[Teaching_Composition] Teaching the OBR
Thelin,William
teaching_composition@mailman.eppg.com
Wed, 13 Sep 2006 09:34:42 -0400
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In my module, I suggested that teaching the Academic Bill of Rights to
our students might be the best way to counter it. We can listen to our
students' concerns, interrogate possible abuses in the classroom, and
construct an alternate version of the OBR that is not merely a disguised
attack on leftist or liberal politics.
=20
In the academic year of 2004-05, the ABR made its appearance in Ohio.
While some of our long-time adjunct instructors sent emails to
legislators and so forth, the TAs in our program brought Ohio House Bill
24 into the classroom for students to examine. They also brought
supporting materials to make sure they looked at the bill from several
different angles. I had the opportunity to do classroom observations on
some of these sessions, and the students seemed genuinely concerned.
Their experiences, though, if my memory is not failing me, had more to
do with the abuses of power from the conservative side than from
liberals or leftists. I remember one student talking about having to
accept creationism (intelligent design) as a legitimate theory. Her
complaint was that the type of intelligent design being promoted did not
leave room for religions other than Christianity. An African-American
student recounted an experience with racism. The teaching of this unit
gave students from an open-admissions university, one where about 80-85%
are probably working class, a chance to add their voices and provide a
perspective all together missing from the OBR.
=20
This issue is important. Has anyone else considered using the OBR for
an assignment?
=20
Bill
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<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In my module, I suggested that teaching the Academic =
Bill of
Rights to our students might be the best way to counter it. We can =
listen
to our students’ concerns, interrogate possible abuses in the =
classroom,
and construct an alternate version of the OBR that is not merely a =
disguised
attack on leftist or liberal politics.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In the academic year of 2004-05, the ABR made its =
appearance
in <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>.
While some of our long-time adjunct instructors sent emails to =
legislators and
so forth, the TAs in our program brought Ohio House Bill 24 into the =
classroom
for students to examine. They also brought supporting materials to =
make
sure they looked at the bill from several different angles. I had =
the
opportunity to do classroom observations on some of these sessions, and =
the
students seemed genuinely concerned. Their experiences, though, if =
my
memory is not failing me, had more to do with the abuses of power from =
the
conservative side than from liberals or leftists. I remember one =
student
talking about having to accept creationism (intelligent design) as a =
legitimate
theory. Her complaint was that the type of intelligent design =
being
promoted did not leave room for religions other than Christianity. =
An
African-American student recounted an experience with racism. The
teaching of this unit gave students from an open-admissions university, =
one
where about 80-85% are probably working class, a chance to add their =
voices and
provide a perspective all together missing from the =
OBR.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>This issue is important. Has anyone else =
considered
using the OBR for an assignment?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Bill<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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