Resolving Conflicts Over Techniques, Materials By Scott Willis Vol. In a perfect world, parents and educators would always be in accord over instructional techniques and materials. In the real world, however, some parents and educators find themselves at loggerheads over classroom practice, with parents determined to protect their children from practices they consider harmful and educators equally determined to defend their professional judgment. An elementary teacher's use of whole language techniques alarms a parent, who believes a phonics-based approach would be far more effective. The teacher, however, is committed to whole language principles.
Teachers strongly disagree, defending tolerance as a civic virtue.
It's not surprising that parents' wishes and educators' professional judgments sometimes clash, experts say. Educators are supposed to be the experts at teaching children, but the community as a whole determines what should take place in schools. But the cure, Haynes contends, lies not in clamping down on dissent but in fostering more democracy. The more parents are involved in decisions affecting the school, the more support educators will ultimately get from the community, he believes. Forest Montgomery of the National Association of Evangelicals agrees, adding that parent involvement should be invited before problems arise.