Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Teacher Dislike of "Radical" Thinking

Reading another thread got me thinking about how many of us or our kids have gotten into disagreements (for lack of a better word) with teachers over ideas? Specifically, I'm wondering how many of us have been admonished by teachers for having ideas outside the perspective that they are teaching.

I know I've said this before, but I am not a trouble-maker. Still, I remember in high school having philosophical differences -- or really just a more complex way of thinking of things -- with teachers over things like affirmative action and taxes and whether English should be the national language. The topics weren't really the issue, though. It was that all the other students just unthinkingly accepted what the teachers were saying and I had questions about things and, even though I went to great lengths not to be rude, the teachers didn't like that I would question if there were other, equally correct, ways of looking at things. Too, looking back, I know that my ways of thinking were not juvenile and annoying but were well-founded and thought out.

I just remember teachers not taking me seriously because I was "just a kid," and not being taken seriously by others remains a sore spot for me.

Anyone else admonished for evaluating what their teachers were saying too deeply and "radically"?

Yup. That's why at one point, exasperated, I vowed to have at least a dozen kids, raise them to think for themselves, and let them loose on the teachers
as my revenge. But now I know having kids really, really, really hurts.

I remember one teacher one time telling me, "I'm a member of Mensa but you just made monkey meat out of me". He liked me though. Some teachers, er, not so much. I wonder if accelerations, accommodations, and IEPs make teachers feel more tolerant and understanding of these tendencies?

I actually almost walked out of a class in college due to a professor not believing my answer (in fact when I tried to give it as an answer in class he kept telling me "no no no no" and wouldn't even let me speak!! In the end my answer was correct but according to him I used something that was too advanced and he didn't want the class to hear it yet because it would confuse them. (I honestly think it was just an excuse for his silly behavior before).

I also had problem in my HS government class because I grew up in a part of the country that was very extremely on one end of the political spectrum and I was only one of two students in that class of 30 who were on the other end (the teacher actually tested us at the beginning to see "where we stood"). So yeah, I tended to get some pretty poor grades on essays during that class...

I had quite a lot of those experiences in my school career, being the child of my parents who raised me to question authority and pretty much everything else, and also having no social sense and a smart mouth. I'm surprised my teachers didn't kill me!

I ran into problems many times and became a veteran of detention at an early age, as well as later in my education. Not until my upper division college and graduate classes were teachers accepting of divergent thinking and sharing information I had learned that they might not have known prior to having me in class...

I also started full-out rebellion in response to being treated as "just a kid..." I still feel that anger trigger sometimes when I am patronized or treated as if I cannot fully reason through an issue...

DC16 was never that outspoken, but DC20 has had a few run-ins like those (also ADHD, so maybe that contributes)...