Name: Dear Parents
ISBN: 9781760875268

Gabbie Stroud

In this funny, heartfelt and passionate call to arms, Gabbie Stroud makes a plea to all parents to understand their roles as their children's lifelong teachers and show how they can best help their kids' teachers and schools achieve the best results for the next generation of leaders.

Letters from the Teacher-Your Children, Their Education, and How You Can Help

Dear Parents

Lysh (She/Her)

This was one of my most highly anticipated reads for 2020 and I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed. I went into this believing it might make a difference in education. Stroud's first book, "Teacher" brought to light many of the problems in education, and I read it at a time when I was in the midst of experiencing many, if not all, of them simultaneously. I was not in a good space and was only just surviving in my career. It was validation that what I was feeling was what many other teachers experience too. However, that first book didn't offer any solutions to these problems. It brought us down without building us up. I had hoped that this epistolary novel would be different. I had hoped that it would bring these problems to light in a way that made sense to parents and offer solutions that we can achieve together. But I was wrong. 

There were points that I found myself in agreeance, but for once there were also points where I found Stroud to be stretching the negativity a bit too far. Her portrayal of another teacher in the 'make-believe' school wasn't fair and a single paragraph at the end of the book about why this teacher's actions might be that way was not enough to save her bringing them down. Teachers need to stick together and I didn't like the way that she portrayed the put-downs of a colleague. I felt like the NAPLAN story was oversold as well - it felt like she was beating a dead horse! 

The tone of the book was too negative towards parents themselves. No parent (who isn't a teacher) is going to read this and agree with teachers because she was constantly belittling them and telling them that they do everything wrong! I teach the children of many amazing parents, and just because a handful take up more time and energy because they perhaps don't know the whole story or evidence behind certain parenting approaches, doesn't mean that those amazing parents are any less of a hero! I wish she would have spent more time describing the positive behaviours of parents, rather than the negative ones. Teach through modelling! And then, when describing the negative, Stroud could have offered alternatives backed by research instead of rambling thoughts and complaints. 

I may not have sided with Stroud as strongly, since I am now in a better place in my career. I am at an amazing school. I have some truly amazing parents. All my kidlets are awesome and great little personalities. I feel really confident in my role as their teacher. There is also what is happening in the world right now...as I was reading about the woes of NAPLAN, thousands of people were dying overseas due to the current pandemic. It really puts these issues into perspective. This may have swayed my views. 

Easy to read, but I wish this book was a bit easier for parents to swallow....I feel like that would have been more productive for all.

Dear Parents Letters from the Teacher-Your Children, Their Education, and How You Can Help

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