moved from Main List (re: Founders / teachers)

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

Hi, Anne, thanks for the shout-out. 

By the way, last week I realized why I was troubled by the name 
Kompulsieve Alley for the shopping district at Nimbus 2003: 
"compulsivally" is NOT A WORD. So I tried to come up with something 
better. My first effect was Happ Alley, but my best was to name it 
after you: Anne U Alley.

On the Main List, I have just got up to Jenny from Ravenclaw's post 
of Tue Jun 24, 2003 7:32 pm, in which she wrote:

<< Here's what I found a bit unsettling about the Sorting Hat's song: 
Hufflepuff *was* the only one to say "Ah, who cares what each kid 
brings?  Let's teach 'em all!  I don't care who I have in my house." 
 
We can debate whether or not the other founders only wanted 
certain kids to attend Hogwarts or simply certain kids in the 
Houses, but the fact remains that they *did* want to separate kids 
based on background/personality, not interests.  When people start 
establishing groups based on things that are uncontrolled, bad things 
are bound to  happen, especially when it comes to education. >>

My long-ago experience of being a student, when all children of the 
same age, from the brightest to the downright stupid, were put into 
the same class and ordered to all learn at the same, average, speed, 
was that it led to the bright kids being frustrated, bored out of 
their minds, and hated by the other kids and many of the teacters, 
and to the stupid kids being frustrated, bored out of their minds, 
and hated by the other kids. 

Therefore, I believe that bad things are bound to happen when all 
students are forced to be the same in order to avoid distinguishing 
between them.

I'm not thrilled by Salazar's emphasis on blood lines 
(understatement!), but I feel great sympathy for Godric and Rowena: 
just because they were two of the four greatest wizards and witches
of their day doesn't mean that they had either the training or the 
personality to be Special Ed teachers. I can strongly feel their 
desire not to accept students at whom they would always be enraged 
because of their frustration with that student not being able to 
understand the simplest thing (Rowena) or always being a crybaby who 
needs special coddling (Godric). 

It always seems to me that Helga wanted students who work hard and 
obey the rules, and try not to call attention to themselves. It seems 
to me that she would expel Slytherin AND Gryffindor types for their 
rule-breaking, and many Ravenclaw types for reading ahead in their 
books and studying topics that weren't on the curriculum. Certainly I 
already admired her as "good Hufflepuff", but that was because I saw 
her as peace-maker among the other Founders, proposing compromises 
that let them three SHARE the glory they were squabbling over, and 
leaving none for her. Not because I thought I could endure to be in 
her House.