My friends who are parents complain about the Mommy Wars -- the judgment that parents unleash on each other over negotiable issues like breastfeeding or bottle, cloth diapers or disposable, homeschool or traditional school. None of these choices will harm children. Yet parents leave self-righteous and cruel comments on blogs instead of agreeing to disagree.
I see the same thing in the teacher world. Some of us get attached to a particular teaching strategy or method and proclaim it with the enthusiasm of a new religious convert. Everyone needs to embrace this new belief, or one's teaching ability is suspect.
My request is simple: please stop it. We have enough criticism coming from outside education. We all work hard at what we believe is best for children. We need to encourage each other and build each other up to be stronger teachers.
When I'm in a culture of criticism, I don't want to ask for help. When I'm in a community that supports me, I am happy to share my strengths and go to others with my weaknesses.
Okay, lecture done.
Update: a colleague from my former school was concerned that I didn't feel supported there. I have to say I see this happening more in the teacher blogger community. I will miss my colleagues at Terrace Park who have always encouraged me.
I hope you felt that the rest of us were a community that was supportive, even if the admin wasn't always. We're going to miss you.
ReplyDeleteI meant to put in that I see this more online than in person. This post was not reflective of anyone at our school.
DeleteI will miss you too.
Mary