Displaying student work conveys a number of important messages: teachers respect what students accomplish on paper. Students in the classroom also collaborate on projects while learning from one another. However, sometimes the content of students’ papers might contain some controversial themes like religion. Here, teachers need to determine whether to allow such papers to be shared in the classroom or not. In general, the purpose of this paper is to make some attempts to address how to deal with similar inconvenient cases.
In the given circumstance, the first thought that would cross my mind is if it is suitable to express ideas from the essay. The right to education is protected by human rights legislation guaranteeing to adapt education to the requirements of individuals and communities that are evolving and to the needs of students in their varied socio-cultural contexts (Yemini & Furstenburg, 2018). The student’s essay might not match the religious beliefs and perspectives of the other pupils, which could result in a disagreement in class. According to the Supreme Court, teachers who exercise editing supervision over the tone and substance of student expression do not violate the First Amendment as long as their decisions are logically connected to valid educational considerations (Shepard & Culver, 2018). Therefore, if it becomes necessary to moderate various extremes that may cause significant inconsistencies between pupils, I am permitted to change some expressions before showing them. That is one way of adapting education for all students considering the contextual needs.
The second question is if I can show the class this particular image because, once more, it might cause a certain amount of stress. The Supreme Court argues that entering a school does not revoke a student’s fundamental rights (Yell & Bateman, 2017). Therefore, the First Amendment protects students’ desire to communicate their opinions. I would infringe on this student’s fundamental rights if I forbade the display of the essay and photo. However, as I have stated, I may need to implement some modifications.
In light of the critical US Supreme Court ruling, the third issue could be framed as follows. Displaying the given work can be interpreted by the teacher as a religious prescription. According to the Supreme Court, no official may behave in a manner that contravenes the First Amendment (Patel, 2018). The precedent appears to be relevant in this situation since the fundamental idea of the provision indicates equal treatment for each US resident (Dadon-Golan et al., 2018). Therefore, I must consider the preferences and interests of each of my students. Without concentrating on or bringing up a religious component, I will rate the work under the established grading standards.
The situation mentioned above—which might occur in my class—is a crucial one to examine in the context of the First Amendment. Three US Supreme Court cases provided a logical and constant line of reasoning. It was proposed that the Amendment serves as the cornerstone for good social interactions in the nation. As mentioned earlier, the following legal concerns were presumed to exist within the context of the case. The first consideration is whether editing the essay is appropriate. Second, given the potential conflict, I want to know if I can present the paper to the students. The third is that I must respect the opinions of each of my students without making any exceptions.
References
Dadon-Golan, Z., BenDavid-Hadar, I., & Klein, J. (2018). Measuring (in) equality in Education.Education, Equity, Economy, 219–242.
Patel, K. S. (2018). Testing the Limits of the First Amendment: How Online Civil Rights Testing Is Protected Speech Activity. Columbia Law Review, 118(5), 1473-1516.
Shepard, J. M., & Culver, K. B. (2018). Culture wars on campus: academic freedom, the first amendment, and partisan outrage in polarized times. San Diego L. Rev., 55, 87.
Yell, M. L., & Bateman, D. F. (2017). Endrew F. v. Douglas county school district (2017) FAPE and the US supreme court. Teaching Exceptional Children, 50(1), 7-15.
Yemini, M., & Furstenburg, S. (2018). Students’ perceptions of global citizenship at a local and an international school in Israel. Cambridge Journal of Education, 48(6), 715-733.