I am so tired of feeling this way, even though I strongly believe in the knowledge and experience learned through work and life experience! I am *&*$ proud of what I have accomplished, but the shame and embarrassment thing still rears its ugly head occaisionally.
Having this forum to talk about our goals is such a lifesaver!
I basically landed my teaching job through the back door, with my employers knowing full well that my competencies were from a non traditional educational background, but it got awkward after awhile... I am at a private school that can set its own requirements for teachers, but still it's tough in the teacher's lounge sometimes, ya know?
I don't think I'll know more about music after this, but I do have more empathy and sympathy for diversity in educational background as well as the life long learning process.
I am so proud of all of us, and simply will not listen to discouraging or shaming comments about what we're doing at this point.
CT