tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post1195398776824375532..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Round-Up for Tonight's Board MeetingMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-71308301090791799022010-11-18T20:54:59.074-08:002010-11-18T20:54:59.074-08:00I was telling my daughter about the case, and she ...I was telling my daughter about the case, and she said that she hoped Huxley hadn't meant to imply a pun on Brave New World and Indian braves (yes, she knows the Shakespeare quotation, so it wasn't that she wasn't recognizing that). I hope not, too. It would really have been ghastly. I don't think so, given that the "braves" thing doesn't come from the Southwest at all (more a James Fenimore Cooper thing).<br /><br />Helen Schinskehschinskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10316478950862562594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-23754194532639790942010-11-18T17:24:23.341-08:002010-11-18T17:24:23.341-08:00Helen - thanks. I just read through the documents ...Helen - thanks. I just read through the documents on it, and the professional development makes more sense.<br /><br />I feel for the parent. I feel for the kid. Even so, I don't quite understand making the jump from "this book has offensive material that needs to be handled and discussed in a culturally sensitive way" to "this book should not be taught. At all."Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12795753563127975720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-49032641778562197722010-11-18T10:18:56.274-08:002010-11-18T10:18:56.274-08:00Meg, it was the supe herself who used the term &qu...Meg, it was the supe herself who used the term "professional development." If you've got a particular book on your syllabus that's fairly central and that you've been teaching for a while, and you see some pitfalls in the way it's been getting taught, yeah, it would make sense to have professional development. <br /><br />PD can take many forms, including teachers meeting to hash out various approaches to the book, perhaps with an outside voice facilitating, but with the basic decisions being school-based.<br /><br />(There were also posts about this issue on the Nov. 11, 2010, Friday open thread, if anyone is interested.)<br /><br />Helen Schinskehschinskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10316478950862562594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-53077884917615470082010-11-18T08:40:21.181-08:002010-11-18T08:40:21.181-08:00Given how subjective the interpretation of any pie...Given how subjective the interpretation of any piece of literature is, should there really be professional development devoted to a single work of it? Sure, there are generally-agreed upon ways to view the themes of widely read and discussed books, but... pushing a certain way to teach a work of literature sounds uncomfortably like standardization to me, something I don't agree with.<br /><br />Literature can be really, really uncomfortable, and is often intentionally so. Refusing to teach it because characters or even the book itself expresses racist/classist/sexist ideas seems crazy to me. Maybe I'm missing something.<br /><br />I'm with the Superintendent here.Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12795753563127975720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-39476919628846570602010-11-17T19:34:45.705-08:002010-11-17T19:34:45.705-08:00Okay, but if you had heard (and I will write this ...Okay, but if you had heard (and I will write this up) the staff person, Kathleen Vasquez' tortured explanation of why they don't have PD yet, then you would at least suspend the use of the book. It was unbelievable and clearly shows she believes the teachers aren't ready.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-10714307667427499392010-11-17T18:30:32.377-08:002010-11-17T18:30:32.377-08:00I am with the Supe on this one too.I am with the Supe on this one too.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09923777229601243321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-52129852236517505822010-11-17T18:04:25.102-08:002010-11-17T18:04:25.102-08:00I am amazed I agree with the superintendent as wel...I am amazed I agree with the superintendent as well on this one. Perhaps hell just froze over?<br /><br />Better teaching of the book; not banning the book is the correct path here.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12875541753709754758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-91526872963093623922010-11-17T17:52:38.338-08:002010-11-17T17:52:38.338-08:00My heavens. I actually agreed with the superintend...My heavens. I actually agreed with the superintendent on something. Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket.<br /><br />Helen Schinskehschinskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10316478950862562594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-48118029360489712692010-11-17T17:27:49.010-08:002010-11-17T17:27:49.010-08:00Someone in Times comments on Jesse's article s...Someone in Times comments on Jesse's article says a similar thing about West Seattle back then.Chris S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17016898261120819596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-33601949184715417892010-11-17T16:51:54.999-08:002010-11-17T16:51:54.999-08:00Chunga, I only just found out about this. I don&#...Chunga, I only just found out about this. I don't know the particulars only that TFA was indeed here and was at RBHS and while a couple of teachers were good, there was a lot of staff time in hand-holding and basically mentoring these teachers. That it didn't stick says something.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-1694318257847818572010-11-17T16:22:13.233-08:002010-11-17T16:22:13.233-08:00Melissa - what happened 16 years ago with TFA at S...Melissa - what happened 16 years ago with TFA at SPS?chungahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11106667474153634408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60105712147400000942010-11-17T15:05:54.008-08:002010-11-17T15:05:54.008-08:00Phyllis Fletcher of KUOW did a story on the materi...Phyllis Fletcher of KUOW did <a href="http://kuow.org/program.php?id=21881" rel="nofollow">a story</a> on the materials appeal. It was a balanced story that did a good job of explaining the issue.<br /><br />The text in question is Brave New World. While there isn't anything inherently wrong with the text, it isn't taught properly. Huxley's use of Native Americans as a metaphor for natural human life as opposed to the artifice-filled lives of mainstream society in his dystopic vision requires more careful treatment than most schools and teachers give it.<br /><br />The superintendent says that the solution is to train the teachers to teach it right.<br /><br />From Ms Fletcher's article:<br />"<i>A Seattle School District committee agreed to take "Brave New World" off the curriculum at Nathan Hale High School. But Sarah Sense–Wilson wanted Superintendent Maria Goodloe–Johnson to take it off the curriculum for the whole district. The superintendent found the book had not been taught in an appropriate or sensitive way at Hale. But she told Sense–Wilson the proper remedy for that was professional development for teachers who want to use the book.</i>"Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.com