do no harm:


idit dobb-weinstein: "teaching is action and thinking at once. What I try to guard against most when I teach is not speaking as if my answer were conclusive, so as to avoid (to the extent possible) any kind of dogmatic appropriation. It is understandable why students might wish to imitate their teachers, but there are different modes of imitation. I try very hard to avoid the mimetic appropriation that is immediate, passive, and occludes thinking. One other reason is that if I made clear what my views were, and my views appeared as if they were final, it would preclude the possibility of first, students challenging me and second, learning from my students. The relation between the student and teacher is, to me, a dynamic relationship . . . Teaching and learning is a movement that occurs between. In other words, we are at once both agent and patient, both teacher and learner. If we are not very careful, we can do a great deal of harm. And that, too, I have learned from my teachers, Maimonides especially.

I believe my task is to provoke students to think and to engage them in genuine dialogue and questioning. To paraphrase a rabbinic saying, 'I have learned from my teachers, and I have learned from my peers, but I have learned most from my students.' And that is a continuous process of learning."

Saturday 15 May 2010

hate-free zone

the signal is quite weak today. hope this publishes.

LACC needs better internet. talked with the moore and peters about IT block of videostream for bambusering classes for disability access. we need online curricula. archived lectures. for the dyslexic, the blind, and for all of us. for the people who can't afford the time spent going to free school at LACC. even if we are poor as dirt, we are rich to afford the luxury of the time it takes to study at free community college.

Vargas is such a great teacher. i am listening to his family law class right now.

had a great time yesterday talking to dr. jamillah moore, president of the university, and to earic peters.

they were supportive of the idea for an Equality Coalition. Earic peters had a lot of good ideas for the social equity club idea. Jamillah encouraged me to finish my paralegal degree and not get too caught up in club ideas. I actually am thinking along the lines of a civil rights study group, looking at the ADA and civil rights acts in terms of how they affect students.

the most telling part was in which i explained that students do not understand the procedure, and that is where the club might serve as an interface, to make the procedure and the law comprehensible and universally understood for all students.

ala
these are your rights
this is what to do if they are infringed upon
do not take it lying down.
blahblahblah.

jamillah said that is what perhaps she and earic as administrators take for granted, that we know what to do, that the process is in the handbook.

i told them how the first time i heard offensive things in class, i stumbled around from room to room, looking for the administrative process, in disbelief.
i told the department chair, but he was unbelievably protective of the abuse.

i felt anxiety, like i had no where to go.
and now, that i am both more knowledgable, and more violated by LACC, i feel that my initial gut instinct, that the offenses were unacceptable in a professional atmosphere---now has given way to the understanding that LACC considers the abuse protectable "free speech" or "academic freedom" even if it is racist and sexist.

i wonder.

i mentioned that a club could be an interface between the policy and the students, who often feel uncomfortable, or submerge their critique with ignorance or distrust of the grievance procedure. while i understand the grievance procedure, i distrust it.
someone from LACCD left an unidentified message on my voicemail explaining that they refer me to christie passman. i duplicated my complaints, so they could be "in the loop."

the sort of pass the buck poker game is a bit entertaining. that they couldn't identify themselves on the message was quite funny. it was like, "hi. not our problem. bye."

i realize there was a procedural error with my 2009 complaint. i found a rules and grievance procedure redux, to which i am entitled copies, which describes my right to make an oral statement to the college president or to the deputy chancellor.

i never was given the opportunity.
jamillah in 2009 referred me back down to CO cristy passman (compliance officer) and now she tells me we cannot talk about my discrimination claim pending the investigation.

quoting from the leaflet outside cristy passman's door
"the college president or deputy chancellor shall independently assess whether the 'preponderance of the evidence' establishes a violation and shall determine what action is taken, if any. Prior to making the decision, the alleged offender and alleged victim shall have the opportunity to make an oral statement, within 15 days from the receipt of the CO report."

i am going to send this to cristy and ask how she interprets this. i think i have a chance to explain to the decision making bodies, and that this right has been blurred over in the interpretation of the policy.

that is a little bit funny.

interesting class at PSU "emotional abuse in the workplace." My mother tells me the anti-hate speech standards are very strict in the Oregon hospitals where she works, and absolutely no harassment on gender lines, racist, or homophobic is permitted in a professional context.

i like the concept hate free zone.

i wish we could make LACC a hate free zone.
when i see ASO flyers, i tag them with a sharpie, "STOP THE HATE."

deep in the heart of campassion, there is a beautiful future for the students of LACC, and anywhere.

MLK died at 37.
civil rights are not something you can procrastinate.
if your professor disrespects you, or harasses you, do not submerge yourself in shyness, and self-hatred, and submissiveness.
tell the teacher they are making you uncomfortable.
tell them they are violating equality in education statutes.
tell your administrators.
blog it.

and likewise, if you are screamed at by students, or savaged by their cruelty and accusations, speak up.
the ASO for all i can see is a HATE club which cruelly defamed a very wonderful person who i admire. they need a lot more love and cooperation.

i am sorry i ever witnessed what i did.
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