Officials at a branch of Kaplan College, the nationwide for-profit education company, are apologizing to students after an instructor on the campus, in Chula Vista, Calif., told them that Spanish was banned in the classroom, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The instructor, Patricia Dussett, told students in two medical-assistant classes on May 3 that Kaplan policy barred the use of any language but English in class. When one student complained of the policy, she said his grades might suffer if he spoke Spanish. Kaplan officials have hastened to apologize and to clarify that the company’s policy states only that classes are taught in English, but Spanish is not forbidden on the campus. Ms. Dussett, who was absent from the classes for a few days after the incident but has since returned, was not available for an interview with the newspaper.
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2 Responses to Kaplan College Apologizes After Instructor Cites Ban on Spanish in Class
pandora070 - May 25, 2010 at 4:13 pm
How long before English is forbidden in the classroom?
snwiedmann - May 26, 2010 at 10:39 am
It was a “medical-assistant” class. Perhaps what the professor really resented was two students carrying on a private conversation in class. Whether in Spanish, English, or pig latin, private conversations are not tolerated in any of my classes. If a student was explaining something the professor had said and was explaining it in Spanish to another student, I would be concerned about the second student’s lack of English proficiency. It seems pretty obvious it was not a Spanish language course.