USAPride,
Obviously she taught them, look at the reaction. You disapprove because your sacred text was the one that she chose to mess with...I see it as a great acknowledgment of how important that book is, the teacher was aware that it was going to invoke a strong reaction from her students.
Some were offended, that is fine. Many, MANY people were offended at the notion that the Earth was not the center of the universe, in fact they killed people for saying such radical things, people were arrested for teaching the notion that we might have evolved from "lesser" species.
Teaching is sometimes a shocking and occassionally uncomfortable situation in which your comfort zone is challenged to make you think. Sometimes, the purpose is simply to examine the WAY you think. I'm willing to bet that those students, even those who are upset....are questioning the idea of burning books...if they ever are unfortunate enough to witness people burning literature they will have a learning experience to travel back to....having dealt with this situation they will have a context to approach the new situation. VOILA....LEARNING.
Now, obviously...you aren't going to reach every student. Those who are deeply religious or fundamentalist Christian might not be able to move past the fact that she tore up their Holy Book. I would argue that that in itself, helps to illustrate part of the teachers point...however this is an issue that schools have faced for years. People who don't want their children to be taught Catcher in the Rye because of the swearing, people who do not think that their children should be taught sexual education...this is their absolute right, and I am not judging them negatively...I am simply saying that strict religious people have always had problems with public education...this is nothing new. Unfortunately, the teacher overestimated people's ability to get the point...
Now, as a teacher, my one complaint would be that she improperly framed the lesson so that the students knew what the purpose of the lesson was...you can still shock students out of their comfort zone without making it a painfully uncomfortable experience. She could have asked them to list books that were important to them (although, to side with the teacher once again....if you have ever been in a classroom of 16 year olds and asked them what books are important to them...you might be more aware of why she simply chose to go right to the Bible)...she could have begun the lesson by outlining what she was trying to do.
Guess what...teachers are human, they have great ideas for lessons that sometimes work beautifully and sometimes flop. At least she was trying to reach her students...far better than just tossing the book in their laps and saying, "test on the first three chapters tomorrow."
You do not have the right to not be offended in this world. You have the right to voice your concerns about your child's or any child's education...however, this teacher was not advocating the destruction of the Bible...she was illustrating how terrible destroying it truly was...she was not insulting Christianity...she was acknowledging how many students celebrate it...she was not threatening or harming her students....she was attempting to teach them....
