Anchal Kannambadi
Article:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/ontario-teacher-fired-over-racist-tweets-204659364.html
The
article above talks about how a Richmond Hill teacher was fired for tweeting
racist slurs, and anti-Muslim statements, and how that teacher was required to
follow an “unwritten social contract” that prohibited the inappropriate use of
language and offensive materials. The article goes on to say that there is a
higher standard that teachers are held to, and that they are responsible for
teaching and influencing other students. That being said, this teacher violated
the trust that comes along with being a teacher, and they were fired as a
result of that.
This
relates to what we talked about in class on Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his idea
of a Social Contract. Teachers are influential on students, and therefore they
have to keep their opinions strictly objective, otherwise they are considered
unprofessional. When you join a society, you are giving up a certain freedom,
because you are adapting to the rules. This teacher violated both the social
contract, and the liberties and requirements that a role model has in society.
In class we discussed the idea that there is a general will or common interest
in a community. In this situation the common interest is not being partial or
ignorant towards anyone. One question I would like to ask is if you believe
that there is a limit to freedom of speech, or should there be a restriction
for certain members of a community.
I do believe that when someone becomes a teacher, or some other positions like that, they do enter into the social contract of that position. I am sure the teacher knew it was not appropriate for him to express his racist views on public sites. Most schools have guidelines for what is appropriate behavior as a teacher. Although we do have a freedom of speech, he decided to become a teacher and enter into that social contract. As a result he is agreeing to not express his racist sentiments on public social media accounts. Also these racists thoughts may express his inability to preform his job well because he has a bias towards certain groups of people.
ReplyDeleteAnchal,
ReplyDeleteShould a teacher express political views? If so, how far can they go in doing so? If not, might that be problematic?
I believe that teachers should remain objective. while it is okay to have personal opinions when one becomes a teacher their responsibility is to not show bias towards certain behaviors or ideas. It would be problematic because there would be some conflict. rather than teaching a subject you would be focusing on your own bias and not the subject at hand.
DeleteTo answer Professor Shirk's question, I think it is important for teachers to remain objective but present students with all different perspectives and let them formulate their own opinions. On a broader scale, I think the teacher definitely violated Rousseau's idea of the social contract. Rousseau's general will puts the rights of the community over the rights of the individual and in this circumstance the teacher definitely favored his personal beliefs over thinking about how his actions would affect the community. So, freedom of speech can be used as freely as one wants as long as it does not interfere with the general will.
ReplyDeleteI believe there is a great limit to freedom of speech. I believe the CDD can prove that alone. This can also be proven by the fact that you can't openly yell that there is a bomb in an area. People are allowed today certain things and won't be jailed for them. However, other consequences such as being fired, having personal gains taken away from you may differ. I guess that is where it is considered freedom because no one can arrest you for saying certain things however there is or seems to be a fine line as one can get fired for saying things that may be considered bad.
ReplyDeleteI believe that when people use freedom of speech to defend their bigoted comments, they do not realize what freedom of speech actually entails. There are many examples of employees getting fired from various jobs because of insensitive comments they made, especially online. There is definitely a social contract that these people enter, because they as employees are representing the company that they work for. If that company feels that an employee is saying things that is hurtful to their brand or what that company stands for, they have every right to fire them.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is unacceptable for anyone to force their beliefs onto others, especially teachers upon students. I personally think that teachers need to be well versed in all arguments of a particular subject so they can play devil's advocate and help their students grow and become independent with their own ideas and beliefs. I think that the teacher being fired for his actions is absolutely correct. I think that there will never be any change unless there are consequences for the actions. I agree with Sammy that when you represent a company you cannot say something that is harmful to said company and not get into trouble. Teachers are there to teach students and help them achieve their dreams, so when one goes against this ideal they pay the consequences.
ReplyDelete