Last week I received my first email from an angry parent. The student hadn't done as well as he had hoped on his assignment, and the father decided that he had a bone to pick with my grading practices and my choice of topic.
The email was very cordial, and the father explained how he understood the value in the assignment, but, knowing that I was a student teacher, doubted as to whether or not I had been fair in my grading. That part was okay. I was able to explain myself well and quote the common core.
What I didn't understand was how the parent did not like that he child was going to be doing research on racial equality in America, thinking it too controversial a topic for a 9th grade classroom. I explained that I believe that giving challenging topics to middle schoolers shows them respect. It also gives them an opportunity to think through these difficult issues instead of being blindsided by them later in life. Of course, I conceded his right as a parent to choose an alternate topic for the assignment.
Fortunately, I had Mr. Anson's backing and approval with my teaching and grading practices, which helped me know that I was not in the wrong, but it was still challenging to determine how to respond to this parent. I took a moment to think through his email and made an effort to carefully choose my response instead of reacting to the email.
I didn't hear back from the parent, but the student did start doing research on tap vs. bottled water, a much more benign topic to be sure. He'll still get a lot out of the research and writing aspect of the assignment, so I am content.
This is the other side of the challenge as you help students critically examine their world and their experience. Sometimes the ideas we try to get students to think about in school are not ones the parents want explored or are not ones they want outside influences informing. Negotiating this space can be tricky because you want to do what is best for students, you want to have your professional expertise respected, but you also want to avoid angry parents. It sounds like you came to a compromise that held the student to the objectives established for the unit, but in a way his parent approves of. You also reached a compromise that gave you good experience working with parents that you can draw on in your future teaching career. Not ideal, I know, but I think you made some smart choices.
ReplyDelete