I know its been a while since we talked about in class, but I don't think we got to talk about it enough in class, so I am going to bring it up again. Dr. Turner asked the question about if you were a teacher and the principal of your school came to you and asked you to investigate a fellow teacher of being homosexual, because the principal says that he cannot have any of these kind working in his school, which is in a small town, the question was what would you do? I personally would have no clue what to do. On the one hand this is obvioulsy a horrible thing for this principal to ask of me and say about this teacher, but on the other hand I don't think i would want to lose my job. I can't say right now exactly what i would do, but if this situation really happened, i probably would find myself unemployed.

Preston,

I have been thinking abou this question too. And if my principle came up to me with that situation I would be taken aback. And even though I would run the risk of losing my job I would tell him/her that it is none of my busniess to sneak around and get into that teachers personal life! Its a personal choice that she has made and if it doesnt have any obvious effect on the students then I dont see the problem in her sexual orientation!

And to be honest I dont want to work for someone who is so narrow minded

As long as their "sexual orientation" or whatever the principal is against does not have any bearings on the way they teach, I don't think it's any of my business, and I would probably politely tell the principal that.

I had a "gay" teacher in high school, and a student came right out and asked him if he was gay, and he just said that he couldn't talk about it. It's a bit bad that he couldn't even answer the question without fears of repercussions, but really, it was none of our business, and had nothing to do with what we were learning.

If a person's situation is negatively impacting the way they are doing there job, I think someone needs to talk to them. But as long as they're doing what they are supposed to, I don't think anyone else needs to know their business.

So this is a hard question and situation to try to put ourselves in, but I feel like that if I came across this situation I would kind of say the same thing, that if their teaching but more importantly the students are not in any harm then it is best to leave it alone. If that means I risk unemployment then I think I would rather stand up for what I think than getting someone else fired.

This would be a really tough situation. I can’t say 100% what I would actually do. I know for me it would be really hard to stand up to the principal and jeopardize my job. However, I think it is morally wrong to go prying in this teacher’s personal business no matter what the principal said. I agree with everyone else by saying that this principal would not be someone I want to work for.

I agree...This is a very difficult situation. If I were in this situation, I think I would tell the principle that what he was asking was completely inappropriate. If he was not satisfied with my reply I would ask him if he thought the superintendent would find the request appropriate. If I lost my job in the process, so be it...I never want to work with such closed minded people who spend their lives trying to point out differences in others.

I agree; although losing a job over something like this is never something I would want to happen, working in a school where the principal is that closed minded wouldn't make me happy in the first place, so if it came down to it leaving wouldn't be a problem for me. I would probably tell the principal that a teachers sexual orientation is nobody else's business but their own and as long as their teaching abilities were not compromised and the students are not in any danger there is nothing I can do.

Also, the experiences that this gay or lesbian teacher might have had because of their sexual orientation could have even had a part in making them a better teacher.

Of course the idea of this happening seems terrible. Here is my take on how I may handle it. I think that a teachers sexuality may have something to do with their teaching style. Before everyone gets up in arms though I did not say for the worst. Although, at the beginning of this class we learned that much of what we are is portrayed in the classroom. So in response to the principals accusations of this teacher I want to be fair to both sides. It may not seem like they deserve it but hearing out the principal could be the best way. Ask about how their sexuality plays out in the classroom as far as curriculum. It very well could be an issue. Many times the original complaints could come from parents who's kids came home and said something about the teacher. The biased nature of us all is usually makes us different and with this individual as well because of their own standpoint. So in fact the principal might have an argument but not exactly for the reasons he/she thinks. It is not simply that the teacher is a lesbian. The real question is there a legitimate claim that this person is creating a negative learning environment? Which I think is fair because a heterosexual could be faced with the same question. Both with the possibilities of their sexuality being an issue in how they teach. I hope this made some kind of sense to someone because I am still letting marinate myself.

I honestly don't know what I would do if put in that situation either. I don't think it is any of the principal, mine, or anyone else's business what another teacher's sexual orientation is as long as they are doing their job correctly. I'm not sure what my reaction to the principal would be and while I wouldn't want to lose my job, I'm not sure I would want to continue working under those conditions. Who knows what else that principal wouldn't like...

I think if I was put in the situation of being asked by my principal if a fellow teacher was gay, I would just tell him that I don't come to work to get involved in other people's personal lives. I would tell him that I come to school to teach my students only. As long as the fellow teacher was doing her job and not allowing her personal life to affect it, I do not see what the problem is with it being his business anyway. Working for a principal like this would be hard I'm sure because if he is closed minded on topics like this I'm sure he is on others as well. If I lost my job over a situation like this it would be horrible, but who would want to work for someone like this anyway.

I agree with Mallory's comment, and I feel that it would be best to stay out of any drama related to work, especially in this situation where the principal is having issues with a gay teacher. This teacher should not be targeted because he is gay and should be able to be involved like any other member of the faculty. In any profession, there will be certain issues people must deal with. I feel that the best policy is to do what you feel is right in that particular situation, whether you support or oppose the issue. Teachers shouldn't feel that they have to submit to the administration in order to keep peace in their school.

I am pretty sure that I would still do what I said earlier...risk my job and stand up for what I believed in IF the principal was intending to bring prejudice against homosexuals. I agree that we should equally evaluate each teacher and make sure that everyone is doing what they should be in the classroom. I know so many people that were turned off to education and never had that one teacher that brought them up out of their hate for the education system. These people are very smart and contribute to society in various ways, but that hate of education will always be with them because of a bad teacher.

I would like to think that I would have been able to stand up for what I believe in and other people who are being treated unfairly. I hope that I would not be put in this situation because I hope through my daily conversations with people at my school they would understand that I do not agree with putting people in unfair predicaments.

I think I would want to go on record with the Principal with another faculty member present as saying I don't agree with that sort of conduct. There are agencies for hire that can investigate that kind of thing. It is not necessary to place a teacher in a situation where they are vulnerable for getting sued or violating their ethics.

Got to agree with Hoy on this. There are other ways to solve this problem besides getting other colleagues involved. As for me, I would try my best to avoid the situation at all costs because it is unfair to be placed into this particular situation.

Hoy is exactly correct, there are a number of agencies that can provide help in situations such as this. I do however know that when my contract comes up to be renewed I would probably not be accepting at whatever school that Principal may be at.