conduct by a public employee on his public job and was sent, appropriately, to his e-mail account at his place of public employment.
If I were you, I would point that out to that public school teacher in an e-mail reply to his public school e-mail address with cc's to the Principal of the public school, every member of the School District Board, the Editor of you local paper and every one of your State representatives.
At least he didn't reply in an obscenity laden tirade, which is common for liberals. Perhaps you can offer to sit in on a class or two and provide an alternative view. Perhaps the two of you might agree on a topic and attempt a friendly debate in the classroom to provide the students with an interesting presentation.