Sorry y'all! I've been ill the last few days, but I promise I've been keeping up with the reading. As I predicted, the book is a quick read. I finished chapters 1 & 2 on Thursday night after the boys went to bed. I jotted down a few questions as I was reading.
First, (and I touched on this a little in my response to Meredith) how do you all feel about the race divide in teaching? Do you believe that white teachers cannot teach students of color as well as teachers of their own race? Have any of you had an experience with race in the classroom?
In Chapter 2 there were several quotes I pulled out. First, "Liz believed it was extremely important for African American kids to have teachers with whom they could connect culturally and historically" (21). I bristled at this a bit. At my previous district there weren't as many black teachers as there were white teachers. It wasn't by choice. None of our African American population chose to come back to their hometown to teach. In fact, I had been told by several of my students of color they weren't ever coming back once they got to college. Sure, it would be great if our black and Latino students had role models of the same color and culture as them, but we can't drag teachers kicking and screaming. And what makes me an ineffective teacher of students of color? Simply my skin color? Isn't that racist in a way? But then I turned the page and the teacher in question continued her observation. "Liz thought some people took the notion too far: first, in thinking that an African American teacher would be effective with black students simply by virtue of her blackness; and second, in thinking that white teachers could never be successful teachers of African American children because they couldn't relate to them in genuine ways" (22).
I experienced this personally. Our curriculum coordinator thought she had a sympathizer in my ELA partner, who was African American. Well, she wasn't raised in the South and had more in common with me, the white girl, than the curriculum coordinator.
I felt I was effective with our students, but I noticed that my ELA partner could get away with a lot more "outrageous" behaviors because the kids excused her as "one of us." The assumption was she was the better teacher because she was easier to relate to. And then our third year working together she got into some trouble when she attempted to teach a racially-charged book to a class of predominately white children. When we spoke about it, she seemed confused why these parents, who had had no problem with her controversial lessons prior to this, suddenly didn't want their children learning about this particular book.
I really responded to Liz's observation on page 22 that in order to "teach black kids well, a white teacher has to be able to say, 'I know I'm white and this can be really complicated, so let's talk about why that could be'." One of the best lessons I ever taught was during a unit on juvenile justice. One of my black male students had a huge chip on his shoulder. He was convinced "the system" was out to get him. And by "the system" he meant everyone who was white. He made a comment about "honkies" and the whole class sucked in their breath waiting to see what their "honky" teacher would say. I just addressed it honestly. Calling me a "honky" was as derogatory as me calling someone of color the "n" word and why did he feel discriminated against? It was such an honest discussion, it really opened my eyes. The kids wanted to tell me what it was like to be black or Latino.
Another time my student aide asked me why my hair was so soft when hers felt so dry and rough. I said I didn't know, but I had always wanted to have curls like she did. We looked up the science of hair together and learned about why different races had different texture hair.
In the end, I absolutely agree with Michie's observation that "good teaching...nearly always comes back to personal relationships" (48). And I hope that my students, no matter their color, learned that we can all work together and honesty goes a long way. I know I changed at least one boy's opinion of white people.
Second question: In what ways can we learn from our teachers of color to improve our own teaching?
I will not be at the meeting on Thursday. I have a meeting at the church. Can someone please email me what we discuss and any decisions? annadavila1981@gmail.com
Thanks! Anna
I agree that I was a bit offended by some of the assumptions it seems the book makes. Mainly, it seems to advocate that teachers and their students must be the same color to adequately understand one another's expectations and experiences. However, I did like how this was addressed and one of the teachers, Liz, noted it is not obviously going to guarantee a good connection and teaching if the teacher is African American.
ReplyDeleteI have only taught at high-need, urban schools in which I am definitely the minority. I have been conscious of the race divide in teaching and education because I've seen in up-close and personal at work in different ways. First, I have seen that the school deliberately tries to hire teachers based on their race, but their strategies were completely ineffective. One of the teachers literally yelled at the students all day long, never let them have recess, etc. Fortunately, since performance is the judge of effectiveness, not a teacher's color, this teacher was removed from their job. I do notice within the school, though, that African-American parents tend to gravitate towards teachers of the same color and will accept treatment of their child from this teacher, but not from a teacher who has a different background. I feel like I have very good relationships with my students and they continuously show growth, but sometimes I am frustrated at the instant obedience some of my students tend to show other teachers of color opposed to me. For example, if a child in my room is not following directions, I generally don't call them out and say something sharp, but some of the African American teachers tend to manage in this way. It is hard to describe through just words, but discipline is handled differently and sometimes things are said that I feel like as a white teacher I could not say. I do not want to treat things in this way, but like I said, it frustrating sometimes to see the different responses students have to what seems to be race related.
While I definitely feel like a teacher who has similiar experiences and values can connect to students on an effective level, I don't think race makes the connection. Any emphathetic teacher with consistent, high expectations can make an impact.
I have a difficult time thinking about question 2--learning from teachers of color==because I think it has more to do with learning from effective teachers of all colors. So far, the teachers in the book are dedicated and center their teaching around student interests. I commend Liz for bringing social issues to life in her classrooom and truly giving her students a voice. The biggest thing I took away from the teachers we've met so far in the book is "seeing other people's children as their own" (8).Learning as much as I can about the children I teach and their community always helps improve school.
I thought the comment on race being a slight factor was partially true. Sometimes in urban communities as the one in which I work the students first relate to teachers who look like them, even if they don't have the same experiences as them. I have seen students grow to have the same connections with teachers other than their race but it definitely takes time and the teachers have to earn the trust of their students. Many times parents influence their children to dislike white people or other races because they are all out to get them. I don't believe that this is a neccessity, a student must feel that you care about them and generally have a concern for them. If a principal bases employment of skin color alone then they will have a disgraceful school. Children need to be around all people to gain an insight into the world in which we live.
ReplyDeleteI think these are all great points. I think it is incredibly important that every ethnicity be proud of their culture and be respective of their past. At the same time, we cannot be afraid to communicate with individuals of other ethnicity. I think the key is to communicate with one another respectfully, and be willingly to say, we don't know. Please tell me. I totally agree, this is a fast and easy read. But very good.
ReplyDeleteI have had issues with race in the classroom: I mentioned before that I am a white female teacher in a predominantly African-American school (teacher and student). My students are 8 years old, so I don't think the issues are the same as with high school students, like my hubby's.
ReplyDeleteAnna's comment about facing the race issue head on has always left me and my students in giggles. We read a story about Jackie Robinson as part of our reading curriculum. We learn a lot about race and how people's view of race have changed over the years. Once my students know me really well, I like to joke with them about it...a student may come up and call me "mom" or "Ms. ____" and I will say..."I know we look soooo much alike that you can't tell us apart, but, I'm Ms. Mix." We always get a good laugh out of that.
I agree with Connie that it's not learning from teachers of color as much as it is learning from effective teachers. If the effective teacher happens to be purple and green striped, then I will learn what makes this purple and green striped teacher successful. (In third grade, we always use green, purple, striped, and polka dotted when we discuss race and prejudice...)
Peter makes an excellent point that we have to be respectful of cultural pasts...with that said...I feel that sometimes there is too much lingering in the past and not enough of "how can we move forward from this".
I finally skimmed through this chapter - I am really enjoying this book. I must say I have NO experience with race in the classroom. I like to say I grew up in and taught in 'Wonderbread USA' - very white, middle class. So this book and the conversations are enlightening. Liz Kirby's view of race in the classroom seems real and insightful. I agree that a teacher of any race can be a good one to any race of students. One thing I took away from this chapter was how much Kirby related to her students. She really made a connection between academic and social instruction and organization (as we read about this week). Establishing positive, realistic rapport with students inspires them to work harder. I also liked her discussion where she compared how she 'learned' in school and how she hopes to help her students learn. Her questions concerning learning about self were also interesting and something I could see myself using, both with students and staff.
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