Strike and Soltis Chapter 4

Equal Treatment of Students

This can be a difficult subject, oftentimes because it is difficult to decide what is fair to different groups of students. As the book points out, there are differences between students, which can warrant different treatment of them. (gifted children vs. below-average performers) I think a key point to remember is that in all situations you have to strive for what is best for that student and your students overall. In the case with the two boys fighting constantly in class, the teacher moves one boy to the lower reading group to prevent altercations. I certainly can understand her reasoning for this. Unfortunately this cause him to become bored and uninterested in reading, due to its simplicity. Is this the only remedy for this situation, probably not. I have to think that there is a way to have this child still benefit from an education appropriate to his learning abilities. Possibly having him read individually in the corner, could work. Though a possible consequence of that would be the scorn of being outcasted from any of the groups and possibly teased by other students. Once again, you enter a situation where you have to analyze all the consequences and formalities of the situation to figure out whether or not it is ethical. To further complicate the situation, one student is black and the other is white. The teacher is tentative to move the black student in fear of seeming racist, there had been recent peace between races at the school and she wanted to do whatever she could to help continue that peace. I think this is certainly something to consider, but to what extent. Judging based on race does not seem fair in any situation. If you ask anyone, black or white, if a job position or acceptance to a college should be based on race they will answer, 'no'. Yet, this is what affirmative action attempts to do. It is a concept which I fail to logically understand and yet I understand its importance in a society where people do judge other people based on the color of their skin and read into situations regarding race more deeply than perhaps the situation requires.