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Mother disqualified from course for breastfeeding son
Tamar Trabalsi Hadad
Published: 03.12.13, 13:45
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1. But don't TAPE it. Lecturer too damned important for that!
Cyberbrain ,   Israel   (12.03.13)
It's ALL -- 100% -- about lecturer's ego. Has NOTHING to do with course requirements.
2. Mother
Chaim Jutkowitz MSW ,   Jerusalem   (12.03.13)
I would like to know who does the Lecturers feel is her clients ? Who's needs come first that of the student or the University. I feel Lecturers in conflict with his or her professional needs and that of University or Students. Or does the Lecturer has his or her own personal issue that comes in conflict with his/her role.?
3. To: No. 2
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (12.03.13)
The needs of the individuals who will someday be the responsibility of the "student" who misses too much class should come first and foremost. The university lecturer clearly understands this -- even if you do not. That is why she made the decision to require the student to repeat a core course in the curriculum. If the student is so haphazard about classroom attendance, social work is probably not the profession best suited to her. What comes down the road? "Oh, I'm sorry I couldn't take care of the emergency needs of an elderly person who depends on me, but my infant needed to be breastfed." Some "social worker!"
4. This is ridiculous
Eli ,   Haifa, Israel.   (12.03.13)
You go to an exam to be examined on your knowledge and that does NOT include a break for breast feeding. Either delay your sitting for the exam or get somebody else to feed the baby.
5. #4 learn the difference between a lecture and an exam
Anon ,   Ymous   (12.03.13)
Obviously, you can't read.
6. Male lecturer?
Joseph ,   London England   (12.03.13)
I wonder how a male lecturer would have reacted? I wonder whether the female lecturer has children and has had to balance being a student and being a new parent? It's not easy.
7. Nonsense?
Neal ,   Minneapolis USA   (12.04.13)
Missing from this report is a particularly important fact: How was this student, who apparently successfully completed the practical requirements, doing? If she was making good progress and was able to keep up with assignments, forcing her to retake the course from the beginning -- and do again all the practical work -- seems like narrishkeit, even cruelty, a matter of the teacher's ego, not the student's ability. The report says the student and her husband had arranged for the baby's care, but even as a male, I can understand on an intellectual level, at least, the powerful, even overwhelming reaction of a nursing mother to the crying of her infant child. I believe she's wired that way, and no matter how much her intellect says to wait to respond, she simply cannot. The school should review this decision on the basis of the student's academic performance in that class.
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