Katherine Graff

DIVERSITY INCIDENT Session 2, Page 03, Activity 01

Course: EDUC 5329

Degree: M.Ed.T, Secondary, Foreign Languages (Arabic)

Standards: ACTFL, NCPTS (North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards)

Content practice test NOT TAKEN

TExES content exam NOT TAKEN

PPR practice test NOT TAKEN

TExES PPR 8-12 NOT TAKEN

The Professor That Taught What Was Not Intended

BACKGROUND

In the fall of 1995, I began my freshman year as an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I was advised to complete 60 hours of university required courses before declaring a major; I could explore different subjects and prepare myself to make a well-formed decision about my future career path. I took this advice and enrolled in “Religions of the World” as a humanities option. The course was described as an exploration of the various major religions throughout the world. I thought religion would be an excellent course to begin my college adventures. I knew a little about most of the major religions from my academic honors classes in high school and the subject was intriguing and exciting.

THE STORY

I attended my first class and took my place at a small, cramped desk among 20 other freshmen piled into a small classroom at the end of a long, dark hallway. We were greeted by a small man adorned with an unsmiling, icy white face glaring at us behind a long, thick black beard. As he introduced himself as our professor, he displayed an air of arrogance and smugness that made my insides cringe. He made it very clear that he was a devout Jew, and that he planned to focus most of his lessons on Judaism; we would touch lightly here and there on Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity. His skeleton syllabus reflected his vocal intentions, and the tone was set for the remainder of the class. This professor was boring, monotonous and disregarded any opinions submitted about the subject unless it was from Jewish students. His initial quizzes and tests (All on paper-multiple choice or matching) were almost impossible to pass unless you were a practicing Jew-I even attended temple with a Jewish friend for Rosh Hashanah to gain knowledge that I could use on a quiz about Rosh Hashanah, and I only achieved a “C”.

After about four weeks, I stopped attending class and focused on my other 12 hours of academia. I was so angered by this instructor’s policies, his personal conduct and classroom management skills that I could not continue as a student in his classroom. I received an “F” because the drop window had passed. I re-enrolled in the same class in the Spring of my sophomore year (1997) and had a wonderful teacher. He took us all over the world exploring the major religions in books and pulled out maps and texts for us to examine during class. He drew comparisons between the religions, asked critical thinking questions and answered any question posed with enthusiasm. I received a high “B” in this class and it is one of the best classes I had as an undergraduate.

ANALYZING THE PROBLEM

The first professor made several mistakes in his curriculum and presentation. First, his end goals for his students did not match the title of the course, “Religions of the World” or the course description provided by the university. Second, he did not take into account or care that he would have students of other religions, in attendance in his classroom. Third, his coursework was too difficult for the college’s diverse student population, so student-oriented success was not a major factor in curriculum development. Fourth, he maintained himself as the lone authority figure described in our Classroom Management book on Page 16, disregarding students thoughts and opinions on the class and materials. Fifth, he violated the law by imposing his religious beliefs and practices upon his students and by oppressing the religious beliefs and expressions of his students that were not of the Jewish faith. Of course, as a 19-year-old freshman, I was not aware of how bad this situation was, and unfortunately I did not report him. I may have saved myself an “F” and saved future students from my same situation.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS AND KNOWLEDGE GAINED

Laws concerning religion in public schools should be obeyed, especially if religion is the subject taught. I am subject to this since Islam is a major part of the Arabic Language. I know that there is “grey area” in some cases, but great effort should be made to comply with regulations at all times. Curriculum must be geared toward the success of all students with realistic end goals that coincide with the course description and student expectations. This concern can be equated with the difficulties faced by the Sioux students in our Classroom Management book on pages 8-10. The school’s unwillingness to be student centered rather than behavior centered fostered an environment under achievement and low student engagement. Attention should be paid to potential diversity issues in subject matter taught, information presentation, assessment, etc… Every effort should be made to create a comfortable environment in which delicate issues such as religion can be discussed without fear or reprimand. I take a quick, voluntary assessment of students’ experiences and opinions about religion and Islam in general so that I know what issues I can address in my presentations. I allow my students to have open discussion about religion in the classroom (controlled and monitored by me to prevent harassment) and ask any question they can think of. I encourage students to draw their own comparisons between their individual religious practices and Islam or other religions practiced in Arabic speaking countries. I also have a variety of Cloze activities, matching games and assessments to accommodate learning styles.

CONCLUSION

One of the best lessons in life I have learned is that I can learn something from anyone. I received an “F” in the first religion class, but I also gained understanding of the potentially unknown effects that a teacher who is not student-centered and has poor teaching skills can have on students. This experience motivates me to learn how I can improve myself as an educator and apply that knowledge in my classroom every day.