Re: Not enough money for the girls soccer team....

From: Barbara O'Donnel (odonnel@bgnet.bgsu.edu)
Date: Fri Nov 19 1999 - 12:05:48 EST


I have to confess to some concern about where this is headed. As someone
who does teacher training (ECE), we spend a lot of time talking about
parents-school partnerships. It seems like we are forever waging the "war"
you so willingly describe, with "school" generic as the "enemy". ON the
one hand, the undergrad teacher in training (as well as teachers in
general?) seems all to willing to assert that problems with the child are
surely due to some problem with parenting. ON the other hand, parents seem
all to willing to suggest that schools just really don't care at all. I
see problems with both arguments.

In your case, I see on the one side how frustrated you are and how much you
care about your child. As someone who values equity myself, I agree that
it is important to raise the bar in this area.'
I'm less sure about the flip side. How might this teacher feel? Does he
(you say he) feel as under attach as you do about the very thing which he
has committed his career to? How often do parents value what he does well
(Yes, I know, he could just be all around bad)?

How would any of us feel in this situation, especially if overall we feel
we are committed to what we are doing? Teachers are asked to help many
children learn and grow, in the way that child learn's best. And they're
asked to do it in a context where people have totally opposing ideas about
what is best. In EC, for example, this issue is most clearly seen as it
relates to issues of equity about gay and lesbian lifestyles. An equitable
curriculum here is as likely (or more so) to get you in trouble as it is to
make parents happy. How do we create win-win situations? Certainly not by
stopping the dialogue. Sorry to ramble, but it's been on my mind for a
while!

odonnel@bgnet.bgsu.edu



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