After reading Ladson-Billings and Purcell-Gates in "The Skin We Speak," I'm reminded of the Freedom Writers film and book because of the collaborating themes of the reading and the fact that I will be teaching an age where catching students who are struggling is almost pointless. Much like Erin Gruwell, most teachers will enter a high school where the socio-economic status, ethnicity, and race are far from being the only things that divides the student body. Both readings deal with the unfortunately fundamental reality that not all citizens are created equal...at least in the eyes of other citizens. It is a cruel reality that seems to have transcended the discrimination laws long after their creation. It seems both idealistic and unrealistic that I would hope for a change in this mindset--the latter is unbearably depressing to fathom. While it's easy to agree with readings such as these that current actions are not acceptable and as a result make vows to change such actions, but how do we translate calls to action into reality? Reading and doing are completely different.
I said before that high school teachers are faced with the challenge of catching and helping students almost too late in the game to be helped; I also said "almost." By omitting that possibility for students, we are condemning them to their own worst self-criticisms; if they look in the mirror every day and think "I'm too stupid to do this. I don't want to try anymore," we should be prepared to be the ones holding the mirror that is mouthing those words. I'm not saying teachers are entirely responsible for permitting failure--there are a myriad of guilty souls (some who may not even know they have this role)--but it is the teacher who is tasked with the job of doing as much as they possibly can to change that reality. The reason many teachers are in that profession today is because someone along the line gave them the encouragement to keep going, (and judging from our class' response) many are their own teachers. The other part of the equation is the students themselves; teachers do not simply divine a love for learning in each student's brain. They have to be willing to accept the work, which may not always happen.
What teachers can (and should!) do is some reaching of our own. Confining students in a small space for eight to nine hours of the day where their lives are dictated by a shrill bell, hauling textbooks, and expectations difficult to attain is not going to help if we make relevancy void to them. Ladson-Billings uses the tool of playing to their tastes by having them write their own version of The Bittersweet Saga of Sugar Cane and Sweetie Pie. Even if a student doesn't like writing, the best way for them to improve is to have them practice and not with the dread worksheets. I love daily writing prompts, weekly grammar focus points, and applying the reading in written form. Worksheets subscribe to to the mediocre serpent of bureaucratic nonsense that we need to be standardized in all aspects of our educational development.
Purcell-Gates' segment, while somewhat irrelevant for a potential high school teacher, does display a fundamental need to get students immersed in the content they are prepared for. The segment on social class and "Donny's" mother being ignored by the school, despite her pleas to put her son into the right grade, was the icing on the cake. Such discrimination seems worthy of a lawsuit. It is one thing if the parent's request does not match with the student's performance level, but treating her opinion as worthless despite the clear justification is not acceptable. By that point, also, they are condemning Donny to a continuous struggle with content he is not prepared for. Using these preconceived misconceptions about students and their parents only leads to a failing grade on our part.
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