Righteous indignation time again, folks.
Seems there is a high schooler taking a couple C/C courses but has slowed down the discourse in his classes because of a pronounced stutter. The instructor offered some "accommodations" which, shall we say, haven't gone over well.
The flava (from the New York Times):
As his history class at the County College of Morris here discussed exploration of the New World, Philip Garber Jr. raised his hand, hoping to ask why China’s 15th-century explorers, who traveled as far as Africa, had not also reached North America
He kept his hand aloft for much of the 75-minute session, but the professor did not call on him. She had already told him not to speak in class.
Philip, a precocious and confident 16-year-old who is taking two college classes this semester, has a lot to say but also a profound stutter that makes talking difficult, and talking quickly impossible. After the first couple of class sessions, in which he participated actively, the professor, an adjunct named Elizabeth Snyder, sent him an e-mail asking that he pose questions before or after class, “so we do not infringe on other students time.” As for questions she asks in class, Ms. Snyder suggested, “I believe it would be better for everyone if you kept a sheet of paper on your desk and wrote down the answers.”Later, he said, she told him, “Your speaking is disruptive.”
Unbowed, Philip reported the situation to a college dean, who suggested he transfer to another teacher’s class, where he has been asking and answering questions again.
As always, the true meat comes in the associated comment blog.The "best" #23 from "Cathy" where she insinuates this situation is due in most part because it involves an adjunct.
More flava:
"There are some great adjuncts, but most are under-qualified, overworked, underpaid, and bitter. I'm willing to bet that, like many other adjuncts, when [this adjunct] was in graduate school she received little to no training as to how to run a classroom. That's assuming she even made it through grad school, let alone a reputable, high-quality graduate program."
Yeah, because every doctoral program -- like Cathy's I'm sure -- is known for incorporating extensive training in educational pedagogy and not being laser focused on biology, theology, sociology, yanno, the content of the discipline.
So, once again, let's bash the teacher ... and just for shits and giggles ... let's have some teachers join in to slit the throats of one of their own!
More flava:
"There are some great adjuncts, but most are under-qualified, overworked, underpaid, and bitter. I'm willing to bet that, like many other adjuncts, when [this adjunct] was in graduate school she received little to no training as to how to run a classroom. That's assuming she even made it through grad school, let alone a reputable, high-quality graduate program."
Yeah, because every doctoral program -- like Cathy's I'm sure -- is known for incorporating extensive training in educational pedagogy and not being laser focused on biology, theology, sociology, yanno, the content of the discipline.
So, once again, let's bash the teacher ... and just for shits and giggles ... let's have some teachers join in to slit the throats of one of their own!
Tactful, she wasn't. But I think her offered accommodation was reasonable: present questions and answers in writing.
ReplyDeleteA "profound stutter" means, as far as I know, that a student may take up to ten times as long to ask a question. That's going to seriously disrupt the classroom dynamic.
So writing the question or answer and handing it to the instructor seems reasonable.
Number 1) The circumstances of the story and article is really suspicious. Apparently the father of the boy has connections to local newspapers.
ReplyDeleteNumber 2) This really seems more like a 16 year old boy constantly asking poor questions and being immature. While a question like "why China’s 15th-century explorers... had not also reached North America" is okay once in a while, when questions like these get asked all the time I could see how the class gets derailed.
Raising his hand for 75 minutes, after being e-mailed by the professor, and then going straight to the dean and potentially his father makes him sound like he was unwilling to cooperate with the professor and deal with the problem himself.
The story sort of reminds me of the plot of "Nothing But the Truth". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_But_the_Truth_%28novel%29
The issue here seems to be that this instructor has been given no training in reasonable accommodations. I have had numerous students with these sorts of speech issues (stuttering, or speech impaired by CP). You have to sit down with the student in private and explain that of course they are free to speak in class, but that they need to be mindful of time and keep their responses as succinct as possible. It's good to learn to be succinct for a number of reasons anyway.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Red Vodka. The kid in question is obviously not emotionally or psychologically mature enough to thrive in a college setting. He pulls a childish prank and suddenly the instructor is at fault. If she teaches college, she cannot reasonably be expected to deal with kindergarten-level pranksters.
ReplyDeleteSo this kid has been homeschooled and sent to charter schools his whole life. It seems to me that he's not spent much time in a classroom setting and hasn't had to learn how to manage his disability. In their efforts to protect their son, his parents have handicapped him further.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm having trouble with the if-I-concentrate-hard-enough-I-barely-stutter thing. If he is capable of that why doesn't he write his questions down and read them aloud? Seems to me that is an excellent way of managing his disability without subjecting his classmates to a frustrating wait for him to finish.
I've taught for 15 years and have never received what I would deem adequate training in accommodating students. My graduate courses dealt with subject matter, not classroom management.
ReplyDeleteWe have the obligatory spiel from our Disabilities Support Services on campus saying we need to accommodate disabilities, but every time I've asked them to be more specific about the best ways to accommodate common disabilities, I'm told, "That's a good question. We'll have to get back to you on that." I have a slew of kids with anxiety, serious ADHD, other psych problems ranging from PTSD, bipolar disorder, and kleptomania (!), and no way of knowing how to even start accommodating them.
That said, I stutter. I always have and likely always will. I tell my students to bear with me, and they always do. I wouldn't have WANTED to speak in a large lecture class and would have loved the opportunity, as a student, to write questions and have them answered after class. This sounds like a kid who hasn't learned classroom behavior and that the world does not revolve around his immediate questions.
Any kid I've ever had who has self-identified as homeschooled has been needy, irritating, difficult and completely unaware that it is wrong to consume a vastly disproportionate amount of classroom time and teacher energy.
ReplyDelete(I'm sure there are lots of nice homeschooled kids, but the ones who trot that detail out on day one are always a pain)
Ah! Finally a situation that shows me how one might use Twitter in the classroom...
ReplyDeleteMy brother in law teaches at the College-it is his understanding that Prof. Synder has been teaching for 30 years.
ReplyDelete