What happened to Souleymane was obviously sad and i disagree with the decision to expel him but who holds responsibility is a lot less obvious. The way I see it there are two main people responsible for the expulsion and possible deportation of Souleymane, the teacher (Francoise) and the student Esmeralda. Each one played a part in creating the incident and are all equally responsible.
To start the teacher is obviously partly responsible because he called the disciplinary hearing, his decision to call the hearing is what lead to his eventual expulsion. However I only hold him responsible for that the incident itself was not his fault. When Souleymane started to yell at him in class the teacher was only trying to stop him so he could do his job. Souleymane was impeding on the teachers ability to teach the rest of the class. However going back we see that the entire argument was started by Esmeralda when she leaked the information from the meeting to the students. In doing that she incited Souleymane and some of the other students to act out and complain in the middle of class. If Esmeralda kept the information to herself like she should have the whole problem never would have occurred while I blame the teacher for calling the hearing I hold Esmeralda responsible for the incident itself. Both characters are at fault and should hold blame.
2b.Are the 14-15 year old's morally responsible for their own choices?
Whether or not the students are morally responsibility for the own choices brings up the question: Do they understand what they should do versus what they should not do? I believe Souleymane knew very well what he should have been doing in class and what he shouldn't have done. Therefore the yelling and arguing with the teacher is Souleymane's fault, if Souleymane wanted to talk to the teacher about calling him "limited" he should have done it after class. Instead he chose to become verbally hostile and disrupt the whole class. The choice to be disruptive and rude the teacher was made consciously and individually. While I do not think he should have been expelled for hitting the other student with his bag because it was an accident i do think he should have been reprimanded for being disruptive and preventing the teacher from teaching.
2c Is the teacher morally responsible for finding solutions to the institutional car wreck that he's steering his class through? Or would it be better to see this as a systematic issue rather than an individual moral issue? If the former, how should the system be altered? If the latter, how should individuals be trained to make more effective moral and pragmatic choices?
Too me this seems more like a system problem than a individual one. If we analyze the roots of the incident we see that it was all because Esmeralda was allowed to sit in on the teacher meeting. That is obviously a system wide policy and one that helped fuel the problems in the class. Secondly disruptive students are a problem in nearly every classroom. Souleymane acting out was not the first act of rebellion from a student toward a teacher. It happens all over the system and even by other students in the class therefore the less disciplined system itself is slightly responsible for the incident.
One way the system can be altered is through eliminating the need for students to sit in on meetings. the idea that they represent their classmates and help create equal say is great but we see that, that does not happen instead it provokes problems for the class. Another way the system should be altered should be that there should be higher discipline for students to disrupt the class and less for students who don't care. I think the school might benefit from more student accountability. Every time a teacher has to stop and tell a student to pay attention it takes a way from the learning time of the other students. After a certain age students understand the consequences of their actions, they understand that of they don't do well in school they probably won't get ahead in life. Students know this and if they still make the choice to not pay attention its their mistake and the other students shouldn't wait while the teacher lectures them on why they should pay attention.
Too me this seems more like a system problem than a individual one. If we analyze the roots of the incident we see that it was all because Esmeralda was allowed to sit in on the teacher meeting. That is obviously a system wide policy and one that helped fuel the problems in the class. Secondly disruptive students are a problem in nearly every classroom. Souleymane acting out was not the first act of rebellion from a student toward a teacher. It happens all over the system and even by other students in the class therefore the less disciplined system itself is slightly responsible for the incident.
One way the system can be altered is through eliminating the need for students to sit in on meetings. the idea that they represent their classmates and help create equal say is great but we see that, that does not happen instead it provokes problems for the class. Another way the system should be altered should be that there should be higher discipline for students to disrupt the class and less for students who don't care. I think the school might benefit from more student accountability. Every time a teacher has to stop and tell a student to pay attention it takes a way from the learning time of the other students. After a certain age students understand the consequences of their actions, they understand that of they don't do well in school they probably won't get ahead in life. Students know this and if they still make the choice to not pay attention its their mistake and the other students shouldn't wait while the teacher lectures them on why they should pay attention.
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