A high school physics teacher is suspended indefinitely after he ignored school policy and gave some students zeros for their work, or complete lack of it.
Support for the teacher has been heard across Alberta — when students don’t do the work they should get exactly that — zeros. Or should they?
In this particular case, if students failed to turn in an assignment or skipped an exam, they eventually netted zero.
But the school policy doesn’t allow its teachers to give out zeros. School administration decided on such policy — not the school board, and not individual teachers.
Lynden Dorval, the Edmonton Ross Shepherd High School teacher, is being hailed as a hero, and a victim. He was suspended for insubordination — for continuing to give out zeros even though he was warned not to.
Here in Red Deer, Lindsey Thurber Comprehensive High School has a “reluctant zero policy” — a modified version of a “no-zero policy.”
That means, in the end, after interventions and other actions, if a student fails or refuses to do an assignment, he or she would get a NR (no response) grade.
The student will be given ample opportunity to finish an assignment past the original deadline, or redo a failed test.
To be fair to Dorval, 61, he’s been teaching for 35 years, and made himself available at lunch and after school to help students. He also warned them through the school year what their final mark would look like when tallied with assignments that received a zero.
But the problem of his suspension isn’t about his dedication. It’s partly about a philosophy that states — via its no-zero policy — that a school isn’t prepared to give up on a student.
The student who probably needs the most help and intervention is probably the one who gets zeros, or failing marks.
This is probably the kid that schools should least give up on, and a no-zero policy may actually get the student the help they need, whether it be academically or behaviorally.
In the end, handing a student a zero is one way of giving up on a student, and absolves the school of trying to help that student.
Sure, some high school students are obnoxious, full of bad attitude and trouble. But who doesn’t know a story about how a teacher reaching out to a teenager helped lead him, or her, to lifelong success?
Unlike zeros, the real world is seldom black and white. What’s important to remember here is that Dorval was suspended for refusing to follow school policy.
If a teacher decides to override school policy, or district policy, he or she should expect some push-back.
In Dorval’s case, he believes he’s helping students prepare for the future, and to be accountable, by giving out zeros.
But that future will almost certainly include a job that requires policy to be followed.
Teachers can’t run rogue over policy. What a can of worms that could open.
If they can’t live with a policy, move on.
Or, if they don’t like the policy, don’t choose to ignore it. Instead, work from within to try and change it.
Mary-Ann Barr is Advocate assistant city editor. She can be reached by email at barr@www.reddeeradvocate.com, by phone at 403-314-4332, or on Twitter @maryannbarr1