The following letter appeared in the Chronicle Herald on-line edition:
In Scott Cote’s recent letter to the editor, he says that teachers in our province “lack the intestinal fortitude to stand up for kids”. He also says that a currently employed teacher who openly comments on these issues would be as rare as an albino moose.
Well, allow me to introduce myself: I am the rare albino moose.
I would be more offended by Mr. Cote’s insulting and condescending comments if I weren’t already shell-shocked from the overwhelming amount of negative press that has been hurled at teachers like snowballs these past few months.
That said, it bothers me when Mr. Cote says, with great conviction, that teachers, such as myself, my friends, and my colleagues, lack intestinal fortitude. The teachers (and all of the other people it takes to run a school, such as administrators, school psychologists, speech pathologists, EPAs, secretaries and others) I have known and worked with over the past 20 years have more intestinal fortitude than you could ever know, Mr. Cote.
I have seen them fight battles behind the scenes that have benefitted children in their classes, their schools and their province. I have seen teachers dig deep into their intestinal fortitude to help children who are learning disabled, sick, abused, homeless, and mentally ill. I have seen teachers dig into their own pockets to buy food, supplies, and special treats for their students because if they didn’t those students would go wanting.
Teachers are well-trained professionals. They are generally not loud-mouth blowhards who run from one media outlet to the next spouting their great ideas on how to improve our “crumbling” system (usually without ever stepping foot in an actual classroom).
Instead teachers are in the classroom doing the work of educating our young people. Not just in math and English and science, but in areas as diverse as the environment to bullying to nutrition and computer programming. They are teaching children how to be kind to each other and deal with disappointment and discover their gifts. They are making sure that their students get some exercise and fresh air. For some, it might be the only fresh air and exercise they experience all day.
As a parent, Mr. Cote, what did YOU do to improve the system from the outside? Parents and other concerned individuals can do so much to help children without ever stepping into a classroom or telling a teacher what he or she should be doing.
You could start by addressing the real issue of child poverty, so we don’t have hungry, tired children in our classrooms. Push the government to address and fund youth mental health, so we don’t have mentally ill children suffering in our classrooms.
Model respect and understanding of people of other races, religions and sexual orientations.
Promote positive attitudes about school and teachers at home and in the media, so students don’t come to class with a preconceived negative notion about teachers, who they’ve been told, only work for snow days and summers off.
As a society, take some responsibility for the mental, physical, and social health of our children so that when they come to school they are ready and able to learn.
In response to your request that currently employed teachers speak out publicly against their employer or their union, I would guess that you are either being naïve or obtuse. Teachers sign contracts, like most professionals, and these contracts require them to act, well, for lack of a better word, professionally.
Teachers are not unique in this regard. Have you ever seen a linesman from the power corporation write a letter to the editor blasting his employer about a recent power outage? How about a cashier at Wal-Mart publicly trashing their manager for not having enough cash registers open on a busy Saturday?
Of course not. It’s not professional.
But don’t kid yourself. Teachers make themselves heard. They have the intestinal fortitude to put themselves out there every day for the good of their students and their communities.
And for you to state otherwise is just plain wrong.
Heather Hollis, Currently Employed Teacher and (apparently) Albino Moose
“The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us, but those who win battles we know nothing about.” Anon.
suburbanprincessteacher 