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Thursday, October 20, 2005
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DO YOU UNDERSTAND… …the complexities of race, power, gender, class, sexual orientation and privilege in American society? UD does not hesitate to admit that she does not. In trying to envisage the paragon that does, she pictures the World’s Ultimate Critical Theorist, a pale foucauldian kept  functioning with massive transfusions from the undead…And yet at Washington State University’s school of education, the overwhelming majority of students reviewed for inclusion in the program under this standard have been admitted and retained. Judy Mitchell, dean of the program, explains. "We've evaluated 1,364 students under our current standards over the past three years and 1,330 have been recommended for teacher certification." Not only that, but, this morning’s AP article continues, “Of the 34 who haven't been recommended, some are still doing their student teaching, while others had health problems or a change in major, [Mitchell] said.” In short, virtually all of the people who apply for admission to this education program understand the complexities of race, power, babadeebabadeebabadeeba. But now, Washington State University is reviewing its policies on evaluating the character of students in the teacher training program after a student alleged the College of Education was biased against conservatives. Something in the way the form is worded, it seems, has allowed WSU to dismiss a student in very good standing because he’s politically conservative. (For details, go here.) Dean Mitchell doesn’t see what the fuss is about. The “issue has been blown out of proportion.” Yet how much can a woman whose online cv is 25 pages of tiny type know about proportion? |