Teacher has students write Jew-hating papers.

[Looneybomber]

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A high school English teacher who had students pretend to be Jew-hating Nazis in a writing assignment has been placed on leave.

The teacher at Albany High School caused a storm of criticism after having students practice the art of persuasive writing by penning a letter to a fictitious Nazi government official arguing that "Jews are evil."

District Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard held a news conference Friday to apologize for the assignment.

The Times Union newspaper reported (http://bit.ly/ZTc4PU) on Saturday that the teacher was not in class on Friday and had been placed on leave by the school district.

The district has not named the teacher, who was described as a veteran.

The writing assignment was done before a planned class reading of the memoir "Night," by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.

For the assignment, the teacher asked students to research Nazi propaganda, then write a letter trying to convince an official of the Third Reich "that Jews are evil and the source of our problems."

"Review in your notebooks the definitions for logos, ethos, and pathos," the teacher's assignment said. "Choose which argument style will be most effective in making your point. Please remember, your life (here in Nazi Germany in the 30's) may depend on it!"

Wyngaard said she didn't think the assignment was malicious but "it displayed a level of insensitivity that we absolutely will not tolerate."

Continued here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/1 ... 78288.html

...So a teacher picks a hard subject/topic for a persuasive speech/paper and due to the sensitive nature of the subject, that teacher gets suspended? I cry foul. It's hard to argue against something you believe in (or argue for something you're against), but isn't that the real test?

[WDRacing]

There is a huge difference between a hard topic and one that is just fcuking wrong. The teacher needs to find another job if she thinks that the kids were actually going to benefit from writing a paper in favor of ethnic cleansing.

I wonder why kids today have no empathy...

[themadscientist]

...So a teacher picks a hard subject/topic for a persuasive speech/paper and due to the sensitive nature of the subject, that teacher gets suspended? I cry foul. It's hard to argue against something you believe in (or argue for something you're against), but isn't that the real test?

Unless it comes to light that this subject overlays his personal behavior I tend to agree. Attempting to champion a subject so repugnant on its very face like this is a true test of persuasive writing. Knee jerk in full effect.

THIS I find more interesting.

The district has not named the teacher, who was described as a veteran.

No identifying factors other than the teacher is a veteran. Why? I can understand protecting the person's identity until the matter is investigated, but now I wonder what they are really trying to do here. If the person is a veteran, so ****in what? Unless they are a veteran of WWII and the German army, what the hell is the relevance?

I know left wing firebrands really hate the military and this is Huff Post, connection? I recall Feinstein seemed to be quite confident that all veterans were mentally unstable. This would plug quite nicely into that narrative.

[Jesda]

Its an interesting writing exercise but it's too advanced for high school. A focused college course (and I dont mean English 101) could benefit from a propaganda writing assignment.

[vas13hatch]

Maybe it's just me but when they refer to the teacher as a veteran, in my mind I thought a long time teacher, not a military veteran. But either way in this day and age of insane political correctness this teacher should have known that he/she would catch some shyt for this.

[Ace2cool]

Maybe it's just me but when they refer to the teacher as a veteran, in my mind I thought a long time teacher, not a military veteran.

This was my thinking as well. However, this just seems like a knee jerk reaction in full swing. Sure, it's a touchy subject, but this would be creative writing in its finest. I'm positive that none of those children believed in the "final solution," so it would take them out of their personal writing bubble of the norm and force them to perform creatively. But to hell with it. People want to think in their safe little thought process of "shelter the kids from any kind of thought process other than the very same one we think, refuse to acknowledge many mass tragedies other than skimming over it in a history book and dedicating all of ten minutes to the subject (that's all the coverage Pearl Harbor got in any of my classes,) and make DAMN SURE the kids know that the Nazis, all of them, were evil and thought the Jews should die."

Because none of them were forcefully enlisted. Nope, none of them. None of them enlisted because they needed a job, even though they didn't necessarily sympathize with the ideals of "Kill the Jews." None of them were threatened with the death of loved ones for not serving. And every single one of the Nazis knew about the death camps. Yeah, that's totally how that all went down.

This would be a fantastic subject for creative writing. You're a Nazi gestapo. You don't think the Jews are evil, but could be put to death for speaking out, and need to prove yourself. You didn't know what you signed up for when you enlisted. You just knew you were fighting for your country and leadership. So what do you need to do? Write a letter to your commanding officer pretending to hate the Jews and think they're filthy. From an outside point looking in, that's what this topic is all about. But no, we don't want our children thinking about how a Nazi would feel in the holocaust, cause all the Nazis were evil. Hell, some of the Nazis were even Jews, but never spoke of it. They simply enlisted to fly under the radar.

This f*** country is full of a bunch of overly sensitive people who love to complain and cry foul at any slight deviation from the hivemind thought process. Makes me sick.

[Dattebayo]

I had a similar assignment in high school involving everyone taking the point of view of several dictators involved in a UN-type atmosphere. We had to write convincing dialogue and several times it got hurtful. I personally didn't like the assignment, but we all learned the driving force behind many of the wrongs committed in past history.

Maybe the teacher's methods are off a little, but I don't think his intentions were malicious at all. As for hiding his identity, it is necessary. Hate makes people illogical.

[nismo_shifter]

I am the grandchild of Roma survivors of the Holocaust, and I actually think that this assignment was a good idea because human nature dictates that shock helps people have a deeper understanding. The teacher was ensuring that her students aren't just memorizing dates and names that they have no association with, she asked them to write this, knowing that most if not all will recoil in disgust, which will help them have the empathy necessary to have a deeper understanding of what happened and why.

There was a group of Neo Nazis in my high school, and through the underground newspaper I invited any and all to meet my grandfather, look at the tattoo on his arm, listen to his story, and then try to deny the Holocaust. Only a few came, and the shock of hearing first hand accounts, and of what happened to lead up to it, including especially the important role propaganda played in Hitler's success. Within a week, every single student who had walked proudly as white supremacists abandoned such things.

Shock and disgust are important tools when used correctly.

The above is a comment taken from the HuffPost comments section. While I can't exactly verify the authenticity of the information, I also can't see any reason why someone would randomly make up such a back-story with no potential personal gain.

I also agree that, while controversial, it is an excellent assignment. Looking at the story from the other side. Trying to see things as your "enemies" see them.

As a separate example, too few people seem to keep in mind that Eastern "terrorists" believe themselves justified and think the U.S. forces and people are the real terrorists. While the general consensus differs, it is no less true that opinions are often biased.

Should this be strictly a subject for a college course? Absolutely not. The older we get and the more time we spend learning something one way, the more difficult it is for us to see an opposing viewpoint. Maybe sophomores weren't the right target and it should have been given to seniors, but that should be considered a minor transgression at best.

To understand the wrongdoings of others, it is best to understand the reasons behind it; not just be led like sheep, and follow the communal drone of "they're evil, because they're evil." If I recall correctly, Hitler truly believed he was doing good for the world, and was able to convince the better part of an entire country.

To quote Tim Minchin (great Australian comedian): "I thought deli goodness was a relative concept like Beauty or Terrorism..."