Thursday, February 18, 2010
Week 4 - Professionalism in teaching
Now that you have read chapter 2 about the professionalization of teaching and we discussed a few of the issues in class, I would like for you to reflect upon your 13+ years of schooling and the examples your teachers have set for you. You need to think of a time, experience, or memory of a teacher doing or saying something that exemplified that he/she was truly a well-respected professional. OR you can write about a time, experience, or memory of a teacher doing or saying something that was not professional. Do not use names when you are talking about this teacher. It can be a simple issue like "One of my high school teachers always wore shorts to school." Or it can be a complex issue such as "One of the high school teachers used to go to student parties on the weekend and drink alcohol in front of the students." After you state the issue, type a few sentences about why you thought it was professional or unprofessional and how it affected your learning. Please be sensitive to the fact that this topic is very subjective. Something you might think is unprofessional another person might think is not a big deal. Let's be aware of people's differing opinions. We need to make sure we keep this post PROFESSIONAL:-)
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I went to FHN and these are 5 incidents were former teachers acted very unprofessionally.
ReplyDelete1. A substitute teacher/coach had a relationship with one of the students. They dated and went to parties together objecting to specualtions and now that the girl is out of highschool there are very open about being a couple.
2. Someone very close to me had an affair with a teacher/coach while he(the student) was dating another person.
3. A teacher/coach secretly was seeing one of his students behind his wife's back. The female student got in an argument and her friend turned the student in as well as the teacher.
4. A teacher in charge of the prom committe stole money from the organization.
5. A teacher was arrested, charged, and found guilty for possesion of child pornography.
During many of these incidents the law is broken. That alone is unprofessional. Also, for 1,2, and 3, the dating or sexual contact with minors is highly immoral. We all have temptations but place of business is no place to act on them. Also, as teachers, these people are trend setters for their pupils and sometimes huge role models to some of their students. They have to set good examples for their students and peers, as well as themselves.
I also went to FHN and can contest to all of Zachary's examples!! The one that I was most directly involved with was the prom committe teacher in charge taking money from the fund. I was apart of the prom committe and had no idea anything was going on. It was a complete shock when this person was found guilty of stealing. I felt hurt and very upset that this person would do this! It was such a slap in the face for all the students that worked so hard to have a nice senior prom with the "limited" funds we had when really we had ALOT more money than was given to our budget. I will only have one senior prom and now my memories are tainted with the thought of someone stealing and lying. Teachers are in a place of respect and should be a role model to the students in their school.
ReplyDeleteMy "teacher/student" relationship story is possibly just a rumor. We had a sub step in when one of our teachers had a baby. This sub was rumored to be having a relationship with a student. Whether this is true or not, I'm not sure, but I was in his class and can confirm that there was obviously some familiarity going on between the two that was definitely unprofessional. Whether the rumor is true or not, if she had kept the boundary, perhaps the rumor never would have started.
ReplyDeleteA true case I have seen was during sixth grade. My math teacher believed his classroom was the soapbox for everything he wanted to talk about- from how the internet will take over, and websites will be on products everywhere, to how he loved acid jazz and his favorite types of music. Even though math is useless and a terrible subject to have to study, I definitely needed to pay attention and learn the reason the alphabet made its way into this terrible subject. Suffice it to say I did not do well, due in part to the fact that nowhere on any test was there any mention of Pepsi's website, or the fact that acid jazz was great to listen to. If anyone needed a blog, he did.
I went to Lee's Summit North High School in Lee's Summit, MO. There was a teacher at my school that i found unprofessional. He would go to Royals games with students, house parties, and even spend the night at student's houses from my school. Most people knew about it, and so no one took him seriously or respected him. I believe that he is very close to getting caught and I hope that he does because it is affecting the students ability to learn in his classroom.
ReplyDeleteMy story is about a former teacher’s, bad decisions that had nothing to do with students or the class room but affected his carrier…. I had a high school teacher that was fresh out of college. I think he was 23 or 24. He always got along with us on a more personal level. Not in an inappropriate way but we closer in age so it just made since, we had the same interest. One night my former teacher was at a bar and got into some trouble with the police. Somehow his car ended up being searched and they found a bag of pot and some coke in his car and he was charged with these substances and lost his job. It’s hard for me to remember the details of this story but my point is, we are all young and will be when we get out of college and start our jobs. Even if we are not inappropriate in the class room or with students, we we still need to watch what we do in our free time and out side lives because our decisions can come and bit us in the butts…
ReplyDeleterespose to brooke.....
ReplyDeleteI really dont understand how some teachers think its okay to party and spend the night with there students. I personally have a large age rang of friends and can connect with people on many levels but no matter how close you are in age and how you could totally see ur self hanging with someone out side the class room your there teacher now so things change no matter if it seemes to be a big deal or not thats the role you put on when you take that job.
In my junior year of high School, I was taking a prep course for the ACT test and the teacher was very young, close to my age. Some of the male students were making lewd comments about this teacher's girl friend. Secondly, he would take the time to look up stuff non related to the course on the internet, plus the teacher would not disicpline the boys. This happened at FHN. I didn't finish the course, and my parents and I reported him. Another incident happened on a swimteam, I was in middle school but in outside swim team. One of the coaches was fired, suddenly. Rumours had it, that it the coach was allowing underage drinking. Anyone who knew, was not allowed to talk about it. It was very mysterious and to this day unprofessional.
ReplyDeleteI agree Anna and Zachary, with how FHN is starting to gain a reputation for unprofessionalism amoungst their teachers. I have bever heard of those incidents but all those have been servrely unprofessional.
ReplyDeleteMy story is about one of the principals at my high school (before i attended). He was apparently have a relationship with one of the 18 year old girls. He broke it off though, while she was still in school. Once she graduated they started dating. and now they are married with 2 children. He quit being principal the year she graduated. That is very very irresponsible and very unprofessional.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with erica b. We are getting older and we need to grow up, we cannot play these little college games anymore. Our parents are not going to bail us out anymore. It also sets a really bad example for the students.
ReplyDeleteOne of the teachers at hazelwood west had multiple relations with students. He had to get a lawyer to protect him from loosing his job. He was also seen at high school parties with big rumors that he did coke. Acting like that is not acceptable in anyway
ReplyDeleteI also agree though some of us will be close in age, it is not appropriate to go to the same parties as the students or have relations with them.
ReplyDeleteThis past fall, one of the hall monitors/assistant coaches at my high school was rumored to have had a sexual relationship with one of the students. He was arrested, charged, and lost his job. I heard about this not only from students at the school but on the news as well. This behavior is extremely unprofessional and immoral. I do not regard this staff member in the same way that I used to view him. It did not personally affect my learning because I had already graduated, but I certainly do not think highly of him. He should have exhibited more self-control and professionalism in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteI can remember when my fourth grade teacher freaked out on a student in front of the whole class. The teacher got made because the student would not listen to her. He opened up his desk pretending to get something when the teacher came over and slamed it shut. when she did she caught both of his arms in the desk. Then the student started crying and then the teacher took him out in the hall and talked to him. I think that if the teacher would have pulled the kid out in the first place the whol incedent would have been avoided. I think that is one of the most unprofesional moves i have witnessed a teacher make.
ReplyDeletein response to Zachary Klings number one.
ReplyDeleteWe had the exact same incedent happen at my high school. But once the girl graduated and they made it public the school looked at the coach a different way and fired him the nexed time he sliped up because they did not want him teaching at that school.
when i was in the sixth grade i had a teacher that would allow me to eat lunch with her and would treat me with special care. i was just nice to her and she was nice back. i know what most people think, well something is going on, or thats not right for her to give him special treatment. however that teacher changed my life. she inspired me to be a teacher and i introduced her to my father. and they began to talk and dated. after a few years my teacher and my father got engaged. i would like to know if anyone thinks she was unprofessional. honestly its a question i respect all comments.
ReplyDeletein response to Lauramarie Olesnicki's post i heard of a similar story near my high school. i find it hard to believe that the hall monitor was arrested do to rumors. and if he or she was that is wrong. im sure that more had to been investigated to get the man arrested.
ReplyDeleteJames,
ReplyDeleteI used the word "rumored" incorrectly. What I meant to convey was that I don't know for sure if he did or if he did not (simply because I have not talked to the hall monitor or the girl with whom he supposedly had a relationship), but he allegedly did it, and eventually the truth was admitted that he did. I didn't mean to convey that the hall monitor was arrested simply on a rumor; he was investigated, then proper actions were taken.
Wow, Zachary, there was a teacher that got caught with child porography? How do people like that get a teaching degree in the first place? Thats just ironic in a really bad way.
ReplyDeleteMy construction instructor/teacher in high school was in my mind very unproffesional. Although i had a good relationship with him at the time i now realize how un proffesional he was. Many days if there was nothing to do he would just tell us to clean the shop and look busy in case the principle would walk by. Meanwhile he would either talk on the phone or play on his computer. Although i liked the class because it was easy i wish i would have learned more. In his support though at times he could present himself very proffesionally but it was just a cover up.
ReplyDeleteI went to pattonville and for the most part all of my teachers were very professional and never had anything more than a student teacher relationship. I've heard of students dating teachers at close school districts, and I don't think that is professional at all. The teacher even if they are close in age to the students, should always keep it at student teacher relationship.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of my classmates when saying that we will be close in age with some of our students and shouldn't go to high school parties or be anything more that student ad teacher.
ReplyDeleteI could definitely share some stories about unprofessional behavior in the classroom, but my story is about a teacher I believed acted professionally. My senior year of high school I took a college credit composition class. I had a bad case of "senioritis" and subsequently failed to turn in a paper that was a big part of our grade. I made up some lame excuses, skipped her class, and even led the teacher to believe I had completed the paper and simply forgotten it at home. A few days went by before she realized she had been duped. She decided to call my parents to have an important discussion with them; she knew I was planning on attending MIZZOU in the fall and she believed I wasn't ready to go away to college. Turns out, she was right. I know that it was probably extremely difficult to tell my parents that their daughter who could do no wrong in their eyes could in fact do some wrong. Not to mention, she and I had a good rapport and I'm sure she knew that phone call would affect our relationship. I share this story because I'm not the same person I was 5 years ago when I graduated high school and although it was unpleasant to hear someone tell you something like that, I sincerely appreciate her honesty and professional opinion. I think she handled a situation she could have easily avoided, extremely professionally.
ReplyDeleteI see how most of you have said that it would be innappropriate for us as teachers to be going to parties with students that are around our own age...but would it still be unprofessional to hang out with the parents of a student we are teaching?? I plan on teaching 5th grade and obviously these children wont be having parties at that age, but if I see a parent of a student at say happy hour or at a social event would it still be unprofessional to have a drink with that person even though I teach their children??
ReplyDeleteWhile my high school never had a reputation for teacher-student 'extracurricular' relations, they didn't lack in the sub-professionalism department. I went to high school in a small town...one of those where everyone knows everyone else's business and diversity is not something people always accept. Anyway, I know of at least two teachers from my school that got in trouble for targeting or paying special (negative) attention to a number of our small population of non-white students. It was, honestly, blatant racism...humiliating them in the middle of class and things of that nature. Of course, even when a few students stood up for the others and notified the school board, nothing much came of it. I'm not even sure if the board really tried to look into the matter.
ReplyDeleteTo those who have commented on "temptations" in relation to students...I think that if you feel students might be a temptation for you, you probably shouldn't be teaching. I'm not addressing anyone specifically, I'm just saying in general, I think it's absurd that an adult in the teaching profession could even be attracted to a student. I really don't understand it.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Anna, I think the appropriateness of hanging out with a parent of a student all depends on how you handle the situation. What you do outside of your job is your own business as long as it does not affect your job. What I mean is, as long as you don't treat the child of that parent any differently than you normally would, everything is fine, in my eyes. Two consenting adults hanging out is completely on the level in my book as long as it doesn't carry over in any way (positively or negatively) to the student who's parent you are socializing with.
ReplyDeleteIn Oakville High School a teacher got into a kids face and was yelling at him and then hit him up side the head.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jimmy O'Brien that we should not go to high school parties it doesn't matter if we are the same age I think it is not right to have student hang out with teachers.
ReplyDeleteI had a very good highschool career I feel like, no teachers did anything completely off the charts or anything like that. However in college, at another school, I had coaches hanging out with players and treating them different. I dont agree with that because all of the other players can regonize this and its not fair to them.
ReplyDeleteI have to comment on Zachary's comment...I was super shocked when I read that!! That is just crazy. How does that happen in one school?? How were your parents about that and did you students think it was crazy?
ReplyDeleteJames,
ReplyDeleteThat can be a tricky situation, but I think that it was fine in your case. Actually, it reminds me of a middle-school book series (the "Alice" books, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor). I think it would have been unprofessional for your teacher to spend time with you if she were interested only in your father, but this doesn't seem like what happened.
For the most part throughout my years in school there haven't been any incidents that I know of. The only one that i can think of was just a rumor of one of the teachers at my high school, Pattonville, was smoking marijuana on school grounds after school hours with a student. However, that may of been just rumors, but the teacher was forced to resign very quickly. For the most part though thats all I can really think of.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with my brother Jimmy that even though we migh be around the same age we should never attend a high school party, or have nothing more then a normal student-teacher relationship. If your a teacher attending a high school party thats a little sketchy.
ReplyDeleteIn my High School I didn't have an experiecnce were a teacher did something out of line but I did have a teacher who showed great proffesionalism. When I was in High School I had a teacher who had problems with another student. The student started goin around spreading rumors about the teacher smoking marijuana. Instead of the teacher taking actions into his own hands he went to the school board and reported the student. He could of easily approached the student and took action in to his own hands but that could have led to a very big argument or a fight. He showed great proffsionalism by doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everybody who said teachers should keep a teacher/student relationship no matter how old they are.
ReplyDeleteI went to Pattonville High School and though generaly teachers were very profesional, some were not. One teacher I had was very racist and voiced his opinion very openly. This was very hard for me to witness but many kids didn't seem to notice. Another teacher was caught having a relationship with a girl who played on my softball team with me. This teacher had a wife and kids which made the whole issue even worse.
ReplyDeleteOverall both of these issues are serious and very unprofesional. Regardless of your belifes on race, religion or anything I believe teachers should keep some things from their students, such as being racist. Also, I believe that any realtionship with a student is unjust, regardless of how close the age difference is, they are your student and you are an adult.
I think all of the problems at FHN are crazy. I can't believe a teacher stold money from the prom fund, that is really messed up. I guess that all schools have some type of teachers stepping out of line which is really surprising to me, but i guess we can all now see the examples of the types of teachers we dont want to be, and the ones we do.
ReplyDeleteI went to Fox High school and as far as I know there haven’t been and student/teacher relationship. Granted there have been some sketchy substitutes, but that has never seemed to be an issue. But last year the head track coach got fired for unprofessionalism. One of the sprinters shoved one of the long distance runners and very kiddingly the coach playfully "pushed" (for a lack of a better term) the sprinter and laughed and said hey don’t push the ld kids. Now while this is unprofessional take into consideration how football coaches are really rough with this team. I personally don’t think he should have been fired for it, maybe just punished? This could be because i know the coach personally. Ironically the sprinter the coach pushed was also the superintendants son, so things hit the fan and the coach was fired.
ReplyDeleteAll of the track team was very upset and many kids threatened to quit the team and many coaches threatened to quit coaching. But that did not stop the superintendant.
One of the teachers in my school (which includes an elementary, middle, and high school), who was an elementary school teacher, had a sexual relationship with a sophomore in high school. She was on my softball team and I caught the two together in the batting cage. It was GROSS!!! He was 24 and she was 16. That is wrong on so many levels! I think that it was so unprofessional. Also, my high school basketball coach my sophomore year had high school girls over to his house to spend the night. I think we all know what was going on at that house. Ha! Well I think it is very wrong for ANY teacher, whether it is a student teacher or not, to be involved sexually or romantically with a high school student.
ReplyDeleteWell I went to Hazelwood West and there was an incident on the news about two years ago about the wrestling coach hooking up with a hand full of senior girls. I certainly believe he did mess with those girls because he is not much older than the students and he just looks like the type.Nothing got pinned on him, he was suspended for a little while and came back.To this day students know him as the teacher/coach who hooked up with those girls from 2008.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that teachers should not be attracted to their students. It is disgusting to be attracted to your students. As teachers, we need to be professionals because if we are put on the news for any reason, be it positive or negative, we are representing the schools we teach for and we need to present them in a positive manner, not in a manner that may embarrass our schools.
ReplyDeleteKorey...
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the temptations. Many younger teachers (especially woman) like to dress in the clothes that are fashionable at the time or what is in, which a problem can possibly arise from. The way the teachers dress portray them more than they believe, if a teacher is going to wear a skirt, it should be at least to the knee and worn with pantyhose. This is not only self respect, but respescts your students as well. If the teacher is dressing as an adult, they should be treated as an adult.
To Stephanie Bergman
ReplyDeleteWow, I have never heard of a principal mingling with a student. Principals do not even see individual students that frequently compared to teachers, So how does that happen?
when I was a Junior I had a teacher who was our driving instructor. He has gotten caught taping the pom cheerleading team during their stretching on numerous occasions, but because he was such a good coach for our winning football team; no one fired this ten year teacher. He was also a sub for our social studies class and if you wore to low of a shirt or a skirt and were late for class you had to do push ups. No matter what. Eventually he changed that rule and now you must wear a big stinky shirt that never gets washed if you come late to class. He made us all feel really uncomfortable and he let us all cheat in class too.
ReplyDeletethis is to Kari,
ReplyDeleteThat is really gross, I had a coach who was "dating" one of my bowling team friends. I don't understand how they think they are being smart aobout things. I guess some people can't control their hormones...
When i was in my junior year of high school one of my best friends was dating one of the com tech teachers in our high school. I was put in a bad position because the principal was one of my other friends dad and My jriend dating the teacher always came to me with her bf problems. it was really akward. But in the end the teacher was fired and my friend ended up breaking up with him thank god!
ReplyDeleteThat football coach was very unprofessional. Taping cheerleaders has nothing to do with his profession. if i knew he was doing that i would be totally creeped out.
ReplyDelete