Teaching Hope: Engagement

First for the section on engagement in Teaching Hope I chose the very first entry because it seemed like the editors of the book chose it to specifically hook the reader in a section dedicated to hooking and engaging students. In this section the teacher relating their experiences in the classroom nearly begins by referring to one of their students with a string of profanities. That alone immediately hooked me into the remainder of the chapter and engaged me with the rest of the stories that were told through the rest of the section. The story in itself is also a very motivational piece concerning likely the single most important part of being a teacher, genuinely caring about your students. This teacher happened to care so much that one of their students actually called them out on the unforgivable offense.

The second passage I chose, number 56 was because as I history student I often need to support every statement I make with a source that corroborates my statement. As a social studies teacher I am going to need to make it a priority to make sure my students know how to wright a well-researched and supported paper for my classes. It is also my own personal belief that to even have an opinion on any kind of topic it must be supported by some kind of evidence, scholarly, empirically, or even anecdotally, without any kind of supporting evidence we cannot be expected to have our opinions and statements taken seriously. The teacher did an excellent job fostering understanding of that idea in an especially delicate situation however, which is highly commendable and motivating to see.

Story of School: Part 3

Part three of The Story of School begins to address the issue of inequality and segregation in schools, not because these issues are new to this era, but because this part takes place amidst the civil rights movement of the 1950s up to the 1980s. With the Civil rights movement getting to its feet the issue of separate but equal and segregation in schools quickly become a subject of debate our nation became embroiled in.

The climate of schooling at this time was highly disparate between white and black schools. Black schools offered no science labs, gyms, or foreign languages for their students. Women also suffered from discrimination within their own schools as well, they were barred from playing sports and many prestigious colleges. While schools for black students typically did have more qualified teachers they were limited by poor or outdated resources and materials.

While integrating schools was a positive step forward, many of the issues associated with segregation were still common within these schools. In integrated schools white and black students attended separate proms, played on different sports teams, or participated in separate after school clubs or activities. Even after integration many school boards resisted integrated student bodies by zoning schools away from black communities to avoid admitting black students. The city of Detroit did unveil a busing plan to transport a number of students from suburban white communities to schools within the urban center of Detroit, while busing students from urban black communities into white schools. Though, many students, faculty, and parents resisted the plan, citing an unwelcoming environment as a common factor.

Several steps were also made preventing gender discrimination in schools, with laws like title IX, which eliminated federal funding to schools which discriminated based on gender. However many schools never upheld title and subsequent litigations were required to enforce the law. 

Story of School: Part 2

The Story of School describes the evolution of schooling in the United States from its advent to recent history. Part two covers the first fifty years for the twentieth century and covers a significant amount concerning immigrant children of diverse cultures and heritages. Though, instead of welcoming the diversity as an experience for learning or a trait to be celebrated public school became a place to Americanize young immigrant children and scrub away any traces of culture that could have flavored the classroom. Children who spoke any language during class time were reprimanded, often violently. Most students would much rather have been working in a factory than in a schoolroom. In fact, of 500 school aged children survey during the early twentieth century, eighty percent answered that would have rather be working in a factory that in a classroom.

            This reluctance to become educated should come as little surprise considering the atmosphere of schools at this time. Most public schools had to resort to part time education due to severe overcrowding, causing those students who even made it into school to be uncomfortably cramped in class. Not to mention schools were drafty and cold, and a veritable breeding ground for illness and infection.

            However, academia was not all bad during this period. Schools serving poor urban populations served not only their students, but also the community, with food and lodging. Many schools stayed open late into the night and throughout the year to support the community beyond just school aged children.

Immigrants had even more reason to feel alienated in school with the introduction of IQ testing into public school, which were said to reflect ethnicity and race. Students were routinely labeled and stupid or even mentally retarded for no other reason than they because they came from some other country other than the United States or Great Britain.

TH: Challenges

First, I connected with section 22, in Teaching Hope, the entire challenges chapter presented quite a few very emotional stories between teachers and their students who both struggle with traumatic or difficult circumstances. The complexity of the situation makes me wonder what I would do in a similar situation. I’m really not sure if I would try to share some kind of similar experience with my student and try to create some kind of deeper connection so I could convince them to find help or if I would immediately shepherd them to the counselor. I am certain though that I would not be able to turn my back on them or try to push their problem to another teacher or guardian.

Similarly, I also connected with part 26 for the same reason. Instead in this section the teacher chooses to keep their student’s problem confidential, resulting in their absence on the final day leaving the teacher to question what happened to their student, and if they had done the right thing. I certainly do not think the teacher made the “wrong” choice, they made a judgment call in a situation where alerting the police could have been more damaging and disruptive to the student’s life and education, but at the same time they are mandated to report the incident, and  their student’s absence on the last day leaves them questioning their decision.

Generations

Hammill begins by trying to illustrate some of the differences between the four generations, Hammill explains that while certain reactions and interactions between individuals of differing generations could be misunderstood as dismissive, condescending, or plain rude. Instead, Hammill writes that these exchanges actually are representative of a different set of core values that have been adopted by the individual as a result of the zeitgeist they grew up within.

Hammill chooses to tackle the issue of generational diversity and creating a functional working climate in the midst of generational diversity. Hammill describes an example of how office relations can break down between members of different generations because of disparate methods of communication and productivity. Hammill suggests that when working with a generationally varied group of individuals, which extends to any group of people, that first the group must come to a consensus concerning means of communication and how the group should function by assigning roles and discussing how they would prefer to work.

Hammill writes that when assigning positions to individuals to consider who they will be working under and with. Hammill suggests that supervisors should be assigned to members of a preceding generation, for example a member of generation X should probably be working under a a veteran or boomer, as Hammil asserts that the reverse can result in animosity between the two. While this may not always be possible or practical Hammil suggest doing so whenever the option appears.

While Hammill’s words are not specifically meant for the field of education many or his suggestions can still be applied to it. In most cases the teacher will represent an earlier generation than their students, and their students will likely all be from the same generation, the lesson to communicate fully and understand each other’s goals and methods is still highly applicable. 

Teaching Hope: Anticipation

Teaching Hope: Anticipation


The first story I picked came from part sixteen and resonated with me in a different way than with what most other people probably considered when choosing their sections from the first part of Teaching Hope. I selected part sixteen because the story of Shane’s first encounter with a black person reminded me of a story my parents, especially my mother liked to share with me or remind me of when I was growing up. It begins with my family off on vacation somewhere and staying in a hotel, across the hall or somewhere adjacent to us was another young boy who was around the same age as us at that time, maybe around two or three years old. My brother and I both would play with him when we weren't busy with some other itinerary that my parents had plans for us or getting our rat tails braided and beaded (uggh). After about four day of playing together I took my mother aside after our most recent play date and sheepishly asked her if she had noticed this whole time that his skin was black. I think I might have been concerned if he was alright or that there may have been something wrong with him. After I was assured that there was nothing wrong with him or his skin I very triumphantly replied that, “I think it’s beautiful!” Similarly to Shane I was met with a new experience, but like him we both embraced the novelty and new-ness of the situation rather than shut down or try to escape from it.

The second part I chose, part eight, described a teacher’s presentation at a teaching seminar, or other speaking engagement. The teacher conducting the presentation on autistic students was herself autistic, but the part that really stuck out to me was the change that many of the teachers had undergone from the beginning of the presentation to the end. When the teacher on stage first asked the audience about what they thought of when they heard the word “autistic” what they thought. Instantly she was bombarded with a series of negative adjectives like, “lost”, “broken”, and “incapable”. Soon as she went on though she was able to change those word to much more positive ones like “unique” and “artistic”, that shift alone was very encouraging  to see.

Diversity Article

Pat Burke Guild goes to great lengths to describe the exhaustive research that has gone into understanding student learning styles, and commits a large portion of the article to discussing the varied and disparate categories a student can fall into. Guild warns the reader about a trap teachers and researchers can easily find themselves in the more research is conducted into learning styles, being classification of students into broad categories of learning styles based on specific background factors, like gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

            To Guild finding a preferred learning style for a particular student needs to be genuine and organic. The instructor needs to get to know the student, know what they like and dislike, along with their own individual areas of strength and areas that still need improvement. Trying map out this student as a single point on a data sheet distracts and undermines their personal needs as a student and as a person.

            Guild asserts that all learning styles can lead a student to a successful outcome, and reminds teachers that the most easily planned methods of delivering content can leave many students unengaged, suggesting that teachers use a variety of styles to deliver content. Alternatively Guild also warns teachers not to focus too heavily on less commonly used styles as well as they can cause a teacher and their class to stumble if applied too frequently.

            Guild closes claiming that there is still little substitute for an exceptional teacher, a passionate and knowledgeable instruction can most often engage any kind of learner with their enthusiasm, but informed accommodations for every kind of student will foster even greater success for students.