Cindy Seibel just linked to an excellent video at her blog “Technology for Learning“. Cindy says, “Every parent and teacher will be moved by what this parent asks of teachers and challenges other parents to do.” For me, this video is particularly important to me as my own little girl started preschool this year.
We bring our kids to school with so much hope, so much love, and so much fear. We ask and expect so much from our teachers, and this is why I feel so lucky to work directly in teacher education. I get to help shape the futures of our teachers with the hopes that they will benefit all of our children.
There was at least one piece of the video that was not agreeable to me. At 5:42, the video encourages us to “always believe that teachers want what’s best for our children.” At the more generalized level, perhaps. At an individual level, I do not feel that such blind faith would always be wise. For instance, I have had some teachers that have (seriously) scarred me for life. And I am not the only one. As parents, I think we need to use the other good points (like asking questions) to validate our hopes and beliefs for our chlldren.
The creator of the video is Heidi Hass Gable, do check out her blog. She’s done a great job here.
Hi Alec,
Thanks for your comments and feedback on my video!
To clarify a little – I don’t think that believing in teachers’ good intentions has to mean blind faith that they are going to act in all students’ best interest.
The fact of the matter is that we are all human beings. There are parents that hurt their children every day but that doesn’t mean that they don’t love their children. And surely it’s no different for teachers. Our own wounds, fears and habitual patterns get in the way of delivering what children need (because we’re so caught up in what WE need).
What we can do, though, is start from a positive point, an expectation that both parents and teachers are in their “professions” because they care about kids – and therefore we have a foundation for a conversation. If we can always focus back on the needs of the child, then we can more likely leave the personal reactions aside and work together towards a solution.
Our children are so precious – anything we can do to build relationships with the other adults in their lives is a critical investment!
Thanks again!
Heidi
Thanks Heidi. I was hoping that you’d clarify. Thanks again for the great work, and take care.