Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District (California) Superintendent Brent Woodard has “banned depicting religious leaders” after some students drew Mohamed on a history class assignment.
“Following a parent’s complaint and media inquiries,” Woodard indicated he would check with an expert on Islam to resolve whether the 7th grade handout from High Desert School was “offensive.”
The worksheet allowed students to draw pictures associated with various vocabulary words.
The Los Angeles Daily News reports:
“I have directed all staff to permanently suspend the practice of drawing or depiction of any religious leader,” Woodard said Wednesday afternoon in a text message. “I am certain this teacher did not intend to offend anyone and in fact was simply teaching respect and tolerance for all cultures.”
Palmdale resident Melinda Van Stone said she was “very upset” when her 12-year-old son brought home the assignment about two weeks ago.
“It’s not appropriate to have our children go to school and learn how to insult a religious group,” said Van Stone, a chiropractor who declined to state her or her son’s religion.
Van Stone said the principal and district officials told her that the worksheet came from state-approved curriculum. But on Tuesday, High Desert School Principal Lynn David said the vocabulary worksheet is not a part of a textbook or other state-approved curriculum but is supplemental material.
The principal, who joined the school in July, said she did not know if the teacher had created the worksheet himself or from where he had it gotten it.
Van Stone says that Principal David told her “she needs to write down which state standards she objects to before the boy can be back in class full time. ” It’s unclear in the story if she’s actually done so; however, it states her son has been sent to David’s office six times now.
Van Stone was the only parent to complain.
While it’s highly unlikely the teacher meant any offense and only wanted to make the lesson more appealing, Muzammil Siddiqi, chairman of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, and Fatima Dadabhoy, an attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Los Angeles, both spoke to the need for teachers and administrators to be vigilant.
The former says it would be “better” if no student was asked to draw a picture of Mohamed, while the latter states it would be best for all if teachers just used material “formally approved by the state or district.”
Just add these requests to what is already a full plate for your average teacher.
Teachers across the country have been instructed to address students’ multiple learning styles; so, what about the alternatives for “visual-spatial” learners (drawing) as opposed to “linguistic” learners (writing), eh?
And how boring would it be for students to only utilize a “formally approved” textbook and associated materials? How long would it take to actually get such approval for something a teacher may want to use?
Teachers brainstorm and search for lesson ideas all the time. How would they go about getting “official” approval for something they found one day … and wanted to use the next?
h/t to EAGnews.org
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