My principal called just now to tell me about a student who has just been placed in my class starting next Tuesday. He is hispanic, and apparantly is prejudiced against any other races. He's been suspended for calling kids the n word as well as numerous other racial slurs. I know it's how he was raised, but if I keep writing him up, he'll just get expelled, and that won't solve the problem. He is disrespectful, and I have no idea how he is going to mix with me. I obviously don't allow such things, but I know he'll be a major disruption. WWYD?
I teach 5th grade.
Re: Help me with "racist" child...
I know the principal is trying to keep you informed but that would just worry me for the rest of the summer!
Sorry I really have no advice right now. I will think about it some more though. I teach primary so my ideas probably wouldn't work...
Maybe jigsaw classroom?
https://www.jigsaw.org/
The thing is, I don't think you can solve the problem, you can only manage it. Which is to make sure all the students understand there is no tolerance for this behavior. Write him up, notify the parents. And hope that they teach him at least to not be disruptive with his assbackaward beliefs.
Poor kid.
DMoney will be a kickass big sister
This is really interesting.
HH, your heart is in the right place, but teachers have zero authority to do these things beyond asking the parents to meet with them. Expulsion and counseling are legal issues, not teacher-initiated ones.
Most likely, the kid is getting these ideas from home, so a sit down with parents is likely not going to help. Counseling might help, but until he starts having positive and beneficial interactions with those of different races, he's unlikely to change. This technique can help. It's a lot of work, and might take a lot of tries, but research suggest it can be very beneficial.
So, the teacher can't write him up enough so that it eventually escalates to an expulsion? The teacher can't get authorization from the principal to suggest counseling with a school guidance counselor?
You can write him up as many times as you want. Write ups do not necessarily (and are unlikely to) lead to something like expulsion. As for the other, that would depend on your school climate whether the school would listen to you. But the parents have to approve it anyway, legally. I mean true counseling, as opposed to just talking with the guidance counselor about test scores or whatever.
Oh, that's interesting. I thought there was some kind of objective system, ie 3 write-ups = detention, 2 detentions = ISS, 4 ISS = suspension or something. Oh well, thought wrong I guess.
There is no universal, just whatever the school decides.
And for kids with an IEP for emotional/behavior disorder, those students cannot be suspended or expelled.
These are the politics of teaching that people don't know about!