Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education
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Jehovah's witness in the classroom
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Author:  Megan Wright [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:46 am ]
Post subject:  Jehovah's witness in the classroom

This kind of goes along with what William started about religion but on a slightly different level. I am in Block 1 right now and in my kindergarten class I had a Jehovah's witness. They have several "rules" that they have to follow and when this student doesn't agree with something he just covers his ears. They do not celebrate birthdays, so this student leaves the room whenever another student is having a birthday party. My cooperating teacher and this student and his family had a system worked out that worked for all of them. However, it kept her from doing certain things in the classroom because the student would not be able to be involved in them. I was wondering if anyone else knows anything about Jehovah's witnesses or how they would treat that in a classroom.

Author:  amy butler [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:17 pm ]
Post subject: 

i don't really know a lot about Jehovah's Witness but I am glad that the teacher is being respectful to the student (and parents) wishes. i do have one student at avery middle who is one and does not say the pledge of alliengence. i'm not sure how that would go against the religion but it's just best to be respectful of their religion. i also know that they don't celebrate holidays. the best thing is to call the parents and work out a system so that it doesn't upset the family and the classroom.

Author:  katelynmcmillan [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Jehovah's witness in the classroom

I understand that it's a part of his religion and that it is good to respect their wishes but I'm a little confused about something. Megan stated that the teacher has been hindered from doing certain things because this student couldn't participate. I was wondering if this has also interfered with the learning of the other students. For example, if a religion doesn't believe in evolution, is the child then not responsible for knowing the material. I wonder how this child will be affected as he gets older and how much the upper grades are going to be able to comply with their wishes. I guess my biggest question is, when does complying to ones religious wishes interfere with the right the other students have for a complete education and as teachers what do we do?

Author:  dinah wilgus [ Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:30 pm ]
Post subject: 

that's a good point. When we had the class yesterday with the situational questions about what we would do when the student does not believe in the Holocaust. I told my group that i don't play around with people who don't believe in the holocaust. In my content area, I really can't ignore it either. If the student refuses to learn it, than they are going to have to fail the test. Unfortunately, in history, there are many days that are more important than others, which is a huge part of the Johovah's witness' religion - not considering any day as more important than another. When they refuse to hear and accept anything that I am teaching them, that's fine because they may be living in the same social circle as an adult and knowing those things won't be important. But the unfortunate things is that they will need to pass the test, and I will refuse to pass them on the test if they don't put the right answer.

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