View Full Version : Teacher Bullies Students Supporting McCain
The following video shows an Asheville, NC teacher asking her grade-school students which presidential candidate they support. She is obviously incredulous that any student could like McCain. One little girl, whose father is deployed, also expresses her support for McCain. This ignorant and shameless excuse for a teacher proceeds to browbeat the girl and insinuate that her choice will cause her father to be in the military for "...another hundred years". Asheville should be ashamed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f39Juf8rgo
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free...it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson
72_Wilderness
11-07-2008, 04:45
I could be mad, I could rant and rave about the video. I wonder if it is real, can someone be that stupid?
Instead I'll sit back and appreciate and respect all my grade school teachers and all the other mentors I have had so far.
Thank you.
72W
Definitely a little bias at the front of the room and no fair and balanced approach to her curriculum.
If she would have mentioned that what both John McCain and Obama said during their campaigns where nothing more than purposals i.e. campaign promises and discussed how much of what is promised in campaigns is hot air she might fulfill her role as a educator instead of a community organizer or campaign hack.
Thank you NEA.
Definitely a little bias at the front of the room and no fair and balanced approach to her curriculum.
If she would have mentioned that what both John McCain and Obama said during their campaigns where nothing more than purposals i.e. campaign promises and discussed how much of what is promised in campaigns is hot air she might fulfill her role as a educator instead of a community organizer or campaign hack.
Thank you NEA.
Another option to maximize the 'teachable moment' would for the teacher to have made her students make a reasoned and affirmative argument in favor of the candidate they did not prefer. (So the students who supported the president-elect would have to argue why Senator McCain deserved to be president.) Such an exercise would have taught the class how to discuss contentious issues with intellectual intensity and civility.
Regardless, that teacher sickens me. She clearly makes a habit of browbeating all of her students to further her own beliefs.
Asheville should be ashamed.
We should all be ashamed. We have allowed our primary education system to become an indoctrination center for Marxist ideology. I am certain everyone here understands the implications of that.
Glenn Beck quoted Stalin this morning on his show. Stalin stated that the U.S. would be co-opted into socialism by indorctrinating it's youth. You are living that reality at this time.
First of all - is a teacher even allowed to elicit political preference from his or her students?
Second - These kids, in my opinion, are like eight years old, and the teacher is going at them like they're activists. What a waste of time spent in class.
To quote Napoleon Dynamite, "Guaghhh"
Such an exercise would have taught the class how to discuss contentious issues with intellectual intensity and civility.
That would have required intellect and a civil nature on the part of the teacher, neither of which were exhibited.
Apparently, Asheville has been hearing from irate citizens and felt the need to respond. Note, in the article, they claim she left the school district in 2004. Odd, considering neither Obama nor McCain were yet selected by their parties.
In addition, the author and filmmaker try to write her actions off as merely a teaching 'style'.
Asheville – The producer of a film that features a former Asheville schoolteacher talking presidential politics in the classroom defended the teacher in an interview today.
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Swedish filmmaker Folke Ryden said teacher Diantha Harris was “exaggerating” when she told a child her father would stay in the military for 100 years if McCain won the election.
Bloggers are off the mark in saying Harris was “belittling” a child during the May lesson in her Cumberland County classroom, he said.
Harris is a dedicated teacher who used humor – like saying “Oh Lord” and “Oh Jesus” when the fifth-grader said she supported McCain.
That language was intended to fire up her class and engage students in a discussion, Ryden said in a telephone interview from Sweden.
Bloggers have wrongly identified Harris as still teaching in Asheville. She left the city school system in 2004.
Subjects in the film “From Bill to Barack” all have a tie to the 1992 election.
Then-President Bush visited Harris that year at her Asheville home.
The film aired Monday on Finland’s Swedish language Channel Five. It focused on what ordinary Americans were thinking in the run up to the election.
The clip with Harris this week drew fire from bloggers after it showed up on YouTube. The Tundra Tabloids, a blog about Islamic extremism, said she “willingly browbeat and belittled a student in class for her choice of a presidential candidate.”
Ryden said Harris’ statement near the end of the segment to a fifth-grader student supporter McCain and whose father was in the military was clearly a joke.
“It's a senseless war,” Harris says to a student named Kathy in the film.
“And by the way, Kathy, the person you are picking for president said that our troops will stay in Iraq for another 100 years if they need to. So that means your daddy is going to be in the military for another hundred years.”
In the film, the girl appears on the verge of tears and says nothing in return to Harris.
The filmmaker said people are seeing what they want to see in the clip.
“I think there are a lot of McCain voters out there who are very disappointed,” he said. “And they have kind of interpreted the situation in a very evil way because our feeling on Mrs. Harris is that she had a very special relationship with her students.”
He said Harris used an exaggerated personality to get students interested in the discussion.
“For instance she is just using a lot of exaggerations and one of those exaggerations is when she says to one of the students ‘well your dad has to stay in the military for another 100 years,’ which of course everyone knows is a joke,” he said. “And I think her students know that as well. But if you want to, of course you can interpret the situation in a way that is not favorable for her, for the teacher, and I think that is what you are seeing.”
But Ryden also said Harris’ demeanor in the classroom gave him enough pause to ask her to clarify during an interview later in her home. She can be seen wearing a Barack Obama button.
“Now I can support whomever I want to support, as long as I don't browbeat another person for the candidate that they supported,” she says in the interview away from the classroom. “Like I have some students that support John McCain, and when they told me that, I said ‘that's good' and I just moved on.”
Ryden said he decided to include the interview at her home right after the classroom scene to show how the election was evident in a person’s everyday life.
“Obviously she doesn’t see herself at all as favorable one candidate over another. She doesn’t look at it that way,” he said. “But in fact we felt that you could get that feeling. But at the same time, I have to say that she truly, truly loved her students and was an extraordinary teacher. But she is, like so many this, year carried away with the extraordinary feeling that Barack Obama is so important to the country.”
The film, which features about 15 minutes of footage of Harris and her family and also features Asheville, could be available in English by Monday.
For more information, go to Ryden’s Web site, folkeryden.com.
Harris on Thursday said she wasn’t being critical of the student and that the footage is heavily edited. She said it does not show her making faces and throwing up her hands when one student said he supported Obama.
Ryden said the clip with Harris got little editing.
“It has been shortened in a few places due to time limits but it is pretty much uninterrupted,” he said.
He said he asked Harris to talk about politics that day because she told him she had discussed the topic many times before with her students.
Jon Ostendorff Call Jon at 828-452-1467 or e-mail JOstendorff@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200881107020
"Oh Lawd" If this is a public school she should be dismissed. NC public schools most certainly do NOT encourage this kind of behavior. If it is a private school it is up to the admin, parents, and alum to make that call.
From another article by the same journalist as the previous article, Jon Ostendorff:
Some bloggers on Thursday wrongly identified Harris as an Asheville teacher. She left Asheville in 2004 and now teaches fifth grade in Cumberland County.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811070349
So, did this incident happen in the Cumberland County school system? Apparently, Jon doesn't feel this is important. Only, that the bloggers are wrong, and she is not an Asheville school teacher.
Apparently, Asheville has been hearing from irate citizens and felt the need to respond. Note, in the article, they claim she left the school district in 2004. Odd, considering neither Obama nor McCain were yet selected by their parties.
In addition, the author and filmmaker try to write her actions off as merely a teaching 'style'.
Bloggers are off the mark in saying Harris was “belittling” a child during the May lesson in her Cumberland County classroom, he said.
She left Ashville in 2004. She was teaching in Cumberland County (Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg, NC) in May of 2008 when this was filmed.
Ok, so the first article mentions, almost as a side note, the incident happened in a Cumberland County School. Unless you are from NC, I suspect I am not the only one confused as to where the incident took place.
Here is the website for her school. The admin's info is there if anyone would care to contact them with a response: http://www.mmes.ccs.k12.nc.us/
I taught with Cumberland County and KNOW for a fact that is kind of behavior is not endorsed particularly in such an abundant military population.
ZonieDiver
11-07-2008, 11:52
That would have required intellect and a civil nature on the part of the teacher, neither of which were exhibited.
Precisely! "Teachers" of this ilk, and they are legion in education, see NOTHING wrong with the approach she took. The "snide" comments, couched as humor, but actually very belittling to a child, are frequently used.
Parents need to start taking back our public schools. Teachers are powerless in most instances. Two or three parents who really raise a stink can have an impact. Unfortunately, for too many years the parents who have done this are ones who have a mindset such as that "teacher". Parents with an opposing view take their children out and find a more appropriate private, charter, or public school setting.
We need to stop this and take back our public schools. It will be a battle, but it can be won - and it is a battle we need to fight. Now.
Precisely! "Teachers" of this ilk, and they are legion in education, see NOTHING wrong with the approach she took. The "snide" comments, couched as humor, but actually very belittling to a child, are frequently used.
Parents need to start taking back our public schools. Teachers are powerless in most instances. Two or three parents who really raise a stink can have an impact. Unfortunately, for too many years the parents who have done this are ones who have a mindset such as that "teacher". Parents with an opposing view take their children out and find a more appropriate private, charter, or public school setting.
We need to stop this and take back our public schools. It will be a battle, but it can be won - and it is a battle we need to fight. Now.
Let me add to this to say that they need to increase teachers' salaries. When I was with CCS I was actually paying to work there. I was committed when I started and ready to be committed by the time I left :)
When you go with the lowest bidder on a job, you are getting the bottom of the barrel. Granted you do get a few who are genuinely committed to teaching and have a love of education. However, more than 75% of the teachers I worked with were paycheck teachers who acted like it was a bother to be there. Another 15% or so were too scared of repercussion from the County or school administration that they seemed browbeaten and afraid to say boo to anyone let alone stick their neck out when they see something like this. Then you had about 10% who were really effective teachers.
"Cuz yo daddy in the military!"
Welcome to the new America. Socialist indoctrination in elementary school. Most of us had to wait for college for the true indoctrination attempts to begin.
I am a product of the Cumberland Country School system and I guarantee I would have been suspended or expelled if she said that to me at that age.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=309760
By way of contrast, one of the first and still the best lessons I learned about what it means to be an American came from a liberal teacher while I was in junior high school.
The day after President Reagan was shot, a fellow student lamented that Dutch had survived. The student was being more of a jerk teenager than anything else.
The teacher nearly exploded. You could tell he was restraining himself from attacking the kid. "THAT'S MY PRESIDENT," he snarled. He checked himself and lowered his voice without altering his tone. "I didn't vote for the guy, but that's my president."
This school is located on Village Drive behind Cape Fear Valley Hospital and Bordeaux Shopping Center.
I told you about the school system here. Parents, you need to keep a good conversation going with you kids and swing by the school pretty regular.
Since your kids spend so much time with them you should get to know the teachers.
ZonieDiver
11-07-2008, 15:27
This school is located on Village Drive behind Cape Fear Valley Hospital and Bordeaux Shopping Center.
I told you about the school system here. Parents, you need to keep a good conversation going with you kids and swing by the school pretty regular.
Since your kids spend so much time with them you should get to know the teachers.
This is a great idea! As a longtime classroom teacher, I always welcome parents into my class - though at the HS level, few ever show up. When they do, a student's entire demeanor often changes. I have noticed some teacher's entire demeanor, classroom presentation, and activity level in the classroom change, too, with the arrival of a parent. Almost better than an unannounced visit by Admin! :)
Kids in K-5 love their parents to come for lunch. Every couple of weeks you should take a long lunch hour and go to their school and "Do Lunch" with your kid.
Take two extra large orders of fries and you'll be "Da' Man" at your table.
...I always welcome parents into my class - though at the HS level, few ever show up. When they do, a student's entire demeanor often changes. I have noticed some teacher's entire demeanor, classroom presentation, and activity level in the classroom change, too, with the arrival of a parent. Almost better than an unannounced visit by Admin! :)
I always invite parents to visit almost anytime...but ask them to show us the courtesy to call and schedule their visit(s) to ensure it doesn't interfere with some already scheduled activities--e.g., PSAT, ACT, SAT, etc. If a teacher or principal balks at parent visitations, there's usually something wrong...and sometimes it's the parent's fault and not the teacher's. I always check lesson plans and sit down with a parent before such a visit to make sure they (1) have an idea of what they will (or should) be seeing that day and to (2) go over the school's rules with them. I have also required parents to attend classes with their kids all day long for days or weeks (one was for an entire semester) in lieu of suspension; you'd be amazed at how well that really works with high schoolers. :D
As for the Youtube video--people behave differently in front of cameras and, even by taking that into consideration, she looks like a marginally trained yet experienced teacher trying (but failing) to discuss a complexly serious topic in a Socratic mannner (whose concept she clearly does not understand) with little or poor preparation. I would put her on probation and we would be developing her lesson plans together for awhile to see if she has just gotten lazy or burned out and needs to hang it up; we'd be doing unannounced 'drop in' observations several times a week with an AAR during the next plan period following the class which was observed; she'd be doing observations of and being observed and critiqued/retaught by the best 'master teacher' on campus; and she'd be taped to use for discussions on her speech patterns, classroom procedures and techniques, body language, etc. I would also arrange her to attend a number of 1-2 day professional training sessions available through our Ed Agency Region. Best case--she'd get it together and turn into a capable teacher; worst case--she'd be fired; and in my experience with such action, >50% of the time she'd leave on her own anyway because we were demanding too much of her. And so it goes. ;)
Remember - the 'art' of teaching is difficult to master; some people are naturals, many are capable or proficient, and some have just gotten on the wrong bus altogether and need to get off at the next stop.
Richard's $.02 :munchin
As a former school resource officer for two different middle schools and one high school, I can say without a doubt, the parents were always welcomed and made a huge impact on their kids and others. The staff and teachers welcomed the involvement as well. Any chance to get informed/ involved was GTG. Great info, Richard.
Mrs. Harris, the teacher in the video, has been getting some heat. She claims the video was doctored to make her look like an Obama partisan. She also blames the uproar on McCain supporters upset about the election. Yeah, she is not a partisan. :rolleyes:
...Nonetheless, schools Superintendent Bill Harrison took an unusual step Friday of making his own YouTube video, in which he reads a statement saying he was “shocked” and “disturbed” by what he saw. He promises to take “appropriate action” following an investigation.
...In an interview, Harris said somebody edited the video to make it appear she was an Obama partisan imposing her views on a child. Harris, who has been licensed to teach in North Carolina since 1978, said she made gestures after pupils voiced support for Obama.
“It has been doctored,” Harris said. “They didn’t show anything about Obama.
...Cumberland school officials were overwhelmed with protest calls Friday. Harrison called the father of the girl in the video to apologize. The father, whom school officials wouldn’t identify, was unaware of the classroom conversation until Harrison called, said Wanda McPhaul, a spokeswoman for the school system.
...“I was shocked when I saw the clip,” Harrison said. “I was particularly disturbed to see the uncomfortable position in which our children were placed due to the inappropriate actions of one of our teachers.
“Once the video was brought to my attention, I immediately launched an investigation,” Harrison added. “I can assure you that upon completion of the investigation, I will take appropriate action.”
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=309848
“Once the video was brought to my attention, I immediately launched an investigation,” Harrison added. “I can assure you that upon completion of the investigation, I will take appropriate action.”
Ha! CYA time for this principal and superintendent...and early retirement time for this teacher so she can go run a day care center somewhere. The principal should have known the quality of that teacher and never let a news crew in there to begin with; if the principal thought she was a good teacher and allowed the taping--I'd fire the principal because she's an idiot and it would scare me to think that was the best teacher on campus. :eek:
If the teacher was an ESL or SpecialEd teacher, they'd probably just move her to another school because it is so difficult finding them due to the mountain--literally--of CYA paperwork and wasted time spent in non-productive touchy-feely meetings that goes along with those specialties. :p
FWIW, our largest local public school district here in Dallas--which has some of the top-ranked schools in the country and some of the absolute worst--has just discovered they have an $84m budget short-fall. I don't know how you lose $84m, but the superintendent is shocked, the board is shocked, the administration is shocked, the teachers are pissed because they just let 350 teachers and aides go despite already being short of both in the classrooms, the union is pissed, and the parents are upset to the max. It's an on-going 24/7 clown circus at the school HQs which offers us viewers some of the funniest segments on the local news channels every morning, noon, evening, and night. :rolleyes:
Richard's $.02 :munchin
“
FWIW, our largest local public school district here in Dallas--which has some of the top-ranked schools in the country and some of the absolute worst--has just discovered they have an $84m budget short-fall. I don't know how you lose $84m, but the superintendent is shocked, the board is shocked, the administration is shocked, the teachers are pissed because they just let 350 teachers and aides go despite already being short of both in the classrooms, the union is pissed, and the parents are upset to the max. It's an on-going 24/7 clown circus at the school HQs which offers us viewers some of the funniest segments on the local news channels every morning, noon, evening, and night. :rolleyes:
Richard's $.02 :munchin
LOL. I imagine that makes for some interesting questions from students of math, finance or accounting. I'm sure many are questioning their teachers, wondering if they are teaching the 'same' math skills used by the school administrators responsible for the budget shortfall.