Two Teachers

In the articles "Suspended Teacher Defends Book Assignment" and "Museum Field Trip Deemed Too Revealing", two different cases about the suspensions of two teachers for their "wrong teaching ways" are described. In the first article, there is a story about Connie Heermann, who was suspended because she introduced to her class a book of essays written by teenagers at-risk that included some swear words and sexual overtones. In the second article, the story is about Sydney McGee, who was also suspended for making an art trip with her class to a museum where to children were exposed a few nude sculptures.

In the first situation with Connie Heermann there were a few moments where she was not right. The book, that she introduced to her class, was not approved by the school administrators. She had chosen this book because she thought it might be helpful for her students, who were also considered at-risk, to fight their problems. Connie assigned it for students with the approval of their parents but without the final decision from the curriculum director. In the situation with Sydney McGee, the trip to the museum was approved by the district and was made not the first time. The problem appeared from one of student's parents who complained that the child saw a nude art. Sydney had very good ratings like a great teacher before that trip, and a lot of parents defended her. Some of them said that their children enjoyed the field trip, and nobody mentioned or concentrated attention on the nude art.

Both these situations surprised me. I don't really agree with Connie Heermann because I would have waited for approval if I had been she. Thinking that it is the only best book for her students she also could had just recommended that they read that and to avoid this problem. The other situation with Sydney McGee seems absurd to me. There are always some exhibitions with a nude art, especially if those are from the human past, like famous sculptures of ancient Greek or Roman. Plus nowadays, when we have so many dirty information on TV and in Internet, protecting children from the art seems naive.

I think in general, the situation with so extremely scared teachers and the district was the most absurd to me. People created so many rules to protect their rights that sometimes they don't even see how silly their attitude is. Sure, there should be some moral rules and regulations at schools, but they shouldn't scare teachers to go to class and teach, because many people are just afraid to say a word without being judged and punished. I think that there should be some wisdom and from teachers and from parents side.