There are questions that are difficult in themselves like does God exist, or what is beauty. But there are questions that are difficult because the teacher made them out to be. This is a case in point:
During our Social Dimension in Education review class, there's a question that goes this way: "A teacher discovers that a product of a certain bottling company brings about a damage to teeth. Much as he wants to share the products of his research, he could not because of harassment from all sides. Which teacher's right is violated?" The choices are: (a.) Right to make a livelihood, (b.) Academic freedom, (c.) Right to one's honor, (d.) Right to property.
The answer, according to the teacher, is (a.) Right to make a livelihood. I stood up to protest and defined what academic freedom is. "Academic freedom," I said, "is the right of the teachers to determine what to teach and how to teach, and to conduct a research and share the findings of his research. If he is prohibited from sharing his research because of outside pressure, then his academic freedom is being stifled."
"No," the teacher said. "The more appropriate answer is letter "a." Why is that so I could not truly, madly, deeply understand.
I did not, however, push the argument a bit further, and so I sat down, and went back to sleep.
I rest my case.
Why do I seem to agree with you?
ReplyDeleteThey are bound in a perspective of their own—a more miserly if that should it be called.
ReplyDelete