Comments on: Joys of Teaching in a Politically Correct World http://theunbrokenwindow.com/2009/10/02/joys-of-teaching-in-a-politically-correct-world/ The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. - F.A. Hayek Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:33:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Susan http://theunbrokenwindow.com/2009/10/02/joys-of-teaching-in-a-politically-correct-world/comment-page-1/#comment-9887 Susan Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:44:37 +0000 http://theunbrokenwindow.com/?p=1387#comment-9887 I, too, teach at a university (San Francisco State) and sometimes have some fun issues come up with respect to disabilities. (At least our school provides proctoring at special testing centers for those who need more time.) The most perplexing example is when I get a letter from the center saying that I should allow for the student to be frequently absent and makeup work whenever they want--- err... at a convenient time. Obviously, this creates an incentive for a cunning student to work the system to get themselves classified as "disabled" in whatever way gets them this treatment (I have no idea what it takes). Nowadays, if I get such a letter, I have a policy that they can opt to do any of the homeworks, quizzes or the midterm and have me evaluate them (but not for a grade) and just have the final count for 100%, which they have to take on the same date as everyone else. That solves the problem. I do wonder how these people get and hold jobs. Do they tell their employers "Oh, I have a special condition that necessitates frequent, unscheduled absences from the office, and I will need more flexible deadlines for my work" for real? Thanks for writing this blog. It's great to see a professor willing to write something that isn't Politically Correct. I, too, teach at a university (San Francisco State) and sometimes have some fun issues come up with respect to disabilities. (At least our school provides proctoring at special testing centers for those who need more time.) The most perplexing example is when I get a letter from the center saying that I should allow for the student to be frequently absent and makeup work whenever they want— err… at a convenient time. Obviously, this creates an incentive for a cunning student to work the system to get themselves classified as “disabled” in whatever way gets them this treatment (I have no idea what it takes).

Nowadays, if I get such a letter, I have a policy that they can opt to do any of the homeworks, quizzes or the midterm and have me evaluate them (but not for a grade) and just have the final count for 100%, which they have to take on the same date as everyone else. That solves the problem.

I do wonder how these people get and hold jobs. Do they tell their employers “Oh, I have a special condition that necessitates frequent, unscheduled absences from the office, and I will need more flexible deadlines for my work” for real?

Thanks for writing this blog. It’s great to see a professor willing to write something that isn’t Politically Correct.

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