Teacher booted me out of a school group

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Has a teacher ever removed you from a school group?
No, never. 67%  67%  [ 4 ]
Yes, by my request. 17%  17%  [ 1 ]
Yes, after discussing options with me. 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Yes, forcefully. 17%  17%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 6

davidjess
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28 Mar 2011, 9:43 am

I am not a 14-year old kid in high school anymore. I am 44 years old in a top-ranked master's program in education. The last 6 weeks is for work in a group of 4 students. They are all professionals with tremendous experience. I came in asking, "How will we know exactly what constitutes a group decision?". I wrote up a proposal for the first meeting, sent it out to everybody, asked if they had any input or other ideas. The proposal passed unanimously with YES, YES, YES, YES. It said that a group decision is one that is written down and read to everybody or sent to everybody and receives a simple unanimous vote of 4 YESs. Then the group went as most groups go, with individuals taking over and sort of forcing the group in certain directions. I sent a heads-up note to the instructor, informing her of the proposal we had all agreed to. I did not make an argument in that letter, but just said that I though you should know about the group dynamics. I also made a wiki (website that all 4 people can easily edit) as specified in that same proposal, and posted group planning information and a log of all group commmunications on the wiki. It came out pretty nice, but they do not necessarily appreciate it.

The next day I got a letter back saying, "I have thought thru this very carefully, and I have decided that I will work with you alone on this project". Now, I can see positive and negative aspects to this. Positively, the teacher could be genuinely interested in my progress. Perhaps working alone with the teacher will be a form of mentorship. Perhaps the teacher notices my strengths and would like to work with me. But why did she do this without consulting me on it? On this hope, I sent a letter offering a 1-hour meeting to discuss the teacher's reasons, to which I have received no reply, yet, after 2 days.

On the negative side, it is a violent act. Group work is how I got the majority of my education, and I deserve it as much as any other student. If the group asked for my removal, they should not get their wish just because I have autism. If there is any disciplinary component, then it should have gone thru one of those 3-stage disciplinary processes, where the teacher tells me what behavior is expected, how I failed to meet it, what will happen, and so on. If the teacher has the power to rearrange groups by fiat, by professional opinion, then I would like to understand that power much better. It is not in the syllabus, so I had no chance to prepare for this. She also changed the requirements and the calendar for the project. This is the kind of change that Aspies or people with autism or BAPs can take a long time to recover from. I could lose the entire course, the entire semester, unless I pull it together. Even a small choice like accepting the teachers decision and rearranging my project plan is extraordinarily difficult for me. I do not know what questions to ask you. I just want to leave it open. What questions would you like me to ask you?



Lene
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28 Mar 2011, 2:26 pm

Quote:
"I have thought thru this very carefully, and I have decided that I will work with you alone on this project".


Weird.

Unfortunately, last minute changes are common in college; there's not a lot you can do to fix that.

But if she is singling you out from the group without giving you a decent explanation, that's a bit much.

When is your meeting with her? Ask her what she means and if you can still decide to work with the group instead. Also, maybe ask if there has been a problem and for feedback.

Also odd that she used text speak for what is a pretty important change in plan.

You know what, I'd be inclined to ignore it until she has the manners to get back to you. Carry on as normal. If she suddenly changes something without giving you time to get enough marks with the new plan, then you can go above her head to the university or to disability.