On Wednesday, October 1, I sat in on Marilyn Sohan's group 3 speaking class. This was my favorite class observation yet, but also the most frustrating because I wanted to join the class discussion so badly!
For this class, the students continued a discussion they had started the day before. The topic was one I thought was quite controversial: sexual harassment. However, the students impressed with a candid and civil conversation. To set a framework for the discussion, Marilyn had the students play the role of the board of directors for CIES who were tasked with creating a school policy regarding sexual harassment. She wanted the students to come up with a list of ten agreed upon rules about sexual harassment. The students were only able to get through three, but the goal of having a thorough class discussion was definitely achieved.
The three policies the students developed were a dress code, a permanent on-staff counselor, and a review board to hear sexual harassment incidents. While I thought the latter two policies were great, I wholeheartedly disagreed with implementing a dress code as a way to prevent sexual harassment, so like I said, it was very difficult for me to not jump into the conversation. One student (from an Islamic country no less) pointed out that despite the fact that women in his country had to cover most of their bodies, sexual crimes were still a prevalent crime. Another student pointed out that since American's are more liberal with their sartorial choices, it would seem unnecessary to require a more conservative dress code only at CIES.
All in all it was a great discussion and a great class. Five stars.
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