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."

Thursday, 17 June 2010

idealistic laws up in smoke . . . retaliation . . . women marginalized at LACC


hey dearest fink---

i hate to bother you with petty stuff----

my "cultural anthropology" class score came out at a "C" for this spring term 

despite the winter term's biological anthropology score reflecting an "A" (back when teacher liked me and when i was more quiet and submissive) despite being a much harder course with lots of science and memorization.

clearly teacher could not kick me out of the class for blogging his trashy language.

my final exam i thought went exceedingly well---my globalization test essay was wonderful.

it is clearly a case of retaliation as i can see.

i think he would have been smarter to give me a "B"

the term paper---which was on islam in los angeles--i interviewed over 20 people for and wrote a complimentary blog summing over 70 printed pages.  it was weighted as 20% of the grade.

i worked so hard on this project and it was my primary motive for staying in the class other than financial aid.

he then denied me the oral report which i wanted to give.  it was to be for extra credit.  i volunteered for thursday may 27 but then changed it to may 25 to be more flexible for the class.  no other student offerred to do this.  i was supposed to be allotted 10 minutes.  may 25 (the day of the coercive meeting and my trip to your office and eckford's rudeness on the phone) i was denied first, and then may 27 denied oral report again. all the male teachers pets were allowed to present.

it was odd to (want to)talk about women in islam---marginalized---in relation to women in the west marginalized---and be marginalized myself---into total silence---and censorship--and being pushed out of the class--and denied the report and then punished with a "C" for asking teacher to be more respectful about breasts, to which he screamed at me "tits and ass" 
other words i griped with
shitty
bitching
asshole
"margaret thatcher is a man"
"transvestites show real women how to be women"

blah!!!!


i participated frequently and attended with only one absence for the dentist, and one for my landlord legal dispute, both with emails sent to notify the teacher.

bartelt was the teacher, and eckford his immediate (cursing)head of social sciences, as you may recall.

my final paper was about women in the east and west and various types of verbal or cultural treatment of women.

in the paper, i spoke of the unequal treatment and hostile tone in the classroom as an impediment to learning, and an example of how our culture still restricts women despite the typical islamophobic resituation of the misogynist demarker.

to me it seems extra odd---that in addition to having to get your legal help to even complete the class---he obviously graded my paper down---or my test down---as his last swipe in addition to the humiliating verbal abuse in the classroom and email.

i mean i guess that is the least he could do to hurt me.


i am in portland oregon about to take classes at portland state university---a far better school.

i hope the financial aid holds me through---

if you have any time to comment, or assess possible action, the entire matter makes me sick, and the sheer fact of finishing the term was a miracle.

also the depression i experienced was very severe when all this occurred.

trying to find an apt
and settle in---and hope the aid covers classes and that magically i will be able to be in school for some time---law or grad school eventually

hope you are well
classes look amazing

another prof--my property law teacher--approached me the day of the final to ask if the blogosphere is permanent, etc.

he never responded to my email despite asking for future consultation with me regarding things i wrote about his sexist comments as well . . .

i really never care about grades, but for this case, it seemed important to see what kind of petty vengeance they were seeking.

is anything actionable??? notable???


i hope you are very well indeed and still prize the learning experience.
in a sense---putting my head on the wrong block is my own problem unless really

this were anything but writing on the sand

CA EDUCATION CODE 201 (A-C)

201. (a) All pupils have the right to participate fully in the educational process, free from discrimination and harassment. (b) California's public schools have an affirmative obligation to combat racism, sexism, and other forms of bias, and a responsibility to provide equal educational opportunity. (c) Harassment on school grounds directed at an individual on the basis of personal characteristics or status creates a hostile environment and jeopardizes equal educational opportunity as guaranteed by the California Constitution and the United States Constitution.

?

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