Re: The Anecdote & the Educator

Tim Flinders (flinders@wco.com)
Thu, 16 Apr 1998 10:02:31 -0700


Linda:
In the incident you cite about the basketball game, the issue of unequal
use of the prime basketball court at recess surfaced in a girls' group
discussion, and was taken back to the entire sixth grade (three classes),
where a teacher-led discussion resulted in the noontime basketball game on
the best court (it had the lowest baskets) being opened to anyone who
wanted to join the game, including untalented kids as well.

My guess is that if you look at the prime basketball area in most
schoolyards, you will find it monopolized by the most talented players
(which in our case was almost exclusively boys) as though it were their
birthright.

I had addressed the issue of the basketball court among the staff before,
but it wasn't until it surfaced as an issue among the girls themselves, in
their girls' group (they had notably not raisied it in their mixed gender
classrooms) that it was finally attended to. It's one of the reasons I'm
such a fan of girls' groups.

Tim
flinders@wco.com


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