A teacher at a Catholic school in Washington was fired for posting on her educational blog a report on a student’s political speech. Both the student and the school were unnamed, and the subject of the post was a pedagogical method for teaching “tone.” Sounds very unfair on the surface, very easy to condemn as a Catholic school’s heavy-handed violation of the teacher’s right to free speech. As usual, however, the devil can be found hiding among the details; what is unusual is that the Bellingham Herald provided those details. (See the link below.)

The incident raises the question of objectivity in reporting, in writing virtually anything, and in teaching. It’s such an easy demand to make. We’re so fond of quoting Joe Friday’s “Just the facts, ma’am.” And we’re equally fond of claiming objectivity for ourselves, denying ownership of what we say. But the truth is that human beings are not capable of complete objectivity. One of my students, a forensic psychology major, wrote a research paper in which he said that only a small percentage of eyewitness testimony turns out to be actually valid. The demand for atonality is itself tonal and disingenuous, as even a casual reading of James Joyce’s “atonal” fiction proves.

The teacher’s criticism of the student’s tone is far more revealing of her own lack of objectivity. Perhaps we should just demand less objectivity and more honesty—from ourselves as well as others.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/06/15/1480784/teacher-learns-the-hard-way-watch.html