11

A Staff Divided

Posted by scinch 10 years, 2 months ago to Economics
51 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

I am an economics teacher at a high school. Last month the Ayn Rand Institute sent me a class set of Atlas Shrugged along with a teacher guide. I assigned it to my econ class. Most of the students are actually enjoying the book although it can be dense for the teenage mind. About 1/2 the class wants to participate in the essay contest. What do I get in return? About a 1/2 dozen teachers praising me for having the courage to assign the book, and a bunch of them telling me they hope parent complaints will come in to force me to not use it anymore.
Good news, getting thanks from parents.
Bad News, sneers and jeers from my teaching colleagues.
One administrator "expressed concern" over the assignment being controversial. I pointed out that it is on the STATE approved reading list.

All Comments

Previous comments...   You are currently on page 2.
  • Posted by Fountainhead24 10 years, 2 months ago
    Great job! I would say that I wish you had been one of my teachers but you would've had to be before 1925.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by WBD 10 years, 2 months ago
    Thank You for assigning the book. I wish I had been assigned anything by Ayn Rand in high school. I didn't start reading her books until I was 55 a couple years ago. Fortunately, I had gone most of the way myself as did my wife and daughter. Rand solidified the concepts and made it easier to understand and fight socialist dogma.

    I know you still have to work with your dissenting colleagues but the students and parents are much more important. You might have reached some parents who needed it too.

    Good Work!!!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by skidance 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    When I was in high school, I persuaded my history teacher to read the chapter entitled "From Each According to His Ability, to Each According to His Need."

    He (gasp!) photocopied the chapter, passed out a copy to each student, and proceeded to read it out loud in class.

    Naturally, some parents complained that he was "teaching Communism." My response, published in our local newspaper's Letters to the Editor, was that we cannot fight something we know nothing about.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by squareone 10 years, 2 months ago
    Parasites, leeches, and the ignorant will always oppose Rand's ideas until they are forced to face the results of their ignorance.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Eyecu2 10 years, 2 months ago
    Accept the accolades and ignore the sneers, you are doing the right thing!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by illucio 10 years, 2 months ago
    Great! My Congratulations! Clarity should be rewarded and jelousy exposed!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Kath 10 years, 2 months ago
    I still have fond memories of a high school teacher who urged me to read Rand. This wasn't an assignment because he was my choir teacher! Stupidly, I didn't read the books he suggested until years later. I have made up for this since.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ cpeterson 10 years, 2 months ago
    I read Atlas Shrugged in 9th grade English (I was actually in 8th grade at the time) back in 1969-1970. It was one of the books on our list that we would read in order to write a "utopian" novel report. 1984, Brave New World, Anthem, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies were just a few of the others that I read that year. And I think that I'm better off for having read all of them, especially Atlas Shrugged. It just made sense to me, but even back at that age I was a fairly pragmatic person. I love how the parents are supporting you and frankly, those other teachers should be ashamed of themselves for encroaching on your classroom. Know that you have a lot more supporters than you have detractors!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by iroseland 10 years, 2 months ago
    Well done! my intro to Rand was thanks to a high school teacher. I turned out ok..
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years, 2 months ago
    A controversial assignment to learn. How awful?

    You're a rarity. I congratulate you.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ Abaco 10 years, 2 months ago
    Good job. I remember being exposed to some things in high school that I found useful the rest of my life. One example is when my Lit teacher had us read Catch 22. Decades later, I still find it amusing and applicable to things I see every day.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Snoogoo 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Seriously, they are making kids read that crap? I went to HS in the early 2000's and we got to read better books like 1984, Lord of the Flies, and Fahrenheit 451
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by iroseland 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Some day soon ī will be in a position to use what I have made to help make changes. When that happens I look forward to helping to get copies into more hands.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by scinch 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yeah, apparently Reardan and Taggart having sex is more disgusting than Holden Caulfield having sex with a hooker in The Catcher in the Rye.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by scinch 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I was just glad the Institute sent me the books because the school wouldn't buy them. I guess an order of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" was a priority order. Of course they were willing to buy "Three Cups of Tea" on how an American is setting up schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Altruism is the order of the day.
    Reply | Permalink  

  • Comment hidden. Undo