In any case, I just found some additional thoughts on teaching from last year, at No Apologies! It's "Homosexual Temper Tantrums." There's a link there to this piece at Townhall, "The Crying Game":
Welcome back students! This is the sixth day of a new year and the first day of a new semester. I’m excited to have you all in my class. Well, actually, I’m excited to have all but one of you in my class. Please allow me to explain.Don't miss the rest, at the link.
Each semester, I teach two sections of Introduction to Criminal Justice. Each section has 35 students. At the end of the semester, every student is given a chance to evaluate the course. I receive and read those evaluations several months after they are completed.
When the evaluations come in, the results are generally the same. Over thirty students rave about the course – many saying it is the best they’ve ever had. A few students offer mild criticism – some saying they wish I would use Power Point. And, every semester, one student claims to have been offended by something I said in one of our thirty class meetings.
Last spring, an offended student claimed I was disrespectful towards students, explaining further that I had engaged in “homophobic” speech in the classroom. I know precisely why the student made that remark as there was one and only one discussion of homosexuality over the course of the semester in that particular class.
Our brief discussion of homosexuality occurred on our “preserving free speech” day. Every semester, I do a little exercise in understanding and appreciating free speech, which involves having every student answer three questions pertaining to free expression. The answers are read and discussed in front of the class sometime around mid-semester.
The third of those questions asks the student to say something he always wanted to say in a college classroom but feared to say because of concerns over political correctness. One student chose to say that he was adamantly opposed to gay marriage. After I read the remarks, I allowed a supporter of gay marriage to rebut them. In other words, both sides had an opportunity to speak.
There was a brief back-and-forth between the gay marriage supporter and the professor (me). I talked about the 1879 Reynolds decision, which upheld a Utah ban on polygamy. We talked about the issue of whether adoption of gay marriage would lead to polygamy. He said he did not care. I said I did. We had a healthy and respectful exchange – so much so that it continued for a couple of days during my office hours.
But, regrettably, someone who did not have the courage to express his view on free speech day – where, clearly, both sides were allowed to speak in an atmosphere of mutual respect – chose to become offended. And, for the record, I believe that taking offense is a choice. There is no evidence of an un-gay gene that makes people perpetually unhappy.
Hat Tip: Kathy Shaidle on Twitter.
5 comments:
what got to me in regards to teacher evaluation is that they were done on an anonymous basis. there is no reason to be truthful under those circumstances. now granted most will be good or bad and is usually indicative of the sincerity of the student body. when i did one i made sure that anyone reading it could know who wrote it so that they could follow up if they saw fit to.
j guess that i am not a fan of the "anonymous source" regardless of the circumstances.
I hardly read them anymore, Griper. That's how the students can attack the professor. It's not very useful and not fair ...
Well said, The Griper.
When I was a college teacher many years ago I always did some self-affirmation talk before I read those anonymous course critiques. Often over my twenty years in Academics successful students would come back, some on our Advisory Board, and tell me how I made a difference in their life - quoting some of my words of wisdom I had long since forgotten. Later, as a Provost I reviewed all the course evaluations of our faculty. I remembered how students can unfairly gang up on a teacher. Often the best teachers were the toughest ones. They held the students accountable and were most criticized. One of my teachers, Mr. Viers, was one of my faculty that the new students would rebel against because of his high, unwaivering standards. If you were late, the door would be locked. The students once boycotted his class and threatened to stay outside. At graduation, students had more perspective. When faculty names were called out, he got the loudest applause.
Dr.D,
Being a high school teacher I don't feel the need to give out an evaluation. I am amazed that the teachers who do are tremendously offended by the statements of a teenage kid.
What would you expect to hear, "Your too tough and give too much homework." Really? That's what I would hear I'm sure. I won't stop demanding a lot of my students and a survey won't stop me.
Some people think you're not allowed to hold an opinion against gay marriage. They want to be the thought police in the name of sensitivity.
It's fascism.
Homosexuality is sexual sin and perversion. Anyone who denies that is either misguided or perverted or both.
Post a Comment