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HLJHLJ
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 1218
Location: Ecuador
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 Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:07 am Post subject: |
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| dean_a_jones wrote: |
Yes but we are not choosing the students, you get that right? Our choice is the institution (and if we wish to teach the curriculum attached to it). |
In the case originally discussed (Tibetan Security Forces) it was the students and not the institution that was the main issue, but I don't think that's really the point.
I didn't write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but I accept the premise that people have basic human rights, and that they should apply equally to all. That means I have to assign those rights to everyone, regardless of whether I agree with their ideologies, and that includes their right to equal access to education.
As a moral or ethical stance goes, it would be pretty empty if I said I agree with it on principle, but I wasn't willing to uphold it in practice. |
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wangdaning
Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 3154
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:08 am Post subject: |
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Come on people. We are talking about teaching English, not police/military tactics, propaganda, and hopefully not cultural superiority.
Oppressive language teaching comes when the oppressor forces their language on the oppressed. Maybe EFL teachers in the Philippines, HK, Singapore...should think twice. They are extending the oppression of the native populations.
I don't actually believe that, but this conversation is a bit ridiculous. Also, many of the Security forces in the T are Tibetan. I think it is gross hyperbole to say that most of the world feels China is an occupying force. China an India would about balance each other out picking sides, but what about the other half of the world?
One step might be trying to locate the public schools (Unis, high schools, ect) in Lhasa. Shouldn't be too difficult to get a list and find some websites. Then contact them directly. |
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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 1151
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:33 am Post subject: |
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| HLJHLJ wrote: |
I didn't write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but I accept the premise that people have basic human rights, and that they should apply equally to all. That means I have to assign those rights to everyone, regardless of whether I agree with their ideologies, and that includes their right to equal access to education.
As a moral or ethical stance goes, it would be pretty empty if I said I agree with it on principle, but I wasn't willing to uphold it in practice. |
You don't have to do anything, the UDHR is a non-binding UN declaration that States are meant to strive towards.
You might believe in universal access to education as a basic human right, but you then seem to link that to a teachers willingness to teach in any given situation on the basis that choosing not to do so would mean that teacher is playing thought police and thus not living up to the universal education principle. The problem is that if you are working for an institution that itself contradicts the principle of equal access to equal education (and lets not even go into what this means) then you are in a bind, surely.
I think the original concern was that education, alongside many other things in Tibet, can be unequal, and the advantage tends to be given towards the ethnic Han who have migrated to the country/province (!) and are often resented by the local population (often because they have a perceived advantage due to their ethnicity).
I'm not saying I agree with this interpretation, but it seems to me the person who objects likely objects on the basis that basic human rights are not being upheld, particularly rights to equal access and treatment.
Anyway, I think we will just keep running around in circles on this one, so that is my final thought on the whole thing. |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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The idea, from my point of view, is choosing not to empower (education is power, right?) those who I know use their power to oppress others, such as the Chinese militia in Tibet, al Qaida, Kim Jong-Il. They are at the far end of the spectrum, making it pretty easy for me to pick them out and say that I won't do anything to help them in any endeavor, whether it's teaching them English, selling them guns, or just cleaning their houses.
Whenever there is a spectrum, there are blurred lines, and that makes people uncomfortable. While many of us would agree that we'd be unwilling to teach English to al Qaida, we confuse ourselves by trying to move along the spectrum toward the less extreme and still establish some principles. Okay, no al Qaida, but what about Chinese military? What about a corrupt government offical? A mom who beats her kid? A litter bug? There's no need to pick an across-the-board answer to these questions. Morality is subjective. What got me onto this thread was an attempt to defend a person who was ridiculed for taking a personal moral stand. No one here has said that we all have to agree on what is moral. |
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Trinley
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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| HLJHLJ wrote: |
| I didn't write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but I accept the premise that people have basic human rights, and that they should apply equally to all. That means I have to assign those rights to everyone, regardless of whether I agree with their ideologies, and that includes their right to equal access to education. |
What I'd like to stress here is that by personally declining to teach someone, you are not restricting access to education. You are restricting access to your personal services on moral grounds, which you have the right to do. That is a basic human right. |
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