It came to me today that on at least two occasions in my early life, teachers misdirected me. In fact, I was simply smarter (twice, any way). In one case I was in the 10th grade and I referred to cultural factors on a social studies paper as 'disparate' which prompted a red ink mockery saying "This is not a word". I took it at face value and rarely wrote the word again fearing my misunderstanding. Only decades later did I reclaim my original knowledge.
In another instance, a college professor told me that I had made up a condition called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Tell that to the children who were born with the disease. At least by that point I was old enough to say 'no, I didn't' and to feel surprise at the remark.
So, along with our interest for our children to be respectful and agreeable with their education, weave in a bit of reasonable doubt sprinkled with confidence that teachers are learners too.
