Re “PCC Was ‘Out to Get’ Swil, Faculty Leader Charges
Pasadena City College has a “let's blame the teacher first” policy that resolves complaints at the administrative level rather than trying to resolve them at the department level. As a result, all of us are embarrassed at the publicity we are receiving over the Mark McQueen case.
Teachers, because of the fear of being complained against and put on leave, should adopt this policy put together by a number of teachers campus wide:
New Guidelines for Teachers
(so that you never get in trouble)
• Do not engage your students in any discussion that could cause them any discomfort or confusion. A partial list of off limit topics follows: religion, philosophy, constitutional history, confusing poems and controversial novels, English grammar, evolutionary biology, any art that students do not understand or causes them distress.
• Allow students to grade themselves because they know better than you why they deserve an A-plus. Any grade lower than that would only reinforce the student’s claim of how unfair you are.
• Apologize to students who call you names, throw objects at you, or object to anything you say.
• Stand with your hands behind you when a student seems intent on assaulting you. Do not defend yourself. To do so might cause the student to injure himself or herself.
Mr. Meier, an assistant professor of languages at Pasadena City College, may be contacted at yama18llama@yahoo.com
