Most of my colleagues understand their profession like this: I am employed by the citizens of my community (through their property taxes) to teach the state-approved curriculum. Also, parents trust me to educate their children in a manner consistent with community values. Also, parents trust me to care for their children in a number of ways, including physical safety, while they are at school.
A few of my colleagues understand their profession like this: I am an agent for social change and while teaching the state-approved curriculum, I will use methods to indoctrinate children according to my own political agenda.
Is your child's teacher a principled and ethical professional like the first description? You can only know by being engaged in your child's education. And that means spending time in the classroom.
I hope to teach next year at Fort Worth's Applied Learning Center. Parents sign a contract that they will spend 40 hours engaged with their child in learning activities in the classroom - not making copies in the workroom.
Good teachers want parents in the class. If a teacher doesn't want parents there, or as I read in a link from another thread, prohibits parents or has students signing secret agreements not to tell parents, you should be very suspicious. There's something they're doing that they don't want parents to understand.
Parents have every right to hold us teachers accountable for how we educate your children. You pay our salaries.
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
My wife and I are actively involved in our children's schooling. We know the teachers and they know us. Even with that, I still watch closely what is being taught. When it was time for sex ed for my 11 year old we kept her home that day. She has been taught by us from a gospel perspective and did not feel it was time to expose her to the world's view on this.
Thanks for the post, roper. Now that my oldest is in Jr. High, it's more challenging to know all the teachers... sigh... still try to stay alerted to the subject matter as best I can.
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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I know my son's teacher very well, and I will continue to get to know her better through the eternities. My son is homeschooled, so obviously his teacher is my wife That much said, we're going to be signing him up for sports, maybe band, at the local middle school, so Roper's advice is still good. Sports and band are just two subjects that are hard to do at home.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
