The Gray Area in Education

The past week I have been struggling with a couple philosophical issues in education. As I travel and speak to future educators, they bring to mind how I viewed education and what it would be like to be a teacher. In my first years of teaching, I relied heavily on set policy and procedures and rules. The rules gave me a sense of confidence - something to fall back on when I didn't know what to do or how to handle a situation. As I have gotten a "few years" into my career, I have come to realize that I am not as big a fan of rules and policy as I used to be. I have found there is a lot - and I mean a TON- of gray area for me in education. I view each student as a separate person, with their own issues, talents, and disabilities. What is fair for one student may not be quite so fair for another when taken into account the economic status, ability level, or age. Does fair mean equal? What happens when policy conflicts with what I think is good for a student? Where is the balance between upholding policy and doing what is right for a student? It is a daily struggle for me as I try to find that fulcrum. I am going to give you some scenarios I have dealt with just the past week. I won't tell you what I did....or what the outcome is...well, not yet anyway. If you are a teacher, future teacher, administrator, or parent, what would you do? What is fair? Do the consequences fit the infraction? These may test your philosophy a little. I would love to hear from you all and what you think. For those that know me and the school I teach at, not all these come from my school.

Where is your fulcrum?

Scenario One
The middle school has a policy of keeping 15 7th graders and 15 8th graders on the basketball team. There are 2 coaches to handle the 30 kids and limited gym space so cuts will have to be made. What if only sixteen 7th graders go out? Should the school cut only one student? At what point do we do more harm than good? What if there were seventeen 7th graders out? Can we keep two extras? Would it matter to you that only eight 8th graders went out? Since not as many 8th graders went out should more 7th graders be kept? When do you draw the line? OR does a line need to be drawn at all? Many middle schools do not cut. What is your middle school philosophy? How do you balance supervision, quality practice time with letting students get exercise and feel part of a team?

Scenario Two
A student cheated on a chapter test. Policy says I give the student a zero. His grade was a C but if I give him a zero, he will fail the 9 weeks and become ineligible to play football at a time when playoffs are starting. Should he be allowed to take a different test? What if he was given an F on the retake but not a zero? The 50% would still allow him to pass with a D. Should he just get the retake grade without a deduction? What is "fair" for this student?

Scenario Three
A student plagiarized a paragraph from a project that made up the majority of the first quarter grade in English. Policy says the student will get a zero on the entire project. If he gets a zero, he has mathematically eliminated himself from passing the semester of senior English. He will not graduate. So what do you do? It was made clear that any plagiarizing would result in a zero. Is copying a paragraph deserving of not graduating? Where do you draw the line?

Every day all over the United States, teachers and administrators make decisions like the ones above that affect students. Sometimes lessons are learned, sometimes students are emotionally harmed and sometimes it is the key moment in time to make an impact on a student life. Life and teaching is not black and white...there is a lot of gray. The older I get, that "gray" seems to be creeping in everywhere!!