I think one adjunct is going to find the pen is mightier than the sword

Thanks to the New York Times. :)

A Stutterer Faces Resistance, From the Front of the Class

As his history class at the County College of Morris here discussed exploration of the New World, Philip Garber Jr. raised his hand, hoping to ask why China’s 15th-century explorers, who traveled as far as Africa, had not also reached North America.

He kept his hand aloft for much of the 75-minute session, but the professor did not call on him. She had already told him not to speak in class.

The comments have many differing opinions, mostly in the young man's favour, however. I can see the adjunct's point, but I think she missed something important by refusing to call upon him in class and telling him to not speak during it. Let's face it. Adjuncts don't get paid much, and they have almost no real training in teaching (for that matter, full professors don't either; graduate school is all about research, and if you're a teaching assistant, you learn as you go). Of course, she did avail herself to him outside class, which is good, but expected. However, in silencing him, keeping the class running smoothly seems to be an excuse, at least from what I got from the article, which was admittedly one-sided. It seemed more that she simply didn't want to make the effort to understand and answer him. How would she deal with someone with an extremely thick accent, or someone with Tourette's? What about know-it-alls who monopolise class time? They are truly disruptive. A part of one's grade is often class participation, not just to demonstrate knowledge (which writing down the answers and giving them to her might have done) or to gather knowledge (by communicating to her outside of class), but also so that other students can learn from those interactions. He was essentially shoved aside in favour of getting through the material quickly, rather than encouraging learning, including respect for others with differences that can sometimes seem inconvenient.

I do agree with one commenter in particular: maybe, as a teacher of history, she should consider reading or watching The King's Speech.