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A Students' Bill of Rights

Submitted by Ken Watts on Mon, 06/25/2007 - 10:06

I'VE SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE as an educator. I've taught high school, college, and graduate school. I've taught math, writing, ancient Greek, philosophy, religious studies, and logic in the classroom, and I've spent years in private practice, working with students from the other end—helping them navigate not only subjects, but the quirks of institutions and teachers.

One thing I've noticed, time and time again, is the damage done to students by the inherent unfairness of the western classroom.

Students have a job to do: learning. The job requires certain support systems, but schools, and individual classrooms often ignore this fact.

So I propose a students' bill of rights: