 |
Home
| How It Works
| Stats
Login | Register |
|
Case: De-emphasize Differences. I was recently assigned to the middle school in the Warren School District. The district serves a community that had once been an all-white middle-class enclave, but has recently become more diverse in its ethnic makeup. I am very interested in multicultural education. I instituted the use of dialog journals in my adviser group, telling the students that they can write anything they want. Some journal entries cause me concern. Warren Jackson, an African American, complains that my emphasis on African American culture embarrasses him. Gail Smith, a white girl, writes that her parents object strongly to her affection for Warren Jackson and that she is considering suicide. My problems come to a head in my first meeting with the principal. The principal suggests that I decrease his use of small groups, that I abandon my dialogue journals, and that I de-emphasize the multicultural aspects of my classes. He suggests that I emphasize similarities, not differences. I don't know what to do. I do think that my methods have some value but I cannot go against my principal. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) First and foremost if your meeting with the principal wasn't to address the topic of Gail's writing, the first thing you should do is let your school councilor know about Gail's journal entries and see what he or she advises you do form there. Second, I think your dialog journals are an excellent idea and I don't think I would stop using them, but maybe you could change the way you assign them. I think having students focus on one topic but be able to write freely anything in any form about that topic might be more constructive. It may turn the journal from a personal diary, which can be inappropriate in a school setting, into a more educational tool that allows students to express themselves while developing their writing techniques and personal writing style. Third, I think I like to approach of emphasizing similarities better than differences, this has always been my style preferences just because I agree that sometimes emphasizing these differences can be embarrassing and hard to deal with for many students. You should not go against what your principal tells you because it could land you in hot water quickly. And also because most principals have many more years of teaching experience and may have some for site on issues you may not have previously thought about. Maybe after explaining why you think dialog journals are an important part of your teaching style you can see if he or she will allow you some leniency on this assignment. |
||
Rating
|
||||||||||||||||||