https://www.westernjournal.com/teach...hiding/http://
We know at least one teacher is bothered by virtual learning, as classroom activities conducted online now can bring unexpected or unwanted audience members, some of whom are parents.
In one volley of Twitter posts, Matthew R. Kay, a teacher at the Science Leadership Academy, a magnet public high school in Philadelphia, demonstrated why so many parents have reservations about sending their children to schools.
“So, this fall, virtual class discussions will have many potential spectators – parents, siblings, etc. – in the same room. We’ll never be quite sure who is overhearing the discourse. What does this do for our equity/inclusion work?” Kay wrote on Twitter.
“How much have students depended on the (somewhat) secure barriers of our physical classrooms to encourage vulnerability? How many of us have installed some version of “what happens here stays here” to help this?” he continued.
“While conversations about race are in my wheelhouse, and remain a concern in this no-walls environment – I am most intrigued by the damage that ‘helicopter/snowplow’ parents can do in honest conversations about gender/sexuality…”
“And while ‘conservative’ parents are my chief concern – I know that the damage can come from the left too. If we are engaged in the messy work of destabilizing a kids racism or homophobia or transphobia – how much do we want their classmates’ parents piling on?” he concluded.
A biography for Kay describes him as a “proud product of Philadelphia’s public schools and a founding teacher at Science Leadership Academy.” Kay also speaks to middle and high school students and “deeply believes in the importance of earnest and mindful classroom conversations about race.”