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Posted on 03/07/2006 2:43:02 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
A high school social studies teacher who was put on leave after comparing President Bush's State of the Union address to speeches made by Adolf Hitler defended his lecture on Tuesday, saying he was trying to encourage students to think.
"My job as a teacher is to challenge students to think critically about issues that are affecting our world and our society," Jay Bennish said on NBC's "Today Show."
Bennish is on paid leave from Overland High School in suburban Aurora, Colo., while Cherry Creek School District investigates whether his Feb. 1 lecture violated a policy requiring that balancing viewpoints be presented in classes.
A student recorded at least part of the lecture in Bennish's world geography class and took it to a Denver radio station, which played parts of it on a talk show.
Bennish told "Today" the excerpts broadcast weren't representative of the full lecture.
"This is 20 minutes out of a 50-minute class. The rest of the class provides the balance," he said.
On the recording, Bennish told the students that some of Bush's speech "sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say. We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backwards and our job is to conquer the world and make sure that they all live just like we want them to."
Later in the recording, Bennish said he was not claiming Bush and Hitler were the same, "but there are some eerie similarities to the tones that they use."
Bennish said no parents - including the family of the student who recorded the lecture - have complained to him. He said all the students' parents had seen his syllabus and that school officials had approved it.
"My job as a social studies teacher is to argue alternative perspectives and viewpoints so that students are aware of those point of views. They do not necessarily reflect my own views. They are simply thrown out there to encourage critical thought," he told "Today."
There's a standard litany with these oxygen thieves. "Critical thinking" is pseudo-encouraged insofar as it deconstructs civilized society. No amount of money can fix education at this point. More money means more nutcases like this guy.
You dream big - lol
He should be very proud of Sean for Sean being able to think for himself and to recognize when someone else who is supposed to be teaching is instead trying to push his left wing views down the throats of students. I would say Sean was a good student.
Oh, I remember this! Looks like he had some kind of mirror rig and just "painted by number". LOL!
His little detour onto Israel was very telling.
morphing of the two?Increase Mail's piece by 109%, reverse it, and the two overlap perfectly, down to the shape of the grass and the position of each rider's feathers, even the position of the horses' legs.Yet Churchill still maintains it is an original composition. (Yes, Ward, but why are all your Indians left-handed in the piece?)
That's the only way to dream.
"I contacted the International Institute in Golden, CO and suggested to the director, who is a friend of mine, that they start a website for students across the country and at any grade level to post reports and recordings of teacherws or professors who use their classrooms for propaganda."
*thumbs up*
I thought Sean did very well in outing the teacher on the issue of Israel.
Your post of the remarks by Teddy Roosevelt is, without a doubt, one of the best posts I've read on FR. Thanks, I needed that!
What a fatuous defense. What does he think, that the parents who let their kid play the tape on a public radio station were SUPPORTING him?
I'm sorry, the guy is an imbecile. To compare any US President to a mass-murderer in a classroom is just beyond the pale. The guy needs to be FIRED.
Since when is it up to all the parents to personally approve any syllabus? This is a crock.
"Let him talk. He's doing Republicans far more good than Democrats as America sees first hand the hatred and ignorance of the left."
________________________________________
All true and good. However, that is not his role as an HS teacher of Geography, nor is his role spewing out leftist, or rightist, propaganda. He is a puerile punk from hell and should be fired.
There is no limit to their insanity.
Bennish's lawyer, David Lane (who also represents Ward Churchill)stated on either the Pete Boyles or Caplis and Silverman Show on 630KHOW that Bennish had not provided "balance" in this particular lecture. So, Bennish flat lied to (or seriously misled) Lauer on the Today Show that the 22 minutes of tape were "out of context", and that balance had been provided. So, Bennish, when, exactly, WERE you going to provide that balance?
Bennish did an interview on the Pete Boyles show this morning. He didn't get the Matt Lauer softball questions though. It was just pathetic. He basically said he stood for nothing. He had no opinion. All those things he said were merely to keep the students awake, because they get bored and need to be stimulated mentally. He used the term "cognitive dissonance" as a teaching tool frequently.
Boyles brought up something interesting. He said that several students had said that Bennish bragged about being a Rastafarian, and had an Ethiopian flag hung in the classroom. Bennish would neither confirm or deny.
Bennish got pretty testy during the interview. Pete Boyles did a great job of asking the questions Lauer chose not to, or frankly, didn't have the brains to think of.
And who is this (shudder) "they"? Jeez, I bet he sees CIA operatives behind every tree, peering at him then talking into their coat sleeves.
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