This is a tough one for me on several levels, not the least of which because I am in a somewhat similar situation. My daughter attends Catholic school, primarily because the public schools near us are pretty much the opposite of good. To call us cafeteria Catholics would be an understatement. And we went into this knowing we would have to detox her about some core values (I am proud to report that the detoxing has been a success).
And then her religion teacher, the one she has last year, has this year, and will have next year (the school has a sort of middle school within the grade school) went bananas. Some of it was stuff I sort of expected (a sudden preoccupation with "modesty," a very extreme position on divorce). But some of it, I really didn't expect. She told the students, for example, that it was a sin to believe in evolution, and that Adam and Eve were real. The Catholic Church supports evolution, for crying out loud. The textbook they use says Genesis isn't meant literally! It even teaches the generally accepted dates of the writing of the canonical gospels, which makes it impossible for any of them to be eyewitness accounts. It's boggling.
But my daughter is very clear that she doesn't want me to say anything. And I have a feeling LW's daughter isn't going to be happy about it, either.
Does that mean LW shouldn't do something? No. This would be something I would speak up about, but I'm coming from a position of profound privilege where English studies are concerned. LW would definitely be wise to seek support from the other parent. They might also see if she can get the curricula of a few literature courses from the colleges nearby. Some may be online, and I'm reasonably confident that at least some profs would be happy to send LW their reading lists for a request. She might want to be a liiiittle careful about how she words the request, because college professors in general are not known for mild reactions to shit like this.
After that, I'd follow the columnists' advice, probably the first part. The hard part is going to be explaining to the daughter what's about to happen and why. I doubt she'll be happy about it, but she's not the only one affected by this teacher.
(I note, btw, that the curriculum isn't just "all men," but "all white men." If the racial bias is even close to as skewed as the gender bias, that's a necessary thing to address, and it can to some extent make this a pedagogical issue as much as a social justice issue. The teacher is unquestionably misogynist, but he may in addition be resistant to developing new lesson plans and assignments, especially when a lot of anthologies aren't a whole lot of help in diversifying the curriculum. Because, you know, Texas.)
The things I do to avoid grading
And then her religion teacher, the one she has last year, has this year, and will have next year (the school has a sort of middle school within the grade school) went bananas. Some of it was stuff I sort of expected (a sudden preoccupation with "modesty," a very extreme position on divorce). But some of it, I really didn't expect. She told the students, for example, that it was a sin to believe in evolution, and that Adam and Eve were real. The Catholic Church supports evolution, for crying out loud. The textbook they use says Genesis isn't meant literally! It even teaches the generally accepted dates of the writing of the canonical gospels, which makes it impossible for any of them to be eyewitness accounts. It's boggling.
But my daughter is very clear that she doesn't want me to say anything. And I have a feeling LW's daughter isn't going to be happy about it, either.
Does that mean LW shouldn't do something? No. This would be something I would speak up about, but I'm coming from a position of profound privilege where English studies are concerned. LW would definitely be wise to seek support from the other parent. They might also see if she can get the curricula of a few literature courses from the colleges nearby. Some may be online, and I'm reasonably confident that at least some profs would be happy to send LW their reading lists for a request. She might want to be a liiiittle careful about how she words the request, because college professors in general are not known for mild reactions to shit like this.
After that, I'd follow the columnists' advice, probably the first part. The hard part is going to be explaining to the daughter what's about to happen and why. I doubt she'll be happy about it, but she's not the only one affected by this teacher.
(I note, btw, that the curriculum isn't just "all men," but "all white men." If the racial bias is even close to as skewed as the gender bias, that's a necessary thing to address, and it can to some extent make this a pedagogical issue as much as a social justice issue. The teacher is unquestionably misogynist, but he may in addition be resistant to developing new lesson plans and assignments, especially when a lot of anthologies aren't a whole lot of help in diversifying the curriculum. Because, you know, Texas.)