My response to Mr. Harvey...
In the stories Mr. Harvey is shown as a bully to the children and although he is extremely rude and vile towards them I wouldn't say he is their worst nightmare. If I had a talk with Mr. Harvey I think I would say, "thank you." I know that being an adult and having a professional job that having a strong grasp on the English language is an extremely important tool. Even outside of work it is important. When I am on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr I like to have proper English and when friends/others don't I get quickly annoyed. I'm not a fan of reading on the internet or sitting on here for days doing anything of much importance but I do not enjoy depicting what others are tying to say because "u" is shorter and easier to write than "you."
I understand that Mr. Harvey was trying to teach the children that learning basic proper English is what is write and I would say "thank you," but I would also have to ask him, "whats wrong with you?" I don't know when Lovey grew up but I know that if this story was taking place in the late nineties Mr. Harvey would have been kicked out of my Elementary School in a day for talking to children like that. I love his way of stern teaching but I also think it is important to not emotionally and mentally harm a child for their whole life because they speak like a neanderthal.
So I would respond to Mr. Harvey with a "thank you" for teaching with every intent to help and also a "what is wrong with you" for possibly ruining someones life with such strong, harmful words.
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteYour post has me thinking about teacher education and training. Mr. Harvey clearly needed to be trained better.
I agree that his words have the potential to "emotionally and mentally harm" his students; he lacks empathy and the ability to reach them. Based on Lovey and Jerome, his language seems to distance him farther from the students, which runs counter to his need to educate them. They can't and/or won't learn from someone whom they fear and distrust.
Your comments about language remind me that each group defines the kinds of language that should be used and determines what is acceptable or not. In the case of schooling, what is acceptable and expected sometimes comes at the expense of a student's culture. But who gets to decide on those expectations?
Thanks for your ideas.
Take care,
Lauren
You talked about teacher being kicked out from the school for being rude; I think this is not the case in most of the eastern countries. In most of the eastern countries teachers got more rights than students, teaching is regarded as one of the most prestigious job. Teachers rarely gets fired instead if the teacher got more issue with student, the student might be kicked out of school. However these advantages have made most of the teachers to become rude. I used to hate when I had to deal with teacher but sooner or later I did realize that they were mean because they want us to learn. Like Mr. Harvey, my teachers did realize that proper education is important so we can have better future.
ReplyDeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteProper English is very important. I understand Mr. Harvey being so passionate and almost obsessed with his students learning to speak well. His intentions were good, but the execution was a little sketchy. He may have harmed some of his students with his words. I don't think it's all that likely though. Unless some of his students were especially delicate.
I had a similar experience with my high school English teacher. He was very blunt with us. Once he even told my class that we were probably the least inspiring class he'd encountered during his teaching career. It hurt me a little bit, but I couldn't have agreed more with him. I was well aware that we didn't participate very much in class and of course that was going to frustrate him. If anything, his words helped me and I appreciated his honesty.
I like your insight about the importance about grammar with the english language. It is very true that most everybody no a days would rather talk in a slang because it is "easier" than talking and or writing the proper way. But even though Mr. Harvey has an importance of having correct grammar he will not be able to reach his student with such a sour attitude. He needs to relate to his students like Lovey for instance. She is coming from a low end family that probably does not have that great of standards for her in the first place. If Mr. Harvey really wanted to enhance his students abilities he would base himself on their level in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on both counts. Yes learning proper English is very important. I'm just not sure how much of his lessons were helpful. I do not think that many of his students learned much from a teacher that insults you.
ReplyDeleteOn the second count I agree with you that if he was a teacher now I believe it wouldn't be long. No one would tolerate his language or his abuse and nor should they. I would hate to her my child being spoken to as he had spoken to his class. I wouldn't want any child in his class. I would be afraid of the low self esteem that may follow after being in his class.
I agree with you. I would have definitely took my child out of his class or petitioned for him to get fired. There is plenty of teachers that are passionate about teaching without harming the students mentally. I think that he saw something in those kids that he despised and couldn't help but show that anger and frustration for them. He definitely needs more training.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you had to say. If I were in a position where a teacher were to be verbaly abusive to me to make me feel less than, I would report him/her immediately. Being verbaly abusive can be if not worse than having physical abuse as they did in class years ago. It was proven that being physicaly will not make a student learn any better and I feel that it would be the same when it comes to verbal abuse.
ReplyDeleteI understand how a teacher may be doing this for the students own good, however it should be presented in a different way that the students would in the end have respect for you and overall thank you for caring and taking the time to teach them.
I completely agree with everything that you said. I also really like how you brought up the way many people chose not to use correct grammer and spelling while IMing, texting, or on Facebook. It annoys me when people do that and I tend to end up just not reading it because it is so hard to understand. I have to admit that when I read the short stories I had the hardest time reading them because of the way they were written.
ReplyDelete