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Re: Professional Responsibilty
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From: Maia Cheli-Colando <maia_at_littlefolktales.org>
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:03:27 -0700
Ed, Ms. Donovan didn't make a decision for anyone else's children. She shared her opinion with the librarian. What the librarian then chose to do -- or why -- wasn't revealed in the post. So you probably can hold your stomach for now. :)
Gods help our librarians if they are each supposed to read every book and be alerted and sensitive to every issue sans input from their audience.
I admit I am confused by what I sense beneath these conversations: an idea that (a) parents are dangers not to be trusted and (b) teachers and librarians are astute, well-informed literary founts. Neither absolute has held true in my experience as a child, as an adult, as a teacher, or as a parent. Generally, I would say that while I was growing up my parents were both better informed and more liberal than my teachers. It's a sad comment, but I can't reflect substantively on the librarians of my youth - more often they were gatekeepers (you can't visit *that* section yet) than the reverse. As an adult, I've now known fantastic librarians and poor librarians, fantastic teachers and poor teachers. (Teachers in training I knew at university twelve years ago were largely opposed to examining children's literature with any critical eye -- "you are ruining the story for me" was a common theme. They were decent people, and likely great at many teacherly things... but I wouldn't want them to be choosing books for my
classroom.)
And too, educators are predominantly white, middle-class (what's left of it) folk. Many begin completely blind to the suffering of students whose experiences don't match their own. Good teachers learn over time... but how many 23 year olds have a strong grasp on their own identity, let alone the experiences of others? And yet, we don't want the input of parents to enrich our teachers' (and librarians') understanding? This makes no sense to me.
There is a very peculiar anti-teacher, anti-public school sentiment running through the country these days. Many things contribute to this (the Republican party talking points being the largest single donor)... but I wonder if some people are so easily swung against schools because of a sense of arrogance on the part of public educators? The sense that "behind these doors, you {families} hold no sway" while simultaneously, the schools are encroaching into every hour of our children's waking lives?
My gut feeling is that until this most critical act -- the teaching of our children -- becomes a frank partnership filled with respect for all parties (and their cultures, religions, genders, ancestries) involved, parents are going to resent schools, capitalists are going to exploit this resentment, educators are going to attempt to maintain control, and kids are going to get simultaneously burned out and ignored. It seems to me that every act of open conversation around books is a bridge that needs to be built, a web-line that needs to be thrown.
If you had a choice between a book - any single given book - and a relationship between some of the most important people in a child's life, how many books are so powerful and important that they should absolutely override the chance for those important people to converse safely in the interests of the child? I'm not saying we should ban books (to this day I find that a vague and confusing term)... I'm saying that teachers and librarians need to get off any high horses they may be riding (those who are), and that parents need to meet them halfway with faith in their integrity and goodwill. We need to talk, and to believe that everyone has something worth sharing, and that we will be heard.
All of which is a bit beside the point of Megan's original question, but as we've crossed into the eternal arguments of censorship, I thought the ground should be addressed. (Hello ground, said she. )
Cheers, Maia
-- Maia Cheli-Colando Arcata, Humboldt Bay, California -- blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- -- or drop in on Facebook! --
Received on Sun 26 Sep 2010 06:03:27 PM CDT
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:03:27 -0700
Ed, Ms. Donovan didn't make a decision for anyone else's children. She shared her opinion with the librarian. What the librarian then chose to do -- or why -- wasn't revealed in the post. So you probably can hold your stomach for now. :)
Gods help our librarians if they are each supposed to read every book and be alerted and sensitive to every issue sans input from their audience.
I admit I am confused by what I sense beneath these conversations: an idea that (a) parents are dangers not to be trusted and (b) teachers and librarians are astute, well-informed literary founts. Neither absolute has held true in my experience as a child, as an adult, as a teacher, or as a parent. Generally, I would say that while I was growing up my parents were both better informed and more liberal than my teachers. It's a sad comment, but I can't reflect substantively on the librarians of my youth - more often they were gatekeepers (you can't visit *that* section yet) than the reverse. As an adult, I've now known fantastic librarians and poor librarians, fantastic teachers and poor teachers. (Teachers in training I knew at university twelve years ago were largely opposed to examining children's literature with any critical eye -- "you are ruining the story for me" was a common theme. They were decent people, and likely great at many teacherly things... but I wouldn't want them to be choosing books for my
classroom.)
And too, educators are predominantly white, middle-class (what's left of it) folk. Many begin completely blind to the suffering of students whose experiences don't match their own. Good teachers learn over time... but how many 23 year olds have a strong grasp on their own identity, let alone the experiences of others? And yet, we don't want the input of parents to enrich our teachers' (and librarians') understanding? This makes no sense to me.
There is a very peculiar anti-teacher, anti-public school sentiment running through the country these days. Many things contribute to this (the Republican party talking points being the largest single donor)... but I wonder if some people are so easily swung against schools because of a sense of arrogance on the part of public educators? The sense that "behind these doors, you {families} hold no sway" while simultaneously, the schools are encroaching into every hour of our children's waking lives?
My gut feeling is that until this most critical act -- the teaching of our children -- becomes a frank partnership filled with respect for all parties (and their cultures, religions, genders, ancestries) involved, parents are going to resent schools, capitalists are going to exploit this resentment, educators are going to attempt to maintain control, and kids are going to get simultaneously burned out and ignored. It seems to me that every act of open conversation around books is a bridge that needs to be built, a web-line that needs to be thrown.
If you had a choice between a book - any single given book - and a relationship between some of the most important people in a child's life, how many books are so powerful and important that they should absolutely override the chance for those important people to converse safely in the interests of the child? I'm not saying we should ban books (to this day I find that a vague and confusing term)... I'm saying that teachers and librarians need to get off any high horses they may be riding (those who are), and that parents need to meet them halfway with faith in their integrity and goodwill. We need to talk, and to believe that everyone has something worth sharing, and that we will be heard.
All of which is a bit beside the point of Megan's original question, but as we've crossed into the eternal arguments of censorship, I thought the ground should be addressed. (Hello ground, said she. )
Cheers, Maia
-- Maia Cheli-Colando Arcata, Humboldt Bay, California -- blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- -- or drop in on Facebook! --
Received on Sun 26 Sep 2010 06:03:27 PM CDT
