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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Mommy Wars Today, Teacher Wars Tomorrow?

I first met Kristen when she was wearing pinafores and pigtails; later on, our paths crossed when she, a bubbly coed, traveled in the same "circle" as one of my own children.  Still later, she invited me to be a "Facebook" friend in order to see picture of her then newborn son.  In fact, truth be told, that is why I joined Facebook initially! 

I guess I always knew she was "one smart cookie" but she certainly went into some "treacherous waters" when she wrote her post on the Mommy Wars today.   BRAVO to you, Kristen for going there!  Just for the record, the "battle" was going on when YOU were in diapers and those of us who tried to balance motherhood and careers walked a tight line fearing the wrath of both sides of the debate!  Yet, I hear your concerns loud and clear! 

One of Kristen's conclusions is that these "Mommy Wars" are stronger than ever "because there is a lot of pressure the be the BEST!"  On that point, you might just be right.....

Which really made me wonder if we have some parallels happening in our school communities right now.   In an age of high stakes testing driven teacher assessment, are we (or will be) quicker to turn into the "mean girls" and "mean guys" in our own striving to be "perfect" (or as the assessment protocol in NYS calls it, HIGHLY EFFECTIVE.  If we are not careful, and do not learn to embrace diversity towards common goals of all children learning to be effective citizens, some we might just start to think that If MY way is TO BE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE, then your differing way must be wrong? 

Just wondering.....thanks Kristen for making me think....and wonder....and plan to write about becoming a community of teachers, who embrace diveristy towards a common goal.

Check out Kristen's post here http://oneorganicmama.blogspot.com/2013/01/mean-girls-and-mean-moms-mommy-wars.html

1 comment:

KT @ OneOrganicMama said...

Thanks for the shout-out - glad to know we are no more brutal now than when we were kids :) It's good to "reconnect" through facebook and blogging!