Monday, January 08, 2007
Teachers/Artists
Maybe this is only a Southern phenom, but is anyone else catching wind of teachers being fired for their art?
Two examples that quickly come to mind, but I have heard more.
A woman who was a porn actor ten years ago, under a different name, when she looked completely different is fired from her school when "someone" links her old stage name to her new identity. This comes with the added bonus of me stating that I do think pornography is art (sometimes art that is done very badly), that the person who "leaked" the video to the school is a consumer of pornography AND that anyone who consumes pornography who thinks they are better than the pornographers is an idiot. I can understand certain parents not wanting a current Porn Star (and I mean Jenna Jameson level) not teaching their children who know who s/he is. However, someone who was a porn actor ten years ago teaching children who are too young to be exposed to pornography, I just don't give sympathy to. If you need your kids to have highly selected teachers send them to private school. Public schools are too desperate to be this picky.
BUT WAIT, it gets worse.
A public school art teacher, who did not teach his art to his student nor mention his art his students was recently fired when it was discovered (drum roll) that he painted with his body parts....all of them. The pictures (which I am searching for samples of) didn't even look like they were painted with his body. It just seems so stupid and really irks me.
So, as a public university teacher, how do I know that I haven't done something that could get me fired for being a bad example to my students? Answer, I don't. Outside of the nudity rubric (though I feel all artist should be able to use nudity if it furthers their art) it is impossible to come up with a standard of behaviour, and further the standard shouldn't be developed. If the behaviour is legal a public school teacher should be allowed to teach and engage in that behaviour. We can clause this by saying that the behaviour, if controversial, should be kept out of the workplace (by both the teacher and busybodies who like to introduce information no student would have found out about had the busybody not made it public).
There are just not enough people who have the gift of being able to teach well who are willing to do it for the pay public school teachers get.
to all the teachers, i apologize for the grammar in this post. i wrote it fast.
Maybe this is only a Southern phenom, but is anyone else catching wind of teachers being fired for their art?
Two examples that quickly come to mind, but I have heard more.
A woman who was a porn actor ten years ago, under a different name, when she looked completely different is fired from her school when "someone" links her old stage name to her new identity. This comes with the added bonus of me stating that I do think pornography is art (sometimes art that is done very badly), that the person who "leaked" the video to the school is a consumer of pornography AND that anyone who consumes pornography who thinks they are better than the pornographers is an idiot. I can understand certain parents not wanting a current Porn Star (and I mean Jenna Jameson level) not teaching their children who know who s/he is. However, someone who was a porn actor ten years ago teaching children who are too young to be exposed to pornography, I just don't give sympathy to. If you need your kids to have highly selected teachers send them to private school. Public schools are too desperate to be this picky.
BUT WAIT, it gets worse.
A public school art teacher, who did not teach his art to his student nor mention his art his students was recently fired when it was discovered (drum roll) that he painted with his body parts....all of them. The pictures (which I am searching for samples of) didn't even look like they were painted with his body. It just seems so stupid and really irks me.
So, as a public university teacher, how do I know that I haven't done something that could get me fired for being a bad example to my students? Answer, I don't. Outside of the nudity rubric (though I feel all artist should be able to use nudity if it furthers their art) it is impossible to come up with a standard of behaviour, and further the standard shouldn't be developed. If the behaviour is legal a public school teacher should be allowed to teach and engage in that behaviour. We can clause this by saying that the behaviour, if controversial, should be kept out of the workplace (by both the teacher and busybodies who like to introduce information no student would have found out about had the busybody not made it public).
There are just not enough people who have the gift of being able to teach well who are willing to do it for the pay public school teachers get.
to all the teachers, i apologize for the grammar in this post. i wrote it fast.
Comments:
I've heard of it too...saw a case like this on Dr. Phil (my guilty pleasure). As a mother, I can honestly say it wouldn't bother me if they USED to, but if they still did...it would depend a little. Like are they coming to school and telling the kids "I have to leave early to shoot a porn scene"? or are they into little kids. As long as it isn't affecting the teaching, I could care less. For all I know, my daughter's current teacher is doing porn with a side of S&M...he's a great teacher so who cares how he likes to entertain himself.
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