RE: Holding Students Accountable for Language

I'm not going to pretend to have the answer to this difficult situation, but
I do think we should keep at the front the issue of student privacy and
their right to express themselves and their own (real and perceived)
experiences within the structures you have created.  In particular, I am
trouble that you would do anything that would undermine the "at least
apparent anonymity" of an anonymous evaluation.

We may not like the students' use of slavery anymore than we like the way
youth today have reclaimed nigger or hoe, but unless you keep your response
to what was said in front of you or handed in to you, or if other students
or placement sites complained as well, it may not be appropriate to address
it at this time.  Otherwise, you need to be very clear from the outset that
anything they say can and will be held against them, because that may well
be the way they perceive your reaction.

jd


> On Thu, 6 May 1999, Michele James Deramo wrote:

> > Second, let me state that the use of this term usually appears in
writing
> > that the student did not hand in to me--journals for their peer groups
or
> > the anonymous evaluation form.  

> > However, I am
> > most troubled by the appearance of the term in the anonymous evaluation.
I
> > KNOW for a fact who wrote the evaluation and feel that this student must
be
> > held accountable for her language, but feel that I can't approach the
> > student directly.  I am thinking of writing a general letter to the
class
> > and enclosing it with their portfolios.
> >