Advocating for Our Students, Part 2

Over the many years I have been teaching, I have had my fair share of discussions with parents about situations with their children that I thought were worthy of note. It helps us do our jobs effectively if we observe everything about our students and consider speaking up if we think it will help the child. You might think that others in contact with these students will see what you do and then communicate their concerns to the parents, but I have found that most do not. Also, the unique and intense nature of the one-on-one relationship we have with our students makes it easier for us to see things others do not and also to talk to the parents, as we see a lot of them, too.

In some cases, the parents may not be aware of what we have observed. I’m a parent, too, and I know that sometimes I was so close to my children that I didn’t always notice certain things that only an impartial outsider could see. Parents vision can be colored by their own childhoods, backgrounds, opinions, world views, emotional involvements, etc.— and even ignorance: how can parents be expected to know everything about psychology, pedagogy, eyesight, hearing problems, what is usual behavior and what isn’t—especially if they have close contact only with their own children? However, a music teacher who is more impartial, who has experience, and who sees lots of children and a lot of each child individually, may see things no one else does, or at least long before anyone else, including schoolteachers.

Now of course the examples below are not every-day occurrences but have happened over many years. They are presented here in a few basic categories just to give you an idea of the types of situations I have found myself in. I am sure that most of us who have a lot of experience (and even many without it) can easily come up with similar stories.

01/12/2021 10:22:24 Scritto da: Eloise Hellyer