From: Jack.Crawford@f620.n260.z1.fidonet.org (Jack Crawford)
Newsgroups: k12.chat.teacher
Subject: Parents In Teacher Chat
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 13:23:00 PST
Organization: FidoNet node 1:260/620 - W-FL Teacher Resour, Stanley NY


ED>    Can we give Parents access to this echo? (K12.TCH_CHAT)

Edward-

This is a difficult question. The "official" answer is that it is
"for ALL professional educators only". Apparently Rob Reilly was not
aware of this. However, before responding, please read this message
entirely.

Try to think of K12_TCH_CHAT as kind of like a "teachers lounge"
where teachers meet to talk about professional teaching in an
atmosphere of professional camaraderie. If we allow it to become
public, then the professional flavor will be lost and our teachers
will go elsewhere. This may not be an ideal situation, but it is
real-world. While parents are the most well-intentioned people in
the world and many can be wonderful resources for education in other
respects, they are simply not classroom practictioners. Very few of
them have a working knowledge of pedagogical philosophies or
real-world insight into the day-to-day challenges and problems of
such things as curriculum requirements, classroom management,
bureacratic politics & B.S., school-as-an-education-factory
environments, budgetary inadequacies and inequities or teaching
methods, materials and practices. (I do not mean this in a
condescending sense at all--I am a parent, too.) Nor is K12_TCH_CHAT
the appropriate echo in which to teach parents about these things.

_All_ professionals want a place where they can "rub elbows"
exclusively with other professionals in their same field. IF you
were a dentist, would you, (really and truly), spend much time in an
echo where engineers, resturant managers and auto mechanics were
talking about their professions? Probably not. This is not elitism
but just human nature and is certainly true of all professionals.
That is one of the reasons why K12_TCH_CHAT has been so successful.
If we let the public in, then it will become a public place, not a
"professional place"...and the professionals will seek other
"places" to meet or maybe not meet at all. ...kind of like putting
a sign on the door of the Teacher's lounge welcoming students and
parents to come in, have a Coke and start talking. After a while you
won't see any teachers in there.

Keep in mind that there are literally dozens of other K12net echoes
where parents are _most_ welcome!

I would say that if you have a parent that is really "chomping at
the bit" to have access to this echo, OK, let them in on a
case-by-case basis if you comfortably think they can add to the
_professional_ character of the echo. However, this should be the
exception, not the rule and certainly not a "right". **Please do not
open it up to the general public.**

I am aware that there is a real need for a "place" in K12net where
parents can talk about educational issues with teachers and other
parents. Personally, I would like to see something like a K12_PTA
(Parent-Teacher Assoc) echo installed to fill this need (and also
allowing K12_TCH_CHAT to remain exclusively for professional
educators). A PTA echo would be a good "place" for parents and
teachers to discuss administrative problems, learn about pedagogical
philosophies and generally explore ways to reform and improve
education. It is also sufficiently broad in scope that it would
serve the K12net community generally and would certainly develop the
ongoing, open-ended dialogue needed for a permanently installed
echo.

A "parents" echo was proposed...and defeated several months ago.
There is substantial resistance to the addition of _any_ new echoes
because "we already have so many" and because it is no small task to
add any new echo to a vast, sprawling network such as K12net!
Basically, it will take an "act of Congress" to make it happen.
However, if it becomes apparent that there is a strong mandate from
a _very_ large number of teachers, parents and sysops that a K12_PTA
echo is wanted by a majority of K12net users, perhaps we could make
it happen. In any case, it will take a substantial amount of
publicity, energy and work from a _lot_ of people to make it happen.

All those willing to work toward the adoption of a K12_PTA echo take
one step forward and say Aye!

=jack=
Moderator, K12_TCH_CHAT
K12net Council

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