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2/16/07

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Colin_ORegan

Colin_ORegan

Brooklyn, NY
May 2006

FEB 14, 2007 03:34 PM

Apparently teacher Michael Brechter watched Dead Poets' Society recently, or one of those other movies about teachers shaking things up:

An Austrian primary school teacher is facing the sack after giving a class of nine-year-olds a lesson in swear words.

Teacher Michael Brechter, 57, who teaches at the Kematen Primary School in the province of Upper Austria, asked the kids to write homework about words like 'arse', 'shit', 'moron' and 'tart'.


At first, I was unimpressed and didn't think much of it. Who wants to read a paper about "shit" or "arse" from a nine-year-old? Maybe, maybe Charles Bukowski could make that interesting reading, but I don't want to know how or what a 9-year-old feels about "tarts." Brechter explained that the taboo subjects were just a motivational tool.

He said: "I was not teaching them anything they did not already know.

"It was an attempt to make school lively and fun. My ultimate aim was to show what words should not be used."


I'm all for getting kids exciting about learning, but is poo really the vehicle to make that happen? And how does telling them to get excited and write about feces teach them "what words should not be used?" He's dumb. And I am against dumb people teaching kids. I don't necessarily think the offense is shocking and disturbing, so much as an example of bad teaching.

Gillionaire

Gillionaire

Manchester, NH
February 2007

FEB 14, 2007 07:05 PM

I don't know, I would read a nine year old's story about "arse." But then again, I'm an idiot.

khedron

khedron

Seattle, WA
OLD SKOOL

FEB 14, 2007 07:27 PM

Shouldn't the title be "Austrian" for dumb teacher?

Lexiphanic

Lexiphanic

Australia
August 2005

FEB 14, 2007 07:29 PM

It's "Australian" or "Austrian", not both. wink

And in this case, you want Austrian.

gfvella

gfvella

Australia
November 2004

FEB 14, 2007 07:29 PM

One of the things i dislike about our North American cousins is the pig ignorance of anything beyond their own shores that so many demonstrate.

Austria: Small Alpine country in central europe. Birth place of Adolf Hitler. Noted for its anti-semitism, nazism, pastries, racism, culture and habit of voting for far right parties.

People from Austria are known as Austrians.

Australia: large island continent in the southern hemisphere. Birth place of Steve Irwin. Noted for its refusal to admit jews trying to flee the nazis, happily joining in any war thats going at the time if asked by bigger mates, meat pies, racism, sports obsession and habit of voting for far right parties.

People from Australian are known as Australians.

It's really not very fucking hard to remember.

cranstonlamont

cranstonlamont

Des Moines, IA
September 2006

FEB 14, 2007 07:46 PM

Looks like a simple proofreading oversight's got a whole continent full of people on your case.

If you want to compare Austria and Australia further, Austria had Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart while Australia had Air Supply and Olivia Newton-John. wink

robnjess

robnjess

Plainsboro, NJ
October 2004

FEB 14, 2007 07:50 PM

One of the things I don't like about your incendiary statement is the apparent lack of knowledge that you show about your "North American" cousins.

Thanks to foreign policy, most of our great "friends" think we are a country of idiots.

Now, I can agree that we have our fair share of idiots. But to lump any sort of generalizations that have to do with intelligence or the lack thereof that apply to an entire continent, the United States, Mexico and Canada, might be one of the most ludicrous statements I've ever seen on this site.

I bet there are people in Australia who don't know certain things about other parts of the world too.

Do I think every Australian is stupid? No.

This teacher, however, is pretty thick.

Think before you speak.

gfvella

gfvella

Australia
November 2004

FEB 14, 2007 08:10 PM

robnjess said:
One of the things I don't like about your incendiary statement is the apparent lack of knowledge that you show about your "North American" cousins.
<snip>
Think before you speak.



Well given that I have dual citizenship and have family in both countries i'm throwing shit both ways <chuckle>

And in any generalisation there is a kernal of truth.

This particular "mistake" is made relatively regularly, mostly by Americans rather than mexicans and canadians I'll grant, but since the author is Canadian i felt it would be churlish to target just the seppos.

I'll remember to put sarcasm alerts on next time I use it. Thank the gods I didn't use irony! Who knows where that might have led!

gfvella

gfvella

Australia
November 2004

FEB 14, 2007 08:13 PM

cranstonlamont said:
If you want to compare Austria and Australia further, Austria had Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart while Australia had Air Supply and Olivia Newton-John. wink



That's a very, very, very cruel thing to have said. frown

Can I at least put up that we sent the Bee Gees to the US as some mitigation for the horrors we have heaped upon the world of music?

robnjess

robnjess

Plainsboro, NJ
October 2004

FEB 14, 2007 08:17 PM

gfvella said:

robnjess said:
One of the things I don't like about your incendiary statement is the apparent lack of knowledge that you show about your "North American" cousins.
<snip>
Think before you speak.



Well given that I have dual citizenship and have family in both countries i'm throwing shit both ways <chuckle>

And in any generalisation there is a kernal of truth.

This particular "mistake" is made relatively regularly, mostly by Americans rather than mexicans and canadians I'll grant, but since the author is Canadian i felt it would be churlish to target just the seppos.

I'll remember to put sarcasm alerts on next time I use it. Thank the gods I didn't use irony! Who knows where that might have led!



I'll give you that then.

It just really irks me that a fair number of people think we're all Dubya.

Although, the fact that he's even still there makes me ask the question.. are we really that stupid?

gfvella

gfvella

Australia
November 2004

FEB 14, 2007 09:03 PM

robnjess said:
I'll give you that then.

It just really irks me that a fair number of people think we're all Dubya.

Although, the fact that he's even still there makes me ask the question.. are we really that stupid?



Hey at least it can be argued that Dubya stole his first election and won his second against an idiot.

The great Australian sheeple have elected John "I suck Dubya so good" Howard four times now, with reasonable majorities in each case.
Even though they overwhelmingly objected to Iraq!
Even though the majority accept he is a liar!

Admitedly the Labour candidate in the last election was a certifiable maniac, but there is no excuse for the previous three election results

el_duderino2

el_duderino2

Kyrgyzstan
April 2006

FEB 14, 2007 10:49 PM

gfvella said:
[

The great Australian sheeple have elected John "I suck Dubya so good" Howard four times now, with reasonable majorities in each case.
Even though they overwhelmingly objected to Iraq!
Even though the majority accept he is a liar!



the mind boggles.

CptPyjama

CptPyjama

United Kingdom
October 2006

FEB 15, 2007 04:05 AM

In Australia they swear like crazy all the time.

I know it's true, I saw it on TV.

chilung

chilung

Australia
April 2005

FEB 15, 2007 07:01 AM

Yeah fuck you all (that includes the Australians...) mad
...Evil imperialist scum...mad...tongue

I'm just personally baffled, though we do both have religious right wing nutters heavily involved in our politics, wait a second, everyone who's posted so far has religious-right-wing nuts involved in their politics confused There's got to be something different. whatever

Lexiphanic said:
It's "Australian" or "Austrian", not both. wink

And in this case, you want Austrian.


Maybe its a new piece of slang for an australian-austrian, or a half austrian, half-australian person.

PointBlank

PointBlank

New York, NY
November 2004

FEB 15, 2007 07:23 AM


Who wants to read a paper about "shit" or "arse" from a nine-year-old? Maybe, maybe Charles Bukowski could make that interesting reading, but I don't want to know how or what a 9-year-old feels about "tarts."


You're nuts.

wildswan

wildswan

I'm lost
June 2006

FEB 15, 2007 07:33 AM


He said: "I was not teaching them anything they did not already know.



I know this is completely tangential, but how do you teach someone something they already know?

And yeah, which is it? Is it Austria or Australia?

Riva

Riva

Apopka, FL
May 2005

FEB 15, 2007 04:43 PM

CaptainAllama said:
In Australia they swear like crazy all the time.

I know it's true, I saw it on TV.



I had a lady come into the art gallery where I work and tell me one of the colorful Austrialian sayings...

"I'm so hungry, I could eat the ass out of a low-flying duck!"

I love Aussies so much. biggrin

gazza5171

gazza5171

Australia
September 2006

FEB 17, 2007 11:57 AM

Fuck you Chi lung and Gfvella
America is our ally for stratigic reasons we NEED them
If america goes to war we have to go to ,or else what kind of allies would that make us?
You fuckwits are just spouting the same shit everyone says
Why not investigate why all our troops are being deployed?
Any one who regurgitates the same shit without investigating first is a fucking idiot!