Religion classes in school - Megathread

I really don't want my kids' schedules being weighed down by some mandatory elective they didn't even ask for.

And speaking of numbers, my crew is actually in a pretty good spot; all three of them are in classes where at least ten other kids are opting out of religion class. They aren't just outliers, and there are enough of them together that the school won't be able to single them out or make a thing out of it.

I suppose I should probably address this—though I’m not entirely sure why it matters at this point—but there seems to be some sort of confusion regarding the current state of things. It’s all rather disorganized, isn't it? I mean, if you look at the way people are reacting, it’s almost as if they aren't paying attention to the actual details—not that anyone ever does, I guess. Anyway, I was thinking about how much this reminds me of that one situation back in Chicago—you know, the one where everything just fell apart because nobody bothered to read the fine print—and honestly, we're seeing a similar lack of foresight here. It’s frustrating, though perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. One would think people would strive for more clarity, but maybe that's just asking too much from the general public. Just my two cents, I suppose. [Username] says:
I'm more interested in who exactly is going to be doing the teaching—I mean, that’s really the core issue here, isn't it?🐔😳
What kind of credentials does someone actually need to teach a course on "critical thinking"? I mean, it’s a bit of a vague concept to begin with—I guess you could argue anyone with a pulse and an opinion could try, but that’s hardly a qualification. Usually, you’d expect some sort of advanced degree in philosophy or perhaps cognitive psychology—something from a place like Harvard or Stanford—to ensure they actually understand the mechanics of logic rather than just shouting platitudes. Or maybe it’s more about practical experience in investigative journalism or law? It seems a bit nebulous, really—though I suppose that might be the point of the subject itself. I wonder if there's any standardized certification for this at all, or if it's just anyone with a podium and a syllabus.🤣

Professor of Philosophy, Logic, Ethics... or whatever you want to call it.

Peter Rogers said:I really don't want my kids' schedules being weighed down by some mandatory elective they didn't even ask for.

And speaking of numbers, my crew is actually in a pretty good spot; all three of them are in classes where at least ten other kids are opting out of religion class. They aren't just outliers, and there are enough of them together that the school won't be able to single them out or make a thing out of it.

I mean, there’s just no way it could be a mandatory election. I guess—if you even want to call it that—it simply doesn't make sense from a logical standpoint. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but honestly, it feels fundamentally impossible.

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mellowskipper said:

I suppose I should probably address this—though I’m not entirely sure why it matters at this point—but there seems to be some sort of confusion regarding the current state of things. It’s all rather disorganized, isn't it? I mean, if you look at the way people are reacting, it’s almost as if they aren't paying attention to the actual details—not that anyone ever does, I guess. Anyway, I was thinking about how much this reminds me of that one situation back in Chicago—you know, the one where everything just fell apart because nobody bothered to read the fine print—and honestly, we're seeing a similar lack of foresight here. It’s frustrating, though perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. One would think people would strive for more clarity, but maybe that's just asking too much from the general public. Just my two cents, I suppose. [Username] says:
I'm more interested in who exactly is going to be doing the teaching—I mean, that’s really the core issue here, isn't it?🐔😳
What kind of credentials does someone actually need to teach a course on "critical thinking"? I mean, it’s a bit of a vague concept to begin with—I guess you could argue anyone with a pulse and an opinion could try, but that’s hardly a qualification. Usually, you’d expect some sort of advanced degree in philosophy or perhaps cognitive psychology—something from a place like Harvard or Stanford—to ensure they actually understand the mechanics of logic rather than just shouting platitudes. Or maybe it’s more about practical experience in investigative journalism or law? It seems a bit nebulous, really—though I suppose that might be the point of the subject itself. I wonder if there's any standardized certification for this at all, or if it's just anyone with a podium and a syllabus.🤣

Professor of Philosophy, Logic, Ethics... or whatever you want to call it.

I mean, there’s just no way it could be a mandatory election. I guess—if you even want to call it that—it simply doesn't make sense from a logical standpoint. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but honestly, it feels fundamentally impossible.

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aha, so I guess they’re just the only ones who hold the "right" credentials. fair enough.
it seems like they might just be inventing an entirely new field and a job title just to find some work for people who struggle to find employment elsewhere, you know, like philosophers, logicians, or ethicists.🐔

Critical thinking for first graders?

Just when you think they’ve already come up with every possible ridiculous thing imaginable...

urbantinker8 said:aha, so I guess they’re just the only ones who hold the "right" credentials. fair enough.
it seems like they might just be inventing an entirely new field and a job title just to find some work for people who struggle to find employment elsewhere, you know, like philosophers, logicians, or ethicists.🐔

I don't know. That was just my first thought. In my view, it could be any professor who needs to fill their required hours. I mean, what kind of academic citizen doesn't possess critical thinking skills?

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And why shouldn't kids taking religion classes also learn how to think critically?
Why does it have to be one or the other? 😉

Critical thinking and making responsible choices based on actual facts should be for everyone... I mean, what kind of society are we even building otherwise? 🤦 🙂

Personally, I feel like religion classes belong exclusively in a church or temple—where kids are already hanging out with their parents anyway—rather than in school... plus, if schools used those slots for social workers, psychologists, and speech therapists instead, we’d end up with a much better, smarter society (and everyone would be way more mentally healthy too)! 👍

Jonathan Barrett4 said:And why shouldn't kids taking religion classes also learn how to think critically?
Why does it have to be one or the other? 😉

Critical thinking and making responsible choices based on actual facts should be for everyone... I mean, what kind of society are we even building otherwise? 🤦 🙂

Personally, I feel like religion classes belong exclusively in a church or temple—where kids are already hanging out with their parents anyway—rather than in school... plus, if schools used those slots for social workers, psychologists, and speech therapists instead, we’d end up with a much better, smarter society (and everyone would be way more mentally healthy too)! 👍

I suspect that Unknown wouldn't agree with you.

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I haven't seen any posts from you yet! Feel free to jump in whenever you're ready. kaže:
I’m actually more curious about who’s going to be teaching this one. Any idea who they've got lined up for the lectures?🐔😳
What kind of qualifications do you actually need to teach a course on critical thinking?🤣

Long-term investing on the stock market. 🤣

Beyond just the budget concerns, I have a bit of a worry here. It feels like this might become a way to create "busy work" for people with degrees in philosophy, history, or theology—basically hiring academics just to fill space. If we go down that path, you could theoretically end up putting psychologists into those roles too.

I get that religious studies isn't going anywhere in our school system, but it feels pretty pointless to frame it as an "elective" when the only real choice is between religion and something else. It’s the same deal with ethics classes in high school—it doesn't really feel like a genuine choice if those are the only two options on the table.

I think we should add an extra hour of PE to the schedule—maybe get them out running around outside for a bit. It would be great to give the kids more freedom to choose how they spend that time, whether it's playing volleyball, attending religion class, or just catching up on some sleep.

It’s definitely doable. You could easily schedule those sessions before or after regular classes so the kids don't have to deal with gaps in their daily schedule. As for the staffing, you don't necessarily need one dedicated teacher for remedial work and another for the main subject. In most schools, we usually have about three or four teachers handling things, so it's manageable. It might be a little more challenging in smaller single-teacher schools, but it's certainly not impossible to pull off.
If we’re looking at the schedule for the lower grades—where they have their 4th and 5th periods, then 6th and 7th for their specific subjects, followed by the 1st and 2nd periods during the second shift—and this pattern repeats four days a week, they’ve basically completely overhauled the professor's timetable. Honestly, those lower classes could just meet twice a week instead; it doesn't necessarily have to be set up as a block.
The professor doesn't have any scheduling conflicts, and neither do the kids. I honestly don't get all this back-and-forth about everything having to fit into a rigid timetable just because Professor V wants to start teaching at 8:00 AM. If that’s how they want to roll, they should just go get a degree in mathematics and stick to teaching morning classes exclusively.

Hey everyone. It’s been a minute since I’ve checked in here, but I ended up popping back in while searching for some info on homeroom religious studies teachers.
So, I just found out that my daughter’s homeroom teacher from fifth through eighth grade is going to be the religious studies instructor. Honestly, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the potential friction. What happens if they only ever cross paths during SRZ? Like, how is this teacher actually supposed to advocate for her if, say, she runs into issues with her biology teacher? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of setup? How did it play out for you?
I’m really crossing my fingers that this person is reasonable.
To be blunt, my biggest fear is a lack of tolerance toward "her"—you know, being an atheist—and the possibility of them pushing specific agendas during SRZ sessions and stuff like that.
Since SRZ will be their only common ground, I’m struggling to understand the logic here. I have no clue how the administration at this school thinks this is going to work smoothly—they already shuffled kids from all four different tracks—4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D—just because of foreign language electives.
PS. This is happening in Washington, D.C.

A colleague’s daughter went through something similar once. Her family are atheists—not religious at all—and there wasn't any drama about it; the homeroom teacher didn't single her out or anything like that.
I suppose the same kind of thing could happen with an elective language class if a kid doesn't sign up for it—the teacher only sees them once a week during extracurriculars anyway.
At the end of the day, a teacher for any subject really ought to be a professional first and foremost—someone who keeps their personal biases to themselves as much as possible...

goldentrucker18 said:Hey everyone. It’s been a minute since I’ve checked in here, but I ended up popping back in while searching for some info on homeroom religious studies teachers.
So, I just found out that my daughter’s homeroom teacher from fifth through eighth grade is going to be the religious studies instructor. Honestly, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the potential friction. What happens if they only ever cross paths during SRZ? Like, how is this teacher actually supposed to advocate for her if, say, she runs into issues with her biology teacher? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of setup? How did it play out for you?
I’m really crossing my fingers that this person is reasonable.
To be blunt, my biggest fear is a lack of tolerance toward "her"—you know, being an atheist—and the possibility of them pushing specific agendas during SRZ sessions and stuff like that.
Since SRZ will be their only common ground, I’m struggling to understand the logic here. I have no clue how the administration at this school thinks this is going to work smoothly—they already shuffled kids from all four different tracks—4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D—just because of foreign language electives.
PS. This is happening in Washington, D.C.

Hmm. I'm not quite sure what to tell you.
Personally, I wouldn't be okay with that. I'd probably even consider pulling my kid out of the school altogether... if they've already moved the kids around because of language requirements, she's likely losing friends regardless. That said, I think this is definitely something that needs to be addressed directly with the administration.
Actually, if they rearranged the classes based on languages, could you request that she be placed in a class led by a non-religious studies teacher instead? There are still three other classes she could potentially join.
Forget the foreign language requirement; if it's that much of a hassle, just pull her out if there isn't another way to make it work (I honestly don't get how they managed to shuffle them all around like that 😕)

It isn't just about whether the homeroom teacher sees her in Religious Studies or whether he fails to advocate for her because she's an atheist (or just doesn't know him). In my view, it's ultimately the parent's job to step up for their child. A homeroom teacher is mostly a bureaucrat who handles attendance and organizes field trips. It feels wrong to me that the homeroom role is being filled by someone who didn't go through the same hiring process as the rest of the faculty (and consequently has a different schedule because they teach at Vatican City. Choosing to teach at Vatican City is for Religious Studies, not for homeroom duties).
Plus, it seems wrong that he'll be leading those Religious Studies classes where certain topics are discussed, which—no matter how liberal or reasonable he is—are handled differently through a religious lens.

Since this is in Washington, D.C., I would personally send an email to City Hall. At the end of the day, they are the ones in charge, and I still find myself hoping they'll show some common sense here.
Also, check who is on your school board, especially the representative from the city, and reach out to them.

(He probably just needs more hours in his schedule, but he shouldn't have to fill them by taking on homeroom duties.)

mellowskipper said:A colleague’s daughter went through something similar once. Her family are atheists—not religious at all—and there wasn't any drama about it; the homeroom teacher didn't single her out or anything like that.
I suppose the same kind of thing could happen with an elective language class if a kid doesn't sign up for it—the teacher only sees them once a week during extracurriculars anyway.
At the end of the day, a teacher for any subject really ought to be a professional first and foremost—someone who keeps their personal biases to themselves as much as possible...

Skyfall, thanks. I slept on this info, and honestly, we feel a bit better now. Plus, reading about this experience (and I know we aren't the only ones stuck in a spot like this) helps.
It makes me think—even if a person is actually being decent, you still have those teachers (art, English, physics, etc.) who can be total jerks, unfair, or just plain difficult.

Susan James said:Hmm. I'm not quite sure what to tell you.
Personally, I wouldn't be okay with that. I'd probably even consider pulling my kid out of the school altogether... if they've already moved the kids around because of language requirements, she's likely losing friends regardless. That said, I think this is definitely something that needs to be addressed directly with the administration.
Actually, if they rearranged the classes based on languages, could you request that she be placed in a class led by a non-religious studies teacher instead? There are still three other classes she could potentially join.
Forget the foreign language requirement; if it's that much of a hassle, just pull her out if there isn't another way to make it work (I honestly don't get how they managed to shuffle them all around like that 😕)

It isn't just about whether the homeroom teacher sees her in Religious Studies or whether he fails to advocate for her because she's an atheist (or just doesn't know him). In my view, it's ultimately the parent's job to step up for their child. A homeroom teacher is mostly a bureaucrat who handles attendance and organizes field trips. It feels wrong to me that the homeroom role is being filled by someone who didn't go through the same hiring process as the rest of the faculty (and consequently has a different schedule because they teach at Vatican City. Choosing to teach at Vatican City is for Religious Studies, not for homeroom duties).
Plus, it seems wrong that he'll be leading those Religious Studies classes where certain topics are discussed, which—no matter how liberal or reasonable he is—are handled differently through a religious lens.

Since this is in Washington, D.C., I would personally send an email to City Hall. At the end of the day, they are the ones in charge, and I still find myself hoping they'll show some common sense here.
Also, check who is on your school board, especially the representative from the city, and reach out to them.

(He probably just needs more hours in his schedule, but he shouldn't have to fill them by taking on homeroom duties.)

Susan James, thank you for the support too. That's exactly how I'm looking at it, and I hold the same view (it's unacceptable for someone to lead a class when they weren't hired by the school in the same way the other teachers were; if someone is religious, they should practice at their own church, etc.), but there are other (stressful, life-related) things piling up right now, so we decided at home: if anything, *anything* happens, we react. As long as the communication and information remain professional, we'll be fine. We could just as easily end up with a geography teacher or a physics teacher that we'd have much bigger problems and stress with over something totally trivial.

But, if you're asking if we were shocked, yes, we were. We talk to our girl a lot, and she already knows why she isn't doing Religious Studies—because we don't want to raise her in fear, etc. If she wants to participate when she's older, that will be her choice. She already knows how to stand her ground (and does it brilliantly, which makes me proud) when other kids try to intimidate her or exclude her because she doesn't go, but she handles it without a fight and just goes: "if I don't bother you with stuff I believe in, don't bother me with yours."

goldentrucker18 said:Hey everyone. It’s been a minute since I’ve checked in here, but I ended up popping back in while searching for some info on homeroom religious studies teachers.
So, I just found out that my daughter’s homeroom teacher from fifth through eighth grade is going to be the religious studies instructor. Honestly, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the potential friction. What happens if they only ever cross paths during SRZ? Like, how is this teacher actually supposed to advocate for her if, say, she runs into issues with her biology teacher? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of setup? How did it play out for you?
I’m really crossing my fingers that this person is reasonable.
To be blunt, my biggest fear is a lack of tolerance toward "her"—you know, being an atheist—and the possibility of them pushing specific agendas during SRZ sessions and stuff like that.
Since SRZ will be their only common ground, I’m struggling to understand the logic here. I have no clue how the administration at this school thinks this is going to work smoothly—they already shuffled kids from all four different tracks—4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D—just because of foreign language electives.
PS. This is happening in Washington, D.C.

That’s just how the Church and the clergy operate globally. They slowly plant their people into school boards, committees, and little cliques until they suddenly vote to push creationism alongside evolution—or claim evolution shouldn't be taught at all because it's "contradictory." It works for any topic that makes them uncomfortable.

If we let them expand their influence into "secular" education, you can bet they'll exploit it for their own ideological agenda and still never be satisfied. Shout out to the exceptions, I guess... ☕

goldentrucker18 said:Skyfall, thanks. I slept on this info, and honestly, we feel a bit better now. Plus, reading about this experience (and I know we aren't the only ones stuck in a spot like this) helps.
It makes me think—even if a person is actually being decent, you still have those teachers (art, English, physics, etc.) who can be total jerks, unfair, or just plain difficult.

Susan James, thank you for the support too. That's exactly how I'm looking at it, and I hold the same view (it's unacceptable for someone to lead a class when they weren't hired by the school in the same way the other teachers were; if someone is religious, they should practice at their own church, etc.), but there are other (stressful, life-related) things piling up right now, so we decided at home: if anything, *anything* happens, we react. As long as the communication and information remain professional, we'll be fine. We could just as easily end up with a geography teacher or a physics teacher that we'd have much bigger problems and stress with over something totally trivial.

But, if you're asking if we were shocked, yes, we were. We talk to our girl a lot, and she already knows why she isn't doing Religious Studies—because we don't want to raise her in fear, etc. If she wants to participate when she's older, that will be her choice. She already knows how to stand her ground (and does it brilliantly, which makes me proud) when other kids try to intimidate her or exclude her because she doesn't go, but she handles it without a fight and just goes: "if I don't bother you with stuff I believe in, don't bother me with yours."

Is she the only one in class not attending?
What do the other parents think about the homeroom teacher being the religious instructor?

Homeroom teachers can be unfair or jerks, but the difference between a physics teacher and a religious studies teacher is how they were hired and, if they turn out to be a "jerk," how they'll (and if they will) be held accountable for leaving that position.
I know many parents don't realize that hiring detail, but it doesn't justify a principal assigning them the homeroom role just because "nobody else wants it" or "they need to fill hours."
I could understand the first part, but the principal really needs to communicate that clearly with the parents. Maybe the whole class is on board, but if even one parent is against it, man, it shouldn't happen...
The second point isn't really the school administration's fault; in that case, the instructor should reach out to their supervisor and ask for a transfer to another school or find ways to fill their hours through other teaching roles...

Don't think for a second that you as a parent don't have any influence on choosing the homeroom teacher. You do—it might be small, but it isn't insignificant. And I think you should voice your opinion if nothing else.
Besides, we're all against dragging the church into everything...

The homeroom teacher goes on field trips with them, manages the IRS paperwork, and might even try to settle classroom issues during Religious Studies class instead of regular time, which would leave your kid excluded... During Religious Studies, the curriculum is supposed to cover various life topics, which they'll teach based on their own views and education—whether they want to or not—depending on how much effort they put in...
Of course, a geography teacher could also be super narrow-minded and talk about pro-life issues during Religious Studies because, hey, they have the homeroom role, but the probability of a religious instructor pushing those views is higher... plus, they "get away" with it because they don't report to the principal; even if the parent complains, the principal won't call them out—Vatican City would, and they'd probably just reward them instead of disciplining them.
And so 🥳

We’ve got a few different people teaching Religious Studies at our school. For the little kids, they bring in some nuns, and honestly, from what I’ve heard from a friend, most of them are just total jerks. They snap at the kids in the hallways, they're super rude, and I even heard one of them threatened to ban kids from having snack time just because they were running in the halls.

Now, for the older grades, I actually know two of the teachers personally. One is the mom of my colleague's daughter—she is genuinely wonderful. She’s fair, really understanding, and she actually brought up the idea of getting the non-religious kids sorted out so they aren't just wandering the halls aimlessly. I wouldn't mind at all if she was the one running the classroom.

The other guy is my coworker's son and my neighbor, and man, I wouldn't trust him to watch a single sheep. He has absolutely no boundaries. He asks the kids these incredibly awkward questions—like, he'll pull kids from divorced families aside and ask them how they feel about their parents splitting up or what they think about their parents dating someone new. People have complained about him a ton, but whatever, his boss seems totally fine with it.

So yeah, I guess it really just comes down to the individual.

goldentrucker18 said:Hey everyone. It’s been a minute since I’ve checked in here, but I ended up popping back in while searching for some info on homeroom religious studies teachers.
So, I just found out that my daughter’s homeroom teacher from fifth through eighth grade is going to be the religious studies instructor. Honestly, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the potential friction. What happens if they only ever cross paths during SRZ? Like, how is this teacher actually supposed to advocate for her if, say, she runs into issues with her biology teacher? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of setup? How did it play out for you?
I’m really crossing my fingers that this person is reasonable.
To be blunt, my biggest fear is a lack of tolerance toward "her"—you know, being an atheist—and the possibility of them pushing specific agendas during SRZ sessions and stuff like that.
Since SRZ will be their only common ground, I’m struggling to understand the logic here. I have no clue how the administration at this school thinks this is going to work smoothly—they already shuffled kids from all four different tracks—4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D—just because of foreign language electives.
PS. This is happening in Washington, D.C.

Can't you just move her to a different homeroom? Or check if she can switch classes entirely? It’s just not clicking for me why they had to mix up all the kids just for foreign languages. Personally, I don't think Religious Studies belongs in public schools at all. But hey, obviously, it depends on the individual. Most of us picked Religious Studies-why? Honestly, I don't know. In my elementary school days, we went through five different religious teachers, if I remember right.
As for high school, we had this wonderful nun for a couple of grades who never pushed her views on us. Instead, she taught us about tolerance and different faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. No "Walk for Life" nonsense or stupid questions. After her, we got actual male teachers. Out of all those teachers, that nun is the one I still remember fondly.
Back in my day, the IRS-though it was part of the curriculum, I graduated ages ago so I'm not really a benchmark anymore. But what really sticks out to me is this whole thing with the foreign languages—why on earth did they shuffle everyone like that?

Jason Ortiz5 said:We’ve got a few different people teaching Religious Studies at our school. For the little kids, they bring in some nuns, and honestly, from what I’ve heard from a friend, most of them are just total jerks. They snap at the kids in the hallways, they're super rude, and I even heard one of them threatened to ban kids from having snack time just because they were running in the halls.

Now, for the older grades, I actually know two of the teachers personally. One is the mom of my colleague's daughter—she is genuinely wonderful. She’s fair, really understanding, and she actually brought up the idea of getting the non-religious kids sorted out so they aren't just wandering the halls aimlessly. I wouldn't mind at all if she was the one running the classroom.

The other guy is my coworker's son and my neighbor, and man, I wouldn't trust him to watch a single sheep. He has absolutely no boundaries. He asks the kids these incredibly awkward questions—like, he'll pull kids from divorced families aside and ask them how they feel about their parents splitting up or what they think about their parents dating someone new. People have complained about him a ton, but whatever, his boss seems totally fine with it.

So yeah, I guess it really just comes down to the individual.

That’s actually pretty commendable, and honestly, that kind of care should be everywhere—not just limited to whether someone is a Religious Studies teacher or an English or math professor looking out for the non-religious kids. For the kids in middle school, though—that second scenario—it would probably be better to just bring in a psychologist. Besides, they have those "critical thinking" projects now, right? And I have one question: isn't Religious Studies supposed to be an elective anyway?

goldentrucker18 said:Hey everyone. It’s been a minute since I’ve checked in here, but I ended up popping back in while searching for some info on homeroom religious studies teachers.
So, I just found out that my daughter’s homeroom teacher from fifth through eighth grade is going to be the religious studies instructor. Honestly, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the potential friction. What happens if they only ever cross paths during SRZ? Like, how is this teacher actually supposed to advocate for her if, say, she runs into issues with her biology teacher? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of setup? How did it play out for you?
I’m really crossing my fingers that this person is reasonable.
To be blunt, my biggest fear is a lack of tolerance toward "her"—you know, being an atheist—and the possibility of them pushing specific agendas during SRZ sessions and stuff like that.
Since SRZ will be their only common ground, I’m struggling to understand the logic here. I have no clue how the administration at this school thinks this is going to work smoothly—they already shuffled kids from all four different tracks—4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D—just because of foreign language electives.
PS. This is happening in Washington, D.C.

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't jump to conclusions immediately. Give it a chance; it could be perfectly fine and professional. It doesn't automatically mean there's going to be trouble. My son was the only one in his class who didn't attend Religious Studies (at one point, there were actually two of them), and now in high school, he's the only one taking Ethics instead of Religious Studies.
However, the Religious Studies teachers and even the principal back in elementary school had nothing but good things to say about him. In fact, they'd occasionally ask him for small favors—like helping with photocopying since he didn't have teaching duties at that time—and he'd do it, always remaining polite, and that was it. Later on, some of them even mentioned to me what a well-mannered kid he was. They didn't hold any prejudices against him just because he didn't sit in their class. If they did have any, they certainly never showed it.

Bottom line: don't start a fire before you've even struck the match. All of this could go quite smoothly. Homeroom teachers have a specific plan and curriculum to follow anyway; it's not just aimless rambling.

I honestly don’t get how a homeroom teacher can just sit there and teach absolutely nothing to their students. It makes it impossible for them to actually bond with the kid. 🤷 On top of that, if the parents are totally at odds with everything that teacher stands for, how is that even supposed to work? What kind of relationship is that?

I’ve seen this happen before with a Religious Studies teacher, but that was strictly within a private religious academy setting. This situation feels incredibly bizarre.

hiddendriver34 said:I honestly don’t get how a homeroom teacher can just sit there and teach absolutely nothing to their students. It makes it impossible for them to actually bond with the kid. 🤷 On top of that, if the parents are totally at odds with everything that teacher stands for, how is that even supposed to work? What kind of relationship is that?

I’ve seen this happen before with a Religious Studies teacher, but that was strictly within a private religious academy setting. This situation feels incredibly bizarre.

It strikes me as odd that they moved kids around different classes based on language requirements, and I still can't wrap my head around why.😕

You actually reminded me of that point about how a homeroom teacher can't bond with a student if they aren't teaching them... A friend of mine who works in a school once told me how parents sometimes complain when the art or music teachers are assigned as homeroom teachers. They feel like since they only see the kids for one hour a week, there isn't enough time to build a connection. They want someone who will "see" their child more frequently during the week. She actually saw this happen once where parents successfully pushed to change a homeroom teacher because the professor was splitting his time between two different schools, so he wasn't physically present every day. Personally, I thought that sounded like a silly reason, but it mattered to those parents, and the principal ended up respecting their concerns at the time.
The people teaching elective subjects aren't ideal, mostly because their schedules are so hectic, even if they do lead some extracurricular activities.

Back when I was in school, I had a split schedule with English, and I remember it being such a huge downside that the teacher would spend our actual lesson time dealing with administrative issues instead of teaching, which meant we lost out on learning. From that perspective, "elective" subjects seem like better candidates for homeroom than math, history, or foreign languages—but religious studies definitely isn't one of them (especially if you have a kid who won't ever see the teacher except during Religious Studies class).