At 11:47 PM 7/16/97, Michael Marc Levy wrote:
>Yet, when it comes to class discussion (and also teacher evaluation forms),
>Virginia gets a lot more resistance than I do. Partly, I expect, it's the
>whole gender-based respect thing (female teachers often have to work harder
>to gain their students' respect than do male teachers),
Female teachers are often seen as a surrogate MOM, to be resisted, mocked,
undermined, etc. at any and every opportunity (UNLESS a female teacher is
really good at what she does and overwhelms this knee-jerk kid-attitude,
although it is never possible to accomplish this with all the kids in a
given class; somebody will always be proof against even your very best).
Male teachers are seen as that (usually) distant and thus romanticized
authority figure, DAD, and if they do not make themselves utterly ridicu-
lous from the get-go have a somewhat better chance of being obeyed, if not
respected (or, sometimes, even loved for their resemblance to certain
bumbling tv DADs whom kids are taught to regard as lovable. There are few
lovabel MOMs on tv, mostly silly, dangerous, horrible, or sick-and-dying
pathetic ones).
And no kids freely and comfortably discuss any aspects of sex with their
parents or surrogates thereof.
All this is full-of-holes-and-exceptions (thank gods) generalization derived
from several years teach jr. high school in the mid-sixties (I loved doing
it, too, and I miss those times.
Suzy
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