Colorado Teacher Takes it Too Far: Learning Happens Anyway

Thoughts on the Colorado teacher suspended for ranting and comparing our “President” to Hitler. Thanks to The Education Wonks you can hear tape of the Rant here. Read a transcript here, and Get several thoughtful posts and Ideas through The Education Wonks post on the topic.

What I don’t Know…Does Anyone?
I don’t know from what I read if the student had approached the teacher to talk to him about being uncomfortable with what he was saying in class. I don’t know if the guardian had contacted the teacher and discussed what was being discussed in class. I don’t know if the student had the intention of “busting” this teacher from the moment he stepped into class on day one.

The Bad:
He went too far (for a public school) with his comments. He went over the heads of some of his students and did not offer traceable references. He as a teacher should realize that his comments are VERY powerful with young people and will go a long way with shaping opinions. His passion and emotion registers more than the content of what he says. Though I have never looked at the Colorado curriculum I assume he was WAY off of the content for a Geography class.

The Learning:
The student who taped him likely went home and discussed this with his guardians (I have learned not to say parents). Any time a student takes any content home and discusses it with peers or adults deep engaged learning is happening. The teacher elicited a student response not based on the perceived difficulty of an assignment or classroom policy but a response based on thought about serious world issues that students often think little about. The fact that he taped the teacher because of a perceived injustice should be encouraging; he was trying to create change instead of simply complaining about the issue. I truly believe that when students are confronted with viewpoints that are not their own or those that they grew up with, that it is good for their learning process.

Further Opinion:
Those that seek to end our way of life win every time we silence opposition EVEN WHEN it's done in an innapropriate venue.

Disclosure:
I’m not a Bush/Current U.S. policy fan...DUH.