Curriculum for One

lolakimono · ‎03-29-2012

My friend is a Spanish teacher in another district.

The district follows a textbook, and one unit is about healthy living and giving recommendations for ways to be healthy.

One girl in her class has an eating disorder, and she and her friend (in solidarity) are refusing to participate in this unit because it is a "trigger" for her.

The Department Chair has reached out to the Board of Education because there is not an easy way to "accommodate" this student for a marking period while the rest of the class makes cultural comparisons between other countries and acquires all of the vocabulary related to health/fitness.

The Department Chair thinks that they might say to take out the unit and teach something else. For one student, they would remove an entire marking period of the curriculum.

She asked for my advice.

My first question was "did they accommodate this student in her health class?" and she didn't know. The girl has a 504 plan for generalized "anxiety" but does not have anything for the eating disorder.

What are your thoughts about this?

Jaspersmom · ‎06-08-2011

Is your friend just asking you for your opinion or are you qualified to give recommendations? I'm not trying to be snarky, but how you respond makes a difference. I'm a teacher and I would say it's best to leave this to the professionals to make their decisions based on any and all information they can gather about the student. That would involve having contact with the school board, parents, therapists, medical doctor, etc.

lolakimono · ‎03-29-2012

@Jaspersmom

I am a Spanish teacher in a different district (where she also previously worked) and I have a Ph.D. in Curricular and Instructional Studies, so I guess that I am "qualified", but she was looking for my opinion as a friend.

Janey2 · ‎06-07-2010

I guess you could look at this in the same way as not being able to participate in gym because you have a physical disability. What does the district do under those circumstances? I am so tired of having to change everything because one person objects. As far as her friend that is a joke. You can feel for your friend but that's about it.

SoX · ‎03-15-2010

In my opinion it's the student who should be "reassigned" rather than removing the entire unit ... pretty much like in the old days when a girl could not participate in swim class because of a monthly health occurrence.

Goldengate8361 · ‎01-27-2014

It seems like a "big deal over nothing" to me. I don't see why the issue would rise higher than the teacher just saying "OK, I understand and we'll work something out." Why would this be escalated to anything further? When I was a kid, I sometimes had hearing issues, but my mom simply talked to the teacher and the teacher did whatever was necessary to help me. End of the story.....It was taken care of without ANY fuss or further discussions. I would view this example as an even easier issue to address.

Goldengate8361 · ‎01-27-2014

@lolakimono This is a little off-subject, but I'm going to go ahead....Just wanted to say "good for you" for having a Ph.D. and being dedicated to education. I also have a Ph.D.; I was a professor for many years. I now work in a corporate job. Who knows? I bet there are many other Ph.D.s on these boards.

lolakimono · ‎03-29-2012

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
@lolakimono This is a little off-subject, but I'm going to go ahead....Just wanted to say "good for you" for having a Ph.D. and being dedicated to education. I also have a Ph.D.; I was a professor for many years. I now work in a corporate job. Who knows? I bet there are many other Ph.D.s on these boards.

@Goldengate8361

Leaving college teaching for public school = double the salary

It wasn't a hard decision to make.

Venezia · ‎03-09-2010

My two cents worth: I'd think, if the girl had an eating disorder, it would be even more important for her to learn about healthy living.

I wonder what else this girl avoids - it's a big world and not everyone is going to cater to her issues. She needs to be part of her own cure.

One student (and her friend) can change the curriculum for everyone else? No.

Jaspersmom · ‎06-08-2011

@lolakimono wrote:
@Jaspersmom
I am a Spanish teacher in a different district (where she also previously worked) and I have a Ph.D. in Curricular and Instructional Studies, so I guess that I am "qualified", but she was looking for my opinion as a friend.

These are always tough situations and I understand why your friend asked for your opinion/advice. No simple answers in these cases. I would guess they'll come up with an alternative curriculum for the student and leave everything else as is. That's what they did for students in our health classes whose parents objected to some of the units of study because of the families' religious beliefs.