"You need to pretend that I am a member of the government in Nazi Germany, and you are being challenged to consider that you are loyal to the Nazis by writing an essay convincing me that Jews are evil and the source of our problems." Such instructions were students of a New York state high school asked to follow while writing their essay. The teacher responsible for this now faces the threat of reprimand or dismissal.
What do you think about this issue? Do you think a possible reprimand would be enough?
"One-third of the students refused to complete the task." What would you do if you were one of the students?
Ah, too bad -- I was going to assign "Why Americans are evil" as a final essay exam, but I guess I'll have to think of something else now. :-)
ReplyDeleteEhm personally, I wouldn't be able to write an essay about this topic. The mere idea of being a Nazi scares me.I hope that the teacher who assigned this topic was just kidding but it's quite improbable :/ It's difficult to guess what led him to this project, he may check character of his students but there are better ways how to do it...
ReplyDeleteI have similar feelings to this issue. On the other hand, I'm not sure whether I would be able to resist my teacher's order. (As I had always felt certain sense of authority towards my teachers at grammar school.) However, I definitely disagree with using such ideas at school, even though it might have seem innocent and only theoretical.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that the teacher might have had a good intention (teaching purposes, understanding the evil, the atmosphere in Nazi Germany etc.). But as a teacher he should have known that this topic (Holocaust) is very very special (I'd say unique) and that people (not only Jews) are very sensitive about it. Such a topic is definitely not suitable to be used in such a way. No matter whether the intention is good or not.
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