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Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
It's too simplistic to cast this as merely accepting failure. And besides: would you allow only A to participate, and risk sending a message to B that introversion and/or non-university studies are correlated with diminished value to the team? (Maybe the correlation is valid—but is it wise to send that message under those circumstances?)
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My solution would be they didnt meet the criteria stated when the joined the team and neither would travel and to make them aware of the appeals process.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
In the scenario that you envisioned, communicating the fact that you are attempting to act fairly might be difficult, because you obviously can't go describing other individuals' personal problems when you explain the selections to the team. In that case, Student A might be justifiably annoyed at being overlooked. But I'd argue that that's just adding another dimension to the problem, rather than negating the utility of the solution; now you have to manage the situation so that it is fair (in your judgment), and also that it appears fair.
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Appearances are not important in the case I mentioned, exceptions should be made based on several factors, these factors need not be publicized. Exceptions are not the rules, they are made to allow for extenuating circumstances which the rules cannot work as expected. And need to be worked out on a case by case basis. The people who complain the most vocally about fairness are often parents, this is why parents need to be involved in the meeting and kept informed, that way they know that you are acting in their child's best interests.
Honestly I think any student who is willing to set up a meeting between his parents, teachers, and mentors is one who truly deserves to travel because they are trying to do well and deserve to be rewarded. I know that if any of the students on my team came to me and told me they just didnt get a subject I would do anything I could to get them help.
Realize, rules need to be laid down at the beginning, each student and their parent should sign a contract stating that they understand that these are the requirements of participation. Grade requirements should be set in that document as well as consequences. This is no different than sports teams do. School is more important than after school programs.