Hrm. If I were going to burn anything on student's arms, it would be grammar and punctuation rules. Who could be upset with me?!
Natter 67: Overriding Vetoes
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, nail polish, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
"How could you tell her that she was wrong!?!"
I agree with those who've said that pure objectivity is impossible, at least beyond a certain basic level. I mean, the 2+2=4 and "c-a-t spells cat" level. However, the commenter chose a bad example -- though a teacher could arguably subjectively teach TKAM to emphasize certain themes and not others, or even choose not to teach TKAM.
At the same time, the teacher's actions in the story DJ linked as giving rise to the discussion isn't really an issue of the teacher's objectivity or subjectivity. It's an issue of exposing the school system to liability for religious discrimination and battery.
And I think through subsequent comments by him and others the disconnect is that I don't equate morality with religion. He was saying he's not able to teach religion so he has do dance around the morality...which ok?
It all reads as not very thinky to me, but whatever.
He was saying he's not able to teach religion so he has do dance around the morality...which ok?
Huh? He was teaching biology.
No, I mean the guy who was saying teaching on the theme of "racism is bad, mmkay!" in TKAM was teaching a belief, was saying that skirts close to teaching religion.
I was arguing that saying "racism is bad" is no more teaching a belief than teaching, "stomping on the throats of other people because you can is bad."
He did a lot more than that - he was teaching Creationism.
You know, I'm as against teaching Creationism in public schools as the next person, but I'm going to take a radical stance and say that burning images into students' arms is the worse offense here. One is ideologically inappropriate, the other is assault.
It all reads as not very thinky to me, but whatever.
Sounds more "narrow-minded as a dirt path," but I'm not sure that's so different from what you're saying.
I'm going to take a radical stance and say that burning images into students' arms is the worse offense here
According to the article, there's a "plausible explanation" for that. I'm so curious as to what that might be.
You know, I'm as against teaching Creationism in public schools as the next person, but I'm going to take a radical stance and say that burning images into students' arms is the worse offense here. One is ideologically inappropriate, the other is assault.
I read that he did it with the students' permission.