Posted by MA on September 04, 2002 at 09:44:10:
In Reply to: Re: Re: In Defense of HS Teachers posted by Tom Mason on September 04, 2002 at 06:56:55:
I agree that school should reasonably mirror the real world. The point of allowing a student to take the responsibility for failing at a young age, is so that s/he can learn that there are consequences, and to suffer the consequences in a setting that is not going to ruin his/her life. Failing a subject in high school, or being kicked out of band, or whatever, may seem like a big deal at the time, but it also may mitigate future behavior that would cause one to lose a job.
I have a good story about that....a good friend of mine, now retired, was a tennis coach. One year he had a talented player who was also a spoiled brat. At one point very early in the season the brat didn't like something he was told, and hit a tennis ball very hard at the fence, towards the coach. The coach's immediate reaction was to kick the kid off the team for the year. All hell broke loose, with the parents becoming involved. The principal backed up the coach, and the rest of the team behaved really well that year.
The sad end is that in later years, this same person, also a physics teacher, was told that if he did not water down the physics course so that more students did well in it, he would be demoted to teaching lower level math courses. He decided that it was not in his best interest to hold his ground, and did what he had to do. There was another incident where a football player was not doing well, and was removed from his class into another class where the teacher passed him.
I really think almost the entire problem is (some) parents. Somehow our culture has changed over the last few decades to where many parents think that not challenging their children will make them better adults. I don't get it; self esteem is brought about by meeting and overcoming challenges, not by never having to meet a challenge.
I taught two years in a boarding school in upstate NY when I was in my early 20's. I got out fast....it was clearer than distillled water that I did not have the patience to put up with what teachers have to put up with. I admire every single one of you who have made teaching your profession.
MA