A Case of Ethical Cheating

The school system does not always support the best interest of students. My colleague told me one of her courses was maxed out and some students would not have been able to take the course until the following year. The course is a compulsory one and these grade 11 students would be forced to take the course with grade 10 students. The teacher went to the administration to say she was volunteering to take all 28 students ( 3 over the maximum of 25 for that type of course). They referred her to the union rep. He said this was not allowable. Undaunted, she went to the Guidance department and worked out a scheme whereby the 3 extra students would be officially registered and actually sitting in another course and classroom, but she would give them the work for her course and work with them ( and the teacher) individually. Then Guidance would change the course code from the alternative course code to her course code at the end of the semester. A brilliant example of putting students first and cheating the system ethically, don't you think? 

How Far Will You Go to Help?

Sophie was my grade 11 student last year. She is bright and capable. Due to absences, personal issues with drugs and an overinvolved relationship with a boyfriend, she did not complete the course expectations and lost the credit. This year, her science teacher did not allow her to pass that course because Sophie submitted her final task past the due date.

She now wants to leave high school but is short one credit for her OSSD. Guidance sent her to our department to redo the final task of the grade 11 course she failed last year (she handed in her final task past the due date last year). This was happening after the exam period this year and one day before all marks were due for reports. She was prepared to work all day, follow the instructions and complete the task well. Would you go along with this? Why or why not?

Teacher Staying Power

How do we keep the passion alive over time + pressure + changes in the classroom? After 28 years of teaching I can think of five things:

1. My passion for helping students learn overrides bureaucratic pressures. When I'm required to do a host of tasks that mitigate the freedom to teach, I keep helping students front and center in my motivation.

2. My commitment to who I am and my values. This keeps me undivided within when system values (political, administrative) demand compromise. Even if I stand alone and true to who I am I will be less likely to become cynical or demoralized than if I let the system change my values.

3. The desire to keep learning: workshops, writing teams, school-wide events, higher education. These give me new ideas and help me reevaluate what I'm doing and why.

4. My focus on the students as people. I want to respect each individual in spite of behaviours and pressures. Caring about students keeps me going when I have to deal with unhealthy behaviours. Also, if I'm enamoured with the content of what I teach and miss caring for the students as people, that love of content will not endure. Loving people does.

5. Creating memorable experiences for the students. Trips, fairs, creative projects, festivals....these all energize me and the students with more authentic learning experiences than sitting in desks!

The Happy Irony

For the last semester of my 28 year career as a teacher in public education I was given a course I had never taught before. At first I was mildly irritated and amused at the same time. My colleague, who has taught the Civics and Careers course for a decade gave me lots of help and I took it on with a "try it and see" attitude. It turned out to be a highlight of my career!
First, the students were eager and willing to reflect, share ideas and try new things. Secondly, the content of the course was practical and insightful. Thirdly, the exposure to real life professions was very formative. Each student invited a guest speaker to come in and share the positives and negatives of their profession, as well as how they got there. This exposure gave the students a realistic picture of certain key ingredients to success as reiterated by several of the guest speakers: it is imperative to know how to write / type correctly in proper English ( or French), a lot of hard work is required, passion is more important than salary, people skills outweigh knowledge in the long run, and finally, there is more than one pathway to the career that satisfies. In other words, it is a myth that a university education leads to a well-paying job in the career of choice for a lifetime! I feel strongly that there is undue stress placed on students in senior high to have the high grades that lead to the best university programs in order to guarantee success. Many guest speakers started in one field and ended up in another, did not go to university, took courses for professional development as they worked, went to college and got into a job they love.
The last new course of my career was truly rewarding and one of my most authentically educational experiences in teaching!

I Have My Principles, but in Practice....

Roger is a grade 11 student who is quiet, pleasant and willing to participate orally in French class. His goal is to be a mechanic or a fireman. He's in a grade 11 immersion "u" (university oriented) course. He does little written work and gets overwhelmed with instruction pages and attention to details.

I called home at midterm because he was not in a position to get his credit. His mother agreed to a contract signed by her, her son and me to try to get him back on track. He subsequently did not meet the terms of the contract. I let his mom know, and she shared that he also is having medical issues. Tests for malignancy are being done at Sick Kids Hospital. I said that in that case we can reduce the requirements to the essential pieces of the course. As he is unable to complete work independently (for a number of reasons now) I said that I would like to work with him over 6 lunch periods, Tuesdays and Thursdays over three weeks until the end of the term in order to ensure that he meets the minimal requirements. She agreed to this. Roger came twice and then stopped showing up. Later he said he didn't come because he had to do projects for other classe ( I know he also has a girlfriend and would much rather go out to lunch with her than be in the classroom).

He wrote the exam, passed it, but failed the course due to less the the minimum requirements having been completed. His mother called me, quite upset, because "you said he would pass the course". I explained that indeed I had told her that but on condition that he show up six times for extra support. I also said he did not communicate with me about being absent on those catch up days. However, based on the medical concern, I offered a final solution: Roger needs to come and work on essential requirements during the exam schedule, at times when he is not writing an exam. She said she would ensure that he showed up for these sessions.

Roger came once and I am expecting him again today.....From my point of view I'm bending on the principles of teaching students responsibility, holding to agreed upon conditions, following through on the consequences for breech of responsible behaviour. Should compassion overrule these principles in this case?