Community Chat

[stuyvesant]

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When I was in high school they actually did this. They would decide who should have a college prep course, and who should have a business course  etc

It was such a mess they did away with it.  It was also unfair  for the students to have a teacher meddle in their personal  descisions.  They didn't guide us, they pushed us

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@cherry

You are SO right about this!  I was one of the ones “on the college track” as they said. But my wonderful Papa wanted me to take typing (pre everyone having a personal computer) because he knew I’d be writing lots of papers and surely could not afford to pay someone to type them for me.  For HS graduation He gave me a little blue, portable typewriter which I still have.

The teachers had a fit, the kids in the typing class, many of whom were my friends, had a bet going that I wouldn’t be able to pass - too brainy,

 not enough common sense.  The whole thing was 😜 silly.

Thank goodness things have changed.

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I was in this situation too - in my case I was a scholarship student who had to keep up a grade point average to be able to afford my luxe school - make no mistake, I'm not talking about those classy protestant schools in New England.  This was just a catholic high school.  It had two school uniforms you had to pay for, which indicates there was some disposable income floating around.

I had troubles with Spanish.  So I dropped down a couple of tracks (there were five academic tracks, this was common for all schools).  During my four years of high school, I fell below my scholarship level for only one semester.  Thank goodness for the tracks

I took some business courses.  Nobody though I was too smart for them.  I actually thought I was too smart for the "Reading Shakespeare" course, but that's another story.  

[suzyQ3]

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@Noel7

As we are all agreeing, this person’s wording “to mold them into what I wanted them to become, was very WRONG. 

She needs to re-state.

One thing that was very taxing for me in teaching to the needs of my students: taking the time to state CAREFULLY.

I had students some of which were different nationalities. I felt i had to be so very careful.

There was one time the student tried to refuse to stand for the “Pledge of Allegiance.” WOW

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@LTT1, I am not one who is agreement.

First, I would really prefer to comment on an exact quote from the teacher herself rather than some memory of a statement.

Second, even if it's verbatim, I think it's acting like a Rorschach test here. I see it as meaning something rather noble, whereas most here seen to put a very negative slant on it.

[Shiloh09]

Perhaps she simply means to shape her students into kind, courteous, productive citizens based on her state's educational objectives and modeling kindness and good manners.  I think this is (minimally) the objective of every teacher. 

[Shiloh09]

One other thing...it is not her job to educate parents on parenting skills.

[RainCityWoman]

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Perhaps she simply means to shape her students into kind, courteous, productive citizens based on her state's educational objectives and modeling kindness and good manners.  I think this is (minimally) the objective of every teacher. 

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Exactly. That's pretty much everyone's goal with a child. It starts in the home, but must be reinforced elsewhere as well. As a teacher myself, my proudest moments were when a student returned after many years and he or she was a happy, well adjusted, productive member of society with a noticeable trait of human decency. It's doubly gratifying when they would say, yeah, I screwed up, but I finally figured it out and set some goals for success.

[GenXmuse]

What program was this anyway?  It hardly sounds as sinister as the op has made it out to be. 

[viva923]

this was not said on t.v..

a "teacher" professor at southern new hampshire university (i believe on line class). was fired because she and a student got into a dispute.

seem the this "teacher" asked a question on a test about Austraila. The student wrote her/his answer down. Student said Austraila was a country. The teacher flunked the student on the test and advised the student that  Austraila was NOT a country but just a continent. this sparked an investigation into the teacher qualifications.

outcome, Austriala is both a country and a continent, student was regraded on test.

that was the end of the story. 

[OfCourse]

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She said it is her job to recognize a child's potential then to mold and shape them to become what she wants them to be. HUH? isn't it her job to EDUCATE them - and the family - specfically their parents - job to mold & shape?

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That's very disturbing.  I totally agree that it is her job to educate them.  Certainly, if a child is being abused or neglected, the teacher has an obligation to notify the authorities, but thinking about what she wants a child to be is weird.  That's up to the parents and the kid.  Teachers have a lot of influence, which is good, but they do have a more narrow role to play than that particular teacher seems to think.

[BeccaLou]

@SharkEI always thought parents leave everythig up to the teachers. And don't try to contribute very little to encourage their kids. I did and that way I was hands on to know what the kids learned that day. No critizism just something to think about !1