12-18-2015, 10:57 PM
(12-18-2015, 07:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: A few things about this that are being misrepresented in all of this:
First, the assignment was about the calligraphy art of Islam. Having them write a random phrase wouldn't fit the unit because this was about the religious art as a part of the culture. The students were not given a translation, nor were they asked to translate it. It was only for the artistic aspects of it. Claims that this was indoctrination are far fetched to say the least.
Next up, the reason this became a public matter is because this mother saw the assignment and flipped (the student had no problem with it) and called for a meeting with the superintendent. She met with the superintendent and the teacher, but after doing nothing but verbally attacking/berating the teacher the superintendent asked the teacher to leave. The mother in question has said, and is quoted in the local paper as saying, if the teacher had only stayed in the room they could have resolved the problem. I don't know about any of you, but if someone is doing nothing but attacking me that is not a conversation I'm going to have, and apparently the superintendent did not see the mother's actions as productive to problem solving. Because this woman did not get her way, she called the community meeting that started the ruckus and has stated the teacher was trying to indoctrinate the students.
Because of this, the school system received a number of communications. The ones of most concern were the ones threatening the life of the teacher. Of course, some of the more heinous threats involved rape, public beheading, torture, things like that. A lot of the threats were also contained in communications proclaiming the Christian faith. Many churches in the area, mine included, have signed a document of support for the teacher. This is the county south of where I live. I know residents there, I know alumni of the school this happened at, and teachers there. All of this is quite concerning to everyone there and the vast majority of folks I have heard from have shown support for the teacher and the school and have been very upset with what the mother has done. Everyone is just hoping that things will calm down over the holidays to they can get back to things in January.
I am in agreement that something else would have been a better choice, but since this was about Islamic calligraphy there wouldn't have been anything non0religious to choose. Poor choice to start with, completely overblown reactions to it all. The worst part, to me, is that the mother that started this ball rolling has said she has no regrets after the schools had to close because of death threats.
So when did the social studies department start teaching calligraphy skills? I haven't been in a classroom for a few years but maybe Pat can let me know when the last time he taught any calligraphy.
The other stuff I can agree with you on. This whole lesson just seems out of place and unnecessary.
