Offensive Material
This blogging world.
Is it a new problem for higher education?
I am a TA and, if I am fortunate enough, will obtain an instructor position at another university. Since I represent the school, I have to be aware of my actions. That includes my blogging activities.
However, I wonder what offensive material is tolerable. Can topics including politics, religion, race, gender be included on my blogsite? Is it professional for faculty of the university to push their agendas about these topics on their students in the classroom or hang offensive (and sometimes vulgar) material in the hallways of the institution?
Am I frustrated by students? Yes. Often. Writing about these frustrations and receiving feedback from my collegues in this format has been both cathartic and freeing. Many of my collegues benefit from the same purging of this type in their own blogs.
Unfortunately, I have not always blogged about the benefits and rewards I have gained from my teaching experience. Too often I have related only the negatives.
Being a TA does not make up my character. Because I am a TA does not mean that I do not have other frustrations and obstacles in my life. Being a TA is not WHO I am. It is what I do. Does that make me a bad teacher? No. It makes me balanced.
Come to my class. Observe me if you will. Talk to my students and gather feedback. Ask them if I am positive in class and responsive to their difficulties. I truly believe that 90% of them would agree that I enjoy teaching and am a helpful instructor. The other 10%, well you can't please everyone.
The discussion that spurred my thinking on this subject made me consider the public nature of my blogsite. Because of powers beyond my control, I will not be relating or recording my teaching experience herein any longer and would extend a word of caution to my collegues about the content of their blogs.
Yes, I know this is not a private, secure place to keep my thoughts. Because of that very reason though, is why so many people blog. We want to share our feelings and relate our experiences. It is the internet; it can be found.
What I want to know is: why are you looking?
Is it a new problem for higher education?
I am a TA and, if I am fortunate enough, will obtain an instructor position at another university. Since I represent the school, I have to be aware of my actions. That includes my blogging activities.
However, I wonder what offensive material is tolerable. Can topics including politics, religion, race, gender be included on my blogsite? Is it professional for faculty of the university to push their agendas about these topics on their students in the classroom or hang offensive (and sometimes vulgar) material in the hallways of the institution?
Am I frustrated by students? Yes. Often. Writing about these frustrations and receiving feedback from my collegues in this format has been both cathartic and freeing. Many of my collegues benefit from the same purging of this type in their own blogs.
Unfortunately, I have not always blogged about the benefits and rewards I have gained from my teaching experience. Too often I have related only the negatives.
Being a TA does not make up my character. Because I am a TA does not mean that I do not have other frustrations and obstacles in my life. Being a TA is not WHO I am. It is what I do. Does that make me a bad teacher? No. It makes me balanced.
Come to my class. Observe me if you will. Talk to my students and gather feedback. Ask them if I am positive in class and responsive to their difficulties. I truly believe that 90% of them would agree that I enjoy teaching and am a helpful instructor. The other 10%, well you can't please everyone.
The discussion that spurred my thinking on this subject made me consider the public nature of my blogsite. Because of powers beyond my control, I will not be relating or recording my teaching experience herein any longer and would extend a word of caution to my collegues about the content of their blogs.
Yes, I know this is not a private, secure place to keep my thoughts. Because of that very reason though, is why so many people blog. We want to share our feelings and relate our experiences. It is the internet; it can be found.
What I want to know is: why are you looking?
posted by Christi @ 12:31 PM
4 Comments:
At 8:22 PM,
Kristin said…
Because I like you!:) Do I need any other reason?
At 9:33 PM,
Nathan said…
I read your blog, and everyone else’s, because I am curious about what you have to say.
What you put on your personal blog ought not to matter; if it is not on the school server and the blog is not a component of your class then it is unrelated to your job. A former professor of mine is very politically active and maintains his own website that is full of political content. My own blog is almost exclusively political. I do not believe that an employer can legally punish you for political statements made outside of the work environment. I think that would qualify as prior restraint. At the very least it would have a severe chilling effect on speech, and higher education is supposed to be the epitome of the marketplace of ideas. (That is the ideal and not the reality.)
Idealistically, you ought to be able to put the most hate-ridden, distasteful, obscene thing on your blog—or on your front lawn for that matter—and it should have no bearing on your job.
The trouble with teaching is that, unlike a usual nine-to-five position, you live in a fishbowl and the actions you take part in outside of job can count, especially if you are not tenured.
I’ve gone by a dictum that I will not apologize for expressing my ideas because I ought to be able to stand behind whatever it is I say or write. . I think if someone can do that, then they should have no problem stating what is on their mind.
The web is public and if you can stand to have your ideas out in the open—-and I hope you will continue to share yourself this way—-then please continue to blog.
At 9:28 AM,
Michael David MacBride said…
That's a good point. When I blog about class, I typically try to do it in a reflective manner. Sometimes, yes, I do gripe.
That being said, I guess I believe more in freedom of speech and expression than I do of worrying about hurting anyone's feelings. Of course, I've never advertised to my students that I keep a blog.
I'm not sure. Tough call.
Anyway, I love reading what people have to say. I mean, we talk, and that's all good and everything... however, journaling often captures the essence of frustration, or happiness, or sadness. It is cathartic, and once that catharsis has taken place, the desire to share information by talking (or even the energy with which the story is told) is lost.
Plus, sometimes when you feel all alone and lost in the world... it's nice to know other people are there (if only in text form).
At 9:32 AM,
Michael David MacBride said…
Also, if the university is afraid of hurting people's feelings, or worried about us "talking about them", or whatever they might be concerned about... perhaps they should consider other ways in which "sensitive information about students" is revealed.
I mean, students don't own their papers... any work at the university belongs to the university it self. We have permission to use their papers anonymously, right? We have the ability to mention something that another student said. We can use those moments as teaching moments. We can say, "Someone asked me X." We can say, "Someone said Y."
And, the university of course broadcasts their images throughout the world wide web. What's more personal than someone exercising? I guess we can thank our lucky stars they're not webcasting images from the locker rooms...
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