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Teacher fired over "how comfortable are you" assignment

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Floriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiida Gaf represent! yall back on that fuckery!

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A teacher was fired after asking her students to rate their comfort level around black people, Muslims and homosexuals.
The newly hired teacher handed out the homework to children at Fox Chapel Middle School in Florida.


The task asked pupils to rate a series of hypothetical scenarios on a scale of one to four – with one being ‘not comfortable at all’ and four ‘completely comfortable’, according to WPTV.

These included: ‘a group of black men are walking towards you on the street’, ‘the young man sitting next to you on the plane is Arab’ and ‘a friend invites you to a gay bar’.
But parents and their children complained to the school, calling the assignment ‘racist’ and ‘offensive’.

Tori Drews, 12, told the news station: ‘I thought it was very inappropriate. I thought some of them were racist. I thought some of them were sexist.’
Her mother, Jennie Block, added: ‘”How comfortable are you if you see a group of black men walking to you on the street?” That’s completely inappropriate”. In no world, whatsoever, is that okay to question a child on.

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‘Kids were asking if they could share it with their parents. She was like, “No. Don’t show your mom. Don’t take that home. I’m taking it back up.”‘
The teacher, who has not been identified, was still on her probationary period when she was fired.

The assignment called ‘How comfortable am I?’ was allegedly intended to shine a light on biases and help children accept people of different cultures.
A school district spokesman said: ‘In no way does that assignment meet the standards of appropriate instructional material.’


Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/07/teach...-blacks-arabs-and-gays-6560127/#ixzz4daoIPVOz


video in link
 
How do you go through the thought process, print things out, and do a last check and tell yourself, "This seems good and won't backfire on me" like how?

I get wanting to talk about uncomfortable topics but come on it is not a good idea to force students to reveal their own bias. It is best to show examples of scripted scenarios and explain how they are harmful and hurtful.

Edit: I'm assuming that the teacher actually wanted to shine a light on their student's bias. But I accept that I might be wrong in this assumption.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
The assignment called ‘How comfortable am I?’ was allegedly intended to shine a light on biases and help children accept people of different cultures.
You know...

I actually believe this.
 

Alexlf

Member
I'll be honest, I don't see an issue with this at all, especially considering how the teacher was planning to use this to point out how prevalent bias was. The teachers response to showing parents was weird, but apparently justified.

EDIT: Oh, they're twelve. I instinctively assumed high school or Uni. Questions could have used some work lol.
 
I couldn't watch the video, what does it say? At first look, it seems like a "ask yourself how racist you are" questionnaire.
 

JJDubz

Member
The content itself is pretty racist, stereotypical, and xenophobic.

The stupidity continues by asking 12 year olds about going to a bar.
 

Rockandrollclown

lookwhatyou'vedone
Am I crazy in that I don't see anything wrong with that assignment? I imagine those questions are to point out your assumptions/prejudices.
 

Beth Cyra

Member
You know...

I actually believe this.

I do believe that someone could foolishly think its a good idea and actually think they are doing the right thing by trying to show that you should be just as comfortable and cool with each and everyone of those things.

However I'm not sure how they thought it was a good idea to actually go about it this way.
 
The teacher should've been fired for laziness.

The (uncited) questionnaire is designed for college students anyway, hence all the references to RAs (which 12 year old would even know what that is?), suitemates, academic supervisors, and women's studies instructors.
 

KarmaCow

Member
You know...

I actually believe this.

I buy that because frankly I'm struggling to think of another explanation that makes sense but it was done in such a half assed way. Even putting aside that the questions are meant for adults, filling out questionnaire is about as hands off as watching a movie without the consideration and tact that goes into making a movie.
 

Ekdrm2d1

Member
Something similar happened on a math exam? 6 months ago. Forgot the exact home work.

It was posted on GAF

Edit: This will do. Different story though

Two Manhattan teachers are in hot water over an offensive homework lesson that used killing and whipping slaves to teach subtraction and multiplication
 
This is the sort of thing really that you need to discuss with the principal before hand to get their advice on.

In my first year of teaching, I wanted to teach my class about LGBT rights as part of a focus on equality and justice. However, my principle advised against it because parents may complicate the matter and misunderstand the purpose behind it.
 

norm9

Member
I guess when you pleading with students to not show their parents, you can conclude it was a bad assignment.
 
What.... kind of middle schoolers are getting asked to go to bars of any kind. Who is asking to dance with a 12 year old at a gay bar?! Sounds a lot like the teacher ripped a survey intended for college students, but why give it to middle school students to fill out?
 
I get what the teacher was trying to do, but you have to approach stuff like this with incredible care and thoughtfulness. Using the term "Arab" on the worksheet, for example, makes me believe she hadn't quite thought this one through.
 
The reaction doesn't seem congruent with the content on the questionnaire. Parents are reacting like talking about bias and race is the same as condoning racism. I'm genuinely curious as to how the kids would have responded, because that would say something about some of what their parents are teaching them.
 

Christine

Member
"How are the parents going to feel about this material?" is a question that should probably come up before you've actually handed out the papers to all the kids.
 

Mesoian

Member
You know...

I actually believe this.

Yeah, I do too. This was coming from a good place, but man you have to be one HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL of a teacher to pull that off. A worksheet ain't exactly the best way to open a dialogue about tolerance and empathy.
 
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