Friday, May 22, 2009

Beards, babies and other dangers

In researching a project on teacher tenure, I was lucky to enough to find this editorial from the LA Times outlining a history of the teacher tenure movement. Not to be repetitive in these posts, but tenure was originally a reaction to discrimination against...guess who? Hint: not rich white men.

Things that turned women from caring educators into abusive harlots included:

- wearing skirts above the ankle
- being out in the evenings
- being married
- being pregnant
- having a beard. Okay, this one was for men. The teacher in question was charged with growing a beard that was "an outgrowth of his radicalism". All I can picture is this. And this. Which makes me laugh.

I had a college professor that looked like Will Ferrell, and I secretly longed for the day that he would bring a cowbell to class. This made me come to class every day and learn, learn, learn in the process. Educational beards - 1, weird 60's rules - 0.

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