Do teachers normally have this much freedom in making up assignments?

[Platapus]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/us/new...html?hpt=hp_t2

An upstate school system apologized Friday after students got a writing assignment in which they were instructed to prove their loyalty to Nazi Germany by arguing Jews are "evil" and the source of that government's problems.....

Don't assignments need to be approved by some one other than the teacher? I was under the impression that teachers needed to submit lesson plans and such.

This is in High School.

When I was going through my advanced analysis courses in the military, we had to do such exercises and they do have their purpose, but not in high school

So we got some teachers here. Is it common for a teacher to have such freedom to make up assignments and not have them reviewed by anyone else in the school?

[August]

In the assignment, students were to pretend the educator was a member of the Nazi government. "You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!" the teacher's assignment sheet said.

This part I don't understand. The class was supposed to be about persuasive writing but the students aren't being asked to persuade the instructor of anything besides how well they can parrot a party line. Short of writing a denial or refusing to write all together it'd be very difficult to fail such an assignment, especially given the voluminous amount of party propaganda to use as a source.



Now, persuading a nazi to become a Jew. Having to argue over all that indoctrination, overcome great skepticism and inherent racism. That would be a heck of an assignment.

[fireftr18]

Originally Posted by Platapus

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/us/new...html?hpt=hp_t2



Don't assignments need to be approved by some one other than the teacher? I was under the impression that teachers needed to submit lesson plans and such.

This is in High School.

When I was going through my advanced analysis courses in the military, we had to do such exercises and they do have their purpose, but not in high school

So we got some teachers here. Is it common for a teacher to have such freedom to make up assignments and not have them reviewed by anyone else in the school?

It's not an easy question to answer. Technically, in general, the lesson plan does need to be submitted, but often, it's just filed away with no one looking at it. There are a lot of factors that come in to play. The school district, the subject, the student's age level, the teacher's experience, and in some cases, any kind of known problem with the teacher (such as having young students write a paper like this one). I can see an experienced teacher, with a good solid reputation, teaching an advanced writing class, the lesson plan is filed away with no one else looking at it.

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Originally Posted by August

The class was supposed to be about persuasive writing but the students aren't being asked to persuade the instructor of anything besides how well they can parrot a party line.

I can kind of see the intent. In real life, often you'll be forced to flesh out the arguments for a superior's position (not just parrot it) that you don't agree with and it is very hard to do that. You have to really turn your normal axis of thought.

But indeed, if you can make the Nazi case almost sound convincing to a person of modern sensibilities, then you will be quite persuasive.

Originally Posted by CNN

She told the Albany Times Union newspaper that one-third of the students refused to complete the work.

Well, try doing that in real life - you'll lose your job.

[Feuer Frei!]

Maybe a poor choice of topic for an assignment, but...
sincere apologies again because of mentioning Nazi Germany....*sigh*

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Don't assignments need to be approved by some one other than the teacher? I was under the impression that teachers needed to submit lesson plans and such.

Not in here, at least. New teachers might still need to submit lesson plans in the very beginning of their career, but generally speaking it's up to each teacher to decide what he/she does in the class. As long as it follows the curriculum, of course.

That being said, I could see myself using something similar in a history class (which, as I understand, this wasn't, but it's what I teach and the topic fits.) Perhaps not directly copy though, it comes across as pretty crude from the article, but the fundamental idea behind it is decent.

Our curriculum clearly states that one of the tasks of studying history is to learn empathy and I can see pedagogical point behind empathizing with any given group which rarely gets empathy. Makes history less black and white, which in my book is always a good thing. It also puts the students out of their comfort zone and hopefully wakes them up a little more than the more traditional exercises. Seeing how many students outright refused to complete this assignment proves it in this case too. It made them think and face their own moral values, which is definitely more than what can be said of your average "fill in the gaps based on the book's chapter" exercises. Therefore kudos to the teacher.

I somewhat understand the outrage and the teacher could have done the actual exercise situation better, but I don't see the mistake in the theory here.

[Wolferz]

I had a teacher in junior high that gave us an assignment to create a front page of the newspaper Tass (Soviet Russia)
I pretty much gave it the old raspberry.

Like this story, some teachers don't have a lick of common sense.

I could see an assignment like this in a political science course in college, but not in a high school.

Things that make you go...

What Da?

Am I alone in thinking this was a good assignment?
One of my kids recently covered a similar book in her primary school, covering it from the Nazi perspective too did I think give her a better understanding of the book and its backround.

There are so many standard works of fiction used in education with historical settings that covering the history around the book is pretty vital to understanding the scope of the work they are studying.

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Originally Posted by Tribesman

Am I alone in thinking this was a good assignment?

No, you are not. The topic is tasteless and un-PC, but that was the whole point - the topic has to be something that's not just "controversial", but universally (or as close to it as posssible) unsavory. Other suitable topics for the task might be to write something supporting the legalization of pedophilia.

Kazuaki. For another "contraversial" subject which is a pretty standard text in schools lets take a book about simple ingrained racial bigotry in society like is portrayed Harper Lees' work.
It can get the same basic treatment in class as this book about the holocaust did.

[Jimbuna]

An interesting assignment one could say but I'm not convinced...obviously I'm no teacher.

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

An interesting assignment one could say but I'm not convinced...obviously I'm no teacher.

An assignment is only one part of it. One could also read the assignments I have written for my classes and say the same. It's more about how you use it as a part of the whole, and of this we have very little information available.

It's more about how you use it as a part of the whole, and of this we have very little information available.

How about another part of the whole?
Blessed be God's name? Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces? ... But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused.

[fireftr18]

Originally Posted by Tribesman

Am I alone in thinking this was a good assignment?
One of my kids recently covered a similar book in her primary school, covering it from the Nazi perspective too did I think give her a better understanding of the book and its backround.

There are so many standard works of fiction used in education with historical settings that covering the history around the book is pretty vital to understanding the scope of the work they are studying.

I think it's a very intriguing assignment. It show's how the use of propaganda and the use of a controlled media. I do think though that it is innapropriate for the age group.

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by Tribesman

How about another part of the whole?

I don't see how a quote from a Holocaust survivor relates to what I said about class assignments being used as a part of the whole (that is, each class) and not being supposed to stand on their own legs (as we are now analyzing the said assignment based on the article).