Seems you were very lucky, really, in your school… I wish all head teachers were as committed as yours obviously was; we have too few that care about the students in their care… most of the time, they have uppermost in their minds the economics and politics of the school organisation and how to make the school look good, even when it’s failing.

I’m one of very few educational psychologists who think that schools are actually a largely terrible idea; learning groups are far better, and more enjoyable to be in. Much in school is teacher-centred and oriented to saving money for the management. And the education of students generally suffers for this.

None of us liked him much then, but I have nothing but the highest respect for him now. He was willing to be an adult for the sake of the children. It’s a quality in short supply these days. If he were still alive, I’d write him a long letter telling him how much he’s meant to my life. He was quite a person.

Sure is….

“It would never have occurred to me in a million years that a school administration would reward teachers who hit students–or pressure a teacher not to call CPS with a child’s report of abuse.”

School I went to wanted to keep the highlight of my history-of-being-bullied (an incidence of a hanging) out of my medical records. And the psychiatrist I had to see after it actually agreed to doing so.

Make of that what you wish … personally, I am not convinced that all schools are such good places. My daughter is autistic and has some special educational needs; the other students in her previous school seem to have been bullying her for ages, and the school has not even thought to put anything in place to even reduce it, let alone stop it; she’s in a much better place now, where her needs will be met and where there are more students who experience difficulties in learning. After adjustment time, she is likely to have a better experience of schooling there than in the old one.

For me to get a copy of a child’s paperwork from the school *should* be automatic, but really it involves going through a lot of people who have a lot of other things to do, and it can be months before anyone gets around to it. And schools sometimes have weird rules that prevent teachers from discussing potential LDs with parents, so I can’t even ask them about any paperwork or knowledge they might already have. Catch-22!

I’m sorry to hear of the things you had to suffer as a child. I went through similar experiences. Of all the mind-bending things I heard from the people who abused me, probably the one at the top of the list was, “No one will ever love you like we do.” I was actually in my late 20s before I realized that the only appropriate answer to that statement was “I sure as hell hope not!”

I look forward to hearing more about your teaching experiences.