Parent Involvement Not Welcome! Schools Are “Outed” – Still! (Part 14)
Many years ago, when I was teaching high school biology, I had the pleasure of mentoring a number of student teachers. On one occasion, I decided to give one of my student teachers some freedom so I removed myself from the class he was teaching and went into the office across the hall. I was working on lesson plans there when one of my colleagues’ student teachers came into the office to phone a parent.
The student teacher’s tone was very condescending. Listening in on what was truly an amazing display of unprofessional arrogance, I realized I knew the lady on the receiving end of the phone call. One of her children was in my class and I had had the pleasure of meeting her during parent-teacher interviews. I knew her to be a very nice lady and could not for the life of me understand how a 22-year old student teacher who had no children of her own could be scolding a mom of eight children regarding her responsibilities as a mother!
As soon as the student teacher hung up the phone, I said, “You are very lucky it was not me on the other end of that conversation.” Incredulously, she answered, “Why?” I still marvel at the ignorance of that teacher-to-be. Since she was not my responsibility, there wasn’t much more I could do or say, but I do remember being bewildered. Who did she think she was? The answer: a “professional”, of course!
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