An Ohio teacher, who was reading The Sneetches to her Grade 3 class, was abruptly cut off by an admin when a student said "It's almost like what happened back then, how people were treated. Like, disrespected. Like, white people disrespected Black people.”
dispatch.com/story/news/edu…
There's a bit more context, but none of it is exculpatory. The occasion was a visit from NPR's Planet Money, which was recording an episode about how economics gets discussed and taught in children's books. One of the readings that day was The Sneetches. And you can see why.
Robek, the teacher, is just a page or so in when the following exchange takes place.
npr.org/transcripts/11…
If you're a teacher, this is gold. Noah, a 3rd grade student, has connected the book to something else he knows. He's thinking things through, analyzing a text, applying what he's learned. Parents, you know what I'm talking about. It's magic.
Suddenly, Beeman, a school admin present for the recording, starts waving her hands and interrupts Robek. "I just don't think it might be appropriate," she says of The Sneetches.
But the kids still really want to know how The Sneetches ends! Beeman tries to fend them off with some nonsense about standing up for your bellies, but they remain unsatisfied. So she says to go ask your parents.
Bear in mind that this was a comment initiated by the student, not the teacher. And note that the teacher was already moving on before the interruption. But as Beeman explained, parents should be warned before any conversation about discrimination takes place.
And that, said Jeffrey on Twitter that day
Is the stupidest thing I've heard anyone say.
Should teachers need parents to give their consent
Before any second of class time is spent
On answering students with questions on race?
My God. How'd we ever wind up in this place?
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