Another fortuitous book choice for this moment in history…
But seriously. Ohhh, how the tables have turned on every single parent who has ever said, “My child doesn’t act that way in our house.” I’m sure things are getting a tad spicier, now that they’re trapped trying to get their kids to complete reading comprehension assignments and learn the Pythagorean Theorem.
West’s book is especially heartening because its whole premise is based on the actual teacher experience; trying to be innovative, creative, and passionate with teaching, while administrators and parents try to stifle teacher autonomy. It brings to light exactly why so many teachers burn out of the profession. But the story also highlights the major reason teachers try to hold on. We stay for the kids whose love of learning ignites because of that little spark a passionate teacher can light in them. We stay because, for a portion of our kids, we’re the most solid and caring adults they can turn to. We stay because we want the best future for them, and we have the power and knowledge to build them into kind, smart adults.
So though this epidemic is giving parents incite into how difficult teaching different content can be, it can never give parents the experience of loving and helping raise hundreds other people’s children. That’s only something a teacher would understand.
Whether you’re a teacher or not this is a great book to read, if only to giggle at the absurdity of helicopter parent antics. A reminder that everyone needs a hobby, and it shouldn’t be their kids.
Isobel Johnson is a high school English teacher in the very white and conservative school district of Liston Heights, Minnesota. Isobel’s main goal for her students is to open their eyes to different perspectives they haven’t been presented with before. In her teaching, she introduces them to conflicts and controversies that push the envelope in their sheltered town.
From discussing the “white savior complex” evident in To Kill a Mockingbird, to introducing queer theory and its influence on the perspective of the narrator in The Great Gatsby, Isobel’s mode of teaching is a bit provocative for the parents of her students. Some would go as far as to say she pushes a liberal agenda that’s borderline communist.
One of those parents is Julia Abbott, the ultimate helicopter parent. When her daughter tells her she doesn’t want to be a mother because of the damage it may have on her career (a conversation that was started in Mrs. Johnsons first year English class), Julia is incensed. After putting her own career ambitions to the back burner, Julia is borderline hyperactive about the goings-on of her family members. From supporting her husband in enhancing his career, to heading the theater booster club at the high school, to donating large sums of money to the school in order to swing outcomes in her family’s favor, Julia is beyond invested. She’s obsessed.
Then an incident happens at the school, involving Julia’s unfortunately aimed elbow, a student, and video footage of the entire scene. Lisa Lions, a mysterious host of a secret parent gossip page on Facebook, uploads the video and it becomes a viral sensation.
As tensions heat up and her own children begin to turn on her, Julia vents her anger on the one person her daughter seems to adore; Mrs. Johnson. Along with Julia’s campaign to get her fired, Isobel is faced with white bread politics at the school and the unwanted attentions of Lisa Lions and her mean-spirited message board.
From cliquey mommy groups to backstabbing, social climbing coworkers, Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes is just another day in the life of your average teacher.
A lot of whats written in this book rings true throughout many schools in the United States, and probably the world. Parents really do breath down our necks when they don’t get what they want. Administrators really do hassle us, observe us to death, and ask more of us now than at any other time in educational history. And for some reason, the general public still thinks being an educator can’t possibly be that difficult. This book does a spectacular job of painting a realistic picture of the average day in the life of today’s teachers, and it’s not made up of uninterrupted lunch breaks and Starbucks gift cards.
The thing that infuriates me the most about teaching, and is a major theme throughout this book, is the unchecked power parents have on the education system. In the story, Julia and many of the other parents, are able to get away with some abhorrent behavior toward Isobel, and THAT’S AN ACTUAL PROBLEM. I’ve had it happen to me, and have colleagues who’ve experienced it themselves, some breaking because of it.
Moral of the Story: Teachers are only around for the students. We show up to work for them. But unappreciative parents and unsupportive administrators are 95% of the reasons teachers quit. Food for thought.
Read this book, take some notes, THANK YOUR KID’S TEACHERS.
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Happy & healthy (stay inside) reading!
Lexi
