Did this teacher cross the line?

[swansont]

Ranting can be teaching if it makes you think.

 

Reminds me of a Doonesbury from ages ago. (paraphrased from http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1994/09/loeb.html)

 

A rumpled professor holds forth from a lectern while his students dutifully scribble away in their notepads: " . . . and in my view, Jefferson's defense of these basic rights lacked conviction. Okay, any discussion of what I've covered so far?"

 

"Of course not," he thinks to himself. "You're too busy getting it all down."

 

"Let me just add," he goes on, "that personally I believe the Bill of Rights to be a silly, inconsequential recapitulation of truths already found in the Constitution. Any comment?"

 

The students continue to take notes.

 

"No, scratch that!" he says, raising his voice and waving his hands. (the students busily scratch out their previous notes) "The Constitution itself should never have been ratified! It's a dangerous document! All power should rest with the executive! What do you think of that?"

 

They keep writing, their faces blank.

 

"JEFFERSON WAS THE ANTICHRIST!" the professor screams. "DEMOCRACY IS FASCISM! BLACK IS WHITE! NIGHT IS DAY!"

 

The students are still taking notes as the professor collapses on the podium, thinking, "Teaching is dead."

 

"Boy, this course is really getting interesting," one student says.

 

"You said it," another responds. "I didn't know half this stuff."

[mooeypoo]

Ranting can be teaching if it makes you think.

 

I know it made me think.

 

Thats a good point, actually, I didn't think about it.

 

But I have to say that this type of ranting (what I read at least, and the extra articles I've seen) suggests that the mood this teacher set was that of "don't dare disagreeing" or rather one of "I dont want to hear the opposition" and I am not too sure I would define that as the good type of ranting...

 

But then again, I also wasn't in the classroom and didn't read responses from other students..

 

 

~moo