Offensive? Inapropriate? Funny? All 3?
In my class this morning, the students had to choose a country they would love to visit, and talk about their reasons behind the choice. They had to work in pairs, share their reasons, and then some students would make a small presentation. There was the predicatable mix of students wanting to go to Australia to touch a koala, wanting to go to the US to watch baseball, wanting to go to England to see Harry Potter, and a few others wishing to visit France, China, Korea, even Switzerland! I was a little surprised when I realised that a few students had opted for Germany as their country of choice, but quickly realised that their reason was to based solely on wanting to see the World Cup! Good choice!!
However, as I was walking round the room, I noticed one boy had written he wanted to go to Germany because he '"loves Hitler." A few minutes later he actually came over to me and asked how to spell 'Auschwitz.' I was quite take aback actually, and wasn't really sure how I felt about the situation. I wasn't sure if I should feel offended, or find it funny, or just view it impartially as an inapropriate choice. I gave him the spelling, and continued my walk around the classroom, wondering what I should do next. The boy in question, is really bright, always volunteers, and I just knew would be eager to make a presentation. But, I didn't want him to. Is that wrong? It's not that I didn't want him to make his own composition, and write his own ideas...but I didn't want to have to listen to his speech, listen to the other kids chuckle (as they realised that he was trying to be smart!), and then have to applaud him and tell him it was great. I just thought that would put me in an awkward situation, and I would not feel comfortable.
So, I approached 'moron' about it, and tried to carefully and subtley explain that I did not want this student to present his work today. I said that I felt it was a little 'controversial', 'not funny', and I was not comfortable with such a speech being read in my class. I suggested that we choose numbers, and pick people, rather than ask for volunteers. 'Moron', however, just laughed and said, "ah, I think he means funny. It is a joke. His facial knowledge." First of all, a joke! yeah right!! So, if I want to make a speech about how I love the people who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, they're going to think I'm a real comedian, and brush it off as a joke! I don't think so!!! And secondly, 'facial knowledge'...what the hell does that mean!! Gah! I hate this guy's English....I feel a blog coming dedicated to my contempt for this man!
Anyway, in the end 'moron' let me decide how I wanted to handle it, and I stuck with a 'no volunteers' policy for that portion of the lesson. Was I right to do that? Should I have just let him read his speech? It's not like I hold any grudge or anger towards Japan as a nation based on their participation in the war (I wouldn't be here if I did!!!). It's not as if lost a loved one in the war. But, I do believe that being culturally sensitive should be a two-way street. I live in Japan, and on a daily basis do my best to fit in and adhere to different social norms, cultural differences, and be aware of how to act in a 'Japanese way.' I certainly never instigate a conversation with a Japanese person about 'the war'!!! Why shouldn't I expect a degree of sensitivity and thought in return, especially on such an emotive subject?
However, as I was walking round the room, I noticed one boy had written he wanted to go to Germany because he '"loves Hitler." A few minutes later he actually came over to me and asked how to spell 'Auschwitz.' I was quite take aback actually, and wasn't really sure how I felt about the situation. I wasn't sure if I should feel offended, or find it funny, or just view it impartially as an inapropriate choice. I gave him the spelling, and continued my walk around the classroom, wondering what I should do next. The boy in question, is really bright, always volunteers, and I just knew would be eager to make a presentation. But, I didn't want him to. Is that wrong? It's not that I didn't want him to make his own composition, and write his own ideas...but I didn't want to have to listen to his speech, listen to the other kids chuckle (as they realised that he was trying to be smart!), and then have to applaud him and tell him it was great. I just thought that would put me in an awkward situation, and I would not feel comfortable.
So, I approached 'moron' about it, and tried to carefully and subtley explain that I did not want this student to present his work today. I said that I felt it was a little 'controversial', 'not funny', and I was not comfortable with such a speech being read in my class. I suggested that we choose numbers, and pick people, rather than ask for volunteers. 'Moron', however, just laughed and said, "ah, I think he means funny. It is a joke. His facial knowledge." First of all, a joke! yeah right!! So, if I want to make a speech about how I love the people who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, they're going to think I'm a real comedian, and brush it off as a joke! I don't think so!!! And secondly, 'facial knowledge'...what the hell does that mean!! Gah! I hate this guy's English....I feel a blog coming dedicated to my contempt for this man!
Anyway, in the end 'moron' let me decide how I wanted to handle it, and I stuck with a 'no volunteers' policy for that portion of the lesson. Was I right to do that? Should I have just let him read his speech? It's not like I hold any grudge or anger towards Japan as a nation based on their participation in the war (I wouldn't be here if I did!!!). It's not as if lost a loved one in the war. But, I do believe that being culturally sensitive should be a two-way street. I live in Japan, and on a daily basis do my best to fit in and adhere to different social norms, cultural differences, and be aware of how to act in a 'Japanese way.' I certainly never instigate a conversation with a Japanese person about 'the war'!!! Why shouldn't I expect a degree of sensitivity and thought in return, especially on such an emotive subject?
posted by Lauren @ 4:26 am
1 Comments:
At 8:04 am,
J-girl said…
I think you made a good decision. I think the only acceptable way of letting this student present would be to discuss how serious an issue the Holocaust is and how it is offensive to make light of it. However, this would have publicly humiliated an otherwise genki student, so your choice was probably better. Well done.
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