to be worried about the level of teaching in ds's college

[2shoes]

ds is doing health and social care at six form college.
now this is a subject he already has a head start on due to dd having severe cp,
also he has just done a 2 week placement at an sn college.
so today his teacher told the class that everyone with cp is the same!!!!!(as in how they are affected) and that she is scared of disabled people.............

aibu in telling him to speak to someone about her, and in thinking she is in the wrong job?

(be kind I am very tired and likely to cry)

[notanumber]

Is it possible that she is saying something deliberately provocative in order to get them thinking, to encourage them to question their preconceived ideas and prejudices?

It does seem an odd thing to be saying which is why I'm wondering about the wider context.

How has your son found the course so far (assume he has been enrolled since September)? Does he usually feel that he is learning and receiving good quality teaching?

[2shoes]

he is getting on really well(except for the short time at a nursery....the mummies were not keen)
lucky for him they have 3 different teachers. my concern is that although ds knows about disability, not all the classs will and will think what she says is right,

[2shoes]

should have added that she got quite defensive when he questioned what she was saying, and got rather personal(about his appearance)

[Goblinchild]

If he's not up to challenging her with information and debate, he needs to talk to someone and explain his confusion at her words.
She needs help, she's either in the wrong job or very poor at beginning discussions.

[Goblinchild]

Then she's a twit and needs a boot in the bum from someone further up the line.
You could write a letter asking for clarification.

[2shoes]

oh he challenged her (he is 18) he knows loads of young people with cp and knows that they are all affected differently.

[Goblinchild]

Well done that boy.
And for the 'I'm fwitened by the disabled' twit, a touch of the Monty's.

www.intriguing.com/mp/_pictures/compdiff/foot.jpg

[notanumber]

He sounds like a mature young man, so I suggest that he stays behind next lesson and talks to the teacher.

He just needs to say what you have said here; that his sister has CP so he was concerned that she appeared to be giving the class incorrect information about the condition, and aslso that he was a bit taken aback my her stating that she is frightened by people with disabilities.

Then he needs to listen to what she says. It may well be that these things are part of a teaching strategy, or it may have been lack of knowledge and poor judgement on her part, but he (and you) won't know until he approaches it with her.

But give her a chance to explain why she said what she did. Teachers are human and make errors like everyone else. If this is what has happened here, I would hope that she makes every effort to rectify the situation .

Either way though, going in all guns blazing is probably not the best approach to start off with (especially if it was part of a teaching strategy as it will be a little embarrassing for you to back down from!).

If he's being doing well with the course so far it would be a shame to make things awkward now when they could be resolved in an amicable way.

[Goblinchild]

Far more sane than my response notanumber.
I wonder what the other class members did, or if she intended to extend her statement into a debate?
Or if like some people I meet, she knows about disabilities because she met someone with CP or CF or AS or was it MS? and now knows what those people are like.

[2shoes]

thanks I will get him to have a look at this and see if he can get it sorted.
there does seem to be this way of thinking though as he said that a worker at the sn college made the same comment!!

[MABS]

i am horrified 2shoes, well done to ds, i wouldn't be able to resist going in myself tho to complain and put em right tbh.

[2shoes]

see mabs our dc's are living proof that she is wrong

[larks35]

I do actually think that your DS should speak to the Head of Department about this as it goes against the whole ethos of H&SC as a subject, that the teacher gives the idea that this kind of ignorance and discrimination is acceptable. I think you are is right to worry about his classmates' thinking that this point of view is acceptable, particularly as in taking H&SC, some of them may well end up working with people with disabilities. A very good friend of mine is Head of H&SC and she would be appalled if this happened within her department. Your DS's teacher needs a good talking to some extra training and support.

[101damnations]

Sadly,this sort of thing doesn't surprise me.My uncle had many severe disabilities,and when he was in hospital,a very nice nurse said to my mum,'Well its hard to tell if people with Downs are ill,because they don't suffer from pain'.My uncle did not have DS and a quick look at his notes would have rectified that,but we were stunned that a person with professional qualifications,working as a nurse,would believe such an out dated notion.And she was one of the 'better' nurses,who actually chased things up for us.

Could your ds give a short talk to the class regarding his experiences? He sounds a lovely young man btw.

[2shoes]

thanks
he wouldn't want to do that as he likes to keep home at home iynwim.
I spoke to him again and it sounds like he gave a good arguement(blinded her with science, using words like athetoid and spastic, she shut up after that)

[notanumber]

What exactly did the teacher say in response to your son's arguments, 2shoes? Does your son feel that it has been some way resolved?