A frustrated teacher shares some insights…
Dawn Neely-Randall was taking a class training her to recognize bullying. Suddenly she realized she was the victim of bullying–by the state of Ohio. She plans to sue the state and welcomes others to join her.
She writes:
Neely-Randall vs. State of Ohio
Peer Discriminatory Harassment:
This past week, as I was completing an online training module assigned by the Ohio Department of Education via a required harassment/bullying video (so we could know the state laws within the classroom context), the definition of harassment given included to 1) have an intent to harm; 2) be directed at a specific target; and 3) involve repeated incidents. I learned that legally, harassment focuses on how the behavior affects the victim.
As a teacher in the State of Ohio, I suddenly realized that I am being harassed by the Ohio Department of Education’s own legal definition as well as from legislators who are…
View original post 825 more words
Retired Ruth 
school was never my favourite place, but these days the things kids and parents are expected to do as well as attend school to gain an education is ridiculous. I wish they would go back to the old ways of sitting children in a room and sharing knowledge
LikeLike
Sorry school wasn’t a favorite place for you. We spend so many years there! There is definitely something to be said for the way it used to be. My generation seems well educated to me in the basics. I remember taking the IOWA tests a couple of times in elementary school… it was more of an IQ test. A teacher does not need a test to tell her/him that a student is learning or not. We are losing the human connection and that’s sad.
LikeLike
I agree with the teacher in question that ‘standardized testing’ and other ‘initiatives’ brought about by various educational bodies in the last five or ten years are ill designed, questionably implemented, and stressful. They also rarely, if ever, accomplish what they set out to prove (or disprove). I’m glad I no longer have children in school (although I wonder what my granddaughter will face). However, I’m not sure it constitutes harassment (there is really no intent to harm). Still, if her lawsuit brings about change, maybe its worth it.
LikeLike
School is not the same place it used to be, is it? I see the stress in my own children. (I definitely feel it, myself, as a parent!) I see it in my daughter, who is stressed to the max in her first year of teaching.Things are so very different from when I taught.My friends/colleagues have told me how difficult things have become, and have all retired as soon as they could! What’s best for children, and who determines that, has been so twisted, in my opinion. It makes me very sad to see it. I wish anyone luck in trying to change it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. Teachers are retiring before they are really “done” because of all the stress and many of them are top-notch teachers. It is a sad situation; I hope it will change for the better eventually.
LikeLike