As teachers we want our students to have good social skills such as greeting each other kindly, learning how to appreciate differences, and disagree politely. These are great skills for students to use in the real world. Also, we just want our kids to learn how to get along and appreciate each other. Although we want this for our students, sometimes teachers need help in this area too.
We should remember that not all teachers are the same. There may be one teacher who is very successful at school A. Another teacher may really struggle at the school but succeed in school B. We all have different strengths and purposes. It really disappoints me that teachers tend to judge each other based on where they are teaching or what types of students they are teaching. We need great teachers in all types of schools, and we shouldn't put down teachers who are not where we are. Not every teacher is meant to teach in an inner city school nor is every teacher meant to teach at a magnet school. We don't teach the same subjects for a reason. We all have different strengths.
This issue has become more apparent to me. When I am genuinely honest with teachers about what my strengths and weaknesses are with other teachers that I do not know very well, I can definitely see some judgement.
We need to remember to be more compassionate, understanding, and appreciative of our co-teachers' differences… especially if we expect our students to learn these social skills.
Just some thoughts to consider.
