Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - How would you feel about this? Honest opinions please.

Rodney · 05-31-2004, 05:39 AM

I'm currently finishing up a student teaching gig toward getting my multi-subject (elementary) teaching credential, and this has included going to the various staff meetings at the school. And just about every one of them involves some kind of little raffle, doing some little group game, or some kind of "stand up and say something nice about the person next to you" exercise. And every time, I say the same thing in my mind (not outloud): "Ladies, are we here for a goddamn BABY SHOWER, or are we here to do some BUSINESS?" I'm pretty sure that most of the (few) male teachers and a fair number of the women feel the same way, but we all keep our mouthes shut.

I am a man with many years' experience in industry, lately retraining as a teacher. And so I can see teaching from a different perspective: as one of the most unprofessional professions that I have ever seen. For all the many standards and rubrics and credentials a teacher must have, when you get to a school and the rubber meets the road, it's all run like some kind of social set, with people who are popular and people who aren't, with the worst sin being not to be "nice." You can be passive-aggressive, burnt-out and weird as all hell as long as you're "nice."

That's a bit of a rant; I do admire most of the teachers and administrators that I work with, some very highly. But I have to shake my head at some of the conventions of the profession. I'm of the philosopy that groups or professions dominated by one sex or the other tend to get out of whack. You need testosterone and estrogen in equal measures to keep things from getting too heartless and cruel (male) or too personal and vicious (female). And frankly, teaching is estrogen-drenched.

So I definitely identify with what Coll Storm is writing about, though it seems much more extreme than what I'm used to. It sounds like her administrators are using this socializing scheme as a control mechanism, or as a way of showing their control. And if she doesn't do it, she's "not nice," and has to be taught a lesson in a supposedly good-natured way that really, underneath, is vicious.

Coll, based on my limited experience, the kind of manipulation that you're describing is a little extreme even for elementary schools. And you sound pretty sensitive to what's going on. You sure you want to stay there?

05-31-2004, 05:39 AM	#18 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	I'm currently finishing up a student teaching gig toward getting my multi-subject (elementary) teaching credential, and this has included going to the various staff meetings at the school. And just about every one of them involves some kind of little raffle, doing some little group game, or some kind of "stand up and say something nice about the person next to you" exercise. And every time, I say the same thing in my mind (not outloud): "Ladies, are we here for a goddamn BABY SHOWER, or are we here to do some BUSINESS?" I'm pretty sure that most of the (few) male teachers and a fair number of the women feel the same way, but we all keep our mouthes shut. I am a man with many years' experience in industry, lately retraining as a teacher. And so I can see teaching from a different perspective: as one of the most unprofessional professions that I have ever seen. For all the many standards and rubrics and credentials a teacher must have, when you get to a school and the rubber meets the road, it's all run like some kind of social set, with people who are popular and people who aren't, with the worst sin being not to be "nice." You can be passive-aggressive, burnt-out and weird as all hell as long as you're "nice." That's a bit of a rant; I do admire most of the teachers and administrators that I work with, some very highly. But I have to shake my head at some of the conventions of the profession. I'm of the philosopy that groups or professions dominated by one sex or the other tend to get out of whack. You need testosterone and estrogen in equal measures to keep things from getting too heartless and cruel (male) or too personal and vicious (female). And frankly, teaching is estrogen-drenched. So I definitely identify with what Coll Storm is writing about, though it seems much more extreme than what I'm used to. It sounds like her administrators are using this socializing scheme as a control mechanism, or as a way of showing their control. And if she doesn't do it, she's "not nice," and has to be taught a lesson in a supposedly good-natured way that really, underneath, is vicious. Coll, based on my limited experience, the kind of manipulation that you're describing is a little extreme even for elementary schools. And you sound pretty sensitive to what's going on. You sure you want to stay there?