What Makes Great Teaching?

 

    To be a great teacher you must be consciously aware of the impact you have on others. This is not only limited to our identity as teachers, but it must transfer to all aspects of our lives. In other words, it doesn't make sense to be a teacher without also fighting for social justice. The problems of our children are the problems of our communities. We cannot serve our students until we wrap our arms around the greater struggles of society, such as poverty, racism, and sexism just to name a few. In order to be adequate teachers for these kids we must construct culturally responsive pedagogy, and serve them lessons that not only take their history into account, but place it at the forefront of what is important. We have to find ways to reflect on the ingrained ideologies that have constructed the triggers that we act on within our classrooms, and our social lives. This class has offered a myriad of assignments that helped me accomplish deep reflection on my own predispositions and how to work past these triggers as I aim to help my students be culturally competent and accepting of differences. 

    The first assignment that helped me gain a deeper insight on my own ingrained ideologies was the text-to-world connections with Empathy Limiting Mistakes.  We all have to realize we are guilty of each of the mistakes that were discussed throughout the semester. This activity forced us to come to terms with that by identifying a specific event in our lives where we made empathy-limiting mistakes. We had to be critical of our past behaviors and reflect how we have changed from them. If we can’t be critical of ourselves, we will never listen when others try to give us constructive feedback.

    The following week we completed the Golden Lines Found Poem. To complete this assignment, we had to critically examine a collection of texts and employ our note taking skills to decipher which lines were the most important ones to be recorded. From there we had to deduce the overall meaning of the texts as a whole entity and exercise our creativity to assemble the most important lines into a poem with as many highlighted/omitted terms as we pleased. The powerful lines that were created as a result of this poem served as a personal reminder that we all are suffering through some sort of battle. It reinforced the previous week's lesson about having empathy, instead of judging people for struggles you can't relate to.

    An assignment that we completed much later in the semester was very similar to the found poem discussed in the previous passage, known as the Blackout Poem. We had to draw relations from a small passage of text to connect back to the overall nuances of the module assignments by highlighting and omitting pieces of a text to create a poem. Where this task varied from the prior is that the poem had to be constructed from a pre-selected passage rather than quotes that we chose and arranged ourselves. This required a greater level of creativity as we had to draw connections from texts that were already written, and cross analyze separate materials.

    My favorite assignment from the semester was the One Pager. For this task we were allowed to select a few items from a list of tiny projects to construct a one-page artwork which reflects the overall module. I accidentally did all of the tiny projects because I did not carefully read the instructions. I thought this was beneficial nonetheless because we had to look at the texts from a different perspective depending on the project. After I reviewed the text in about 6 different ways, I had a much deeper understanding of the module and how it can be applied to my career. Portions of the texts that were analyzed also brought back vivid memories from my childhood and the ideas that were pushed on to me as elements of my own culture which were actually ripped off from some one else's. 

    The longest spanning project that we completed, which I found the utmost beneficial for the goal of reaching an understanding of people who aren't the exact same as ourselves was the social media assignment. We were required to create and post on blog pages throughout the semester. We had to learn how to engage in effective and productive discourse with our peers while maintaining dignity and respect. I think this task was also beneficial to us because it can be seen by future employers and peers, like a portfolio. We may also choose to continue posting on it, and hosting discussions to further our understanding of unfamiliar topics and issues.

What is Worth Learning?

 

    Before our students can learn anything from us, we have to make them feel safe and heard. Moreover, we have to empathize with their strife when they bring problems to our attention, and we must bring those issues to the forefront of our lessons. 

    To restructure our curriculum in a nature that places our student's issues as top priority, we have to critically examine our teaching of the past and discern whether it has had negative implications for communities within our nation. We cannot erase what has happened in the past, nor should we try to forget about it. We must feel the pain and bear it with us as a constant reminder to fight for our students until each one has the education best fit for their cultural needs. 

    As we frame the new curriculum, one which is pedagogically reflective and responsive to each community within our social schema, we have to center our discussions around the groups we have marginalized for decades, centuries even. More than just teaching our kids to be tolerant, we must teach them to be anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-oppression. 

    Let us not forget through the strife to guide our students to exploring their heritage for all its joyous wonders. We can help our students imagine themselves in roles of success by expanding their access to role models who represent pieces of their own personal identities. The local town where our students reside is rich with living resources, people who grew up within the communities and can recall how much things have changed. We have to share their stories with our class too. 

    Lessons based in fear lead to deficit-thinking which furthers the educational disparities in minority populations. If we allow the divide between classes to grow any stronger we are perpetuating violence. 

    However, this does not mean we should omit topics that make people feel uncomfortable because it disregards the comfort we have thus far felt at the expense of the safety of our neighbors. If we ignore their struggles they will not just stay silent. They will likewise come together to put an end to it. 

    We have so much to learn from our students. Until we show them that our classrooms are a space where they are open to criticize our methods, we will fail to obtain the funds of knowledge that each of them has to offer. We have to reframe our mindsets to be open to this feedback, rather than rejecting it as many of us have been conditioned to do. 

    The impact of how we adjust our curriculum to fit the needs of the children within our spaces is dependent on our ability to get in tune with the influences that have socialized their attitudes and beliefs. We have the power to break our student's self-esteem and self-concept if we don't make the effort to understand how they view the world and teach from a perspective that's compatible with their understanding. 

    We can never truly make it up to the people who we have silenced in the past. We cannot erase the generational trauma that has bled over from years of abuse and inhumanity, but we can start repairing it by giving future generations the tools they need to succeed through reconstructing our curriculum to include the nullified curriculum of our past. 

What Does Money Really Have To Do With It?

When I first moved to Texas and became a registered voter here, it was at the peak of the 2016 election season. One day, someone campaigning for a republican state senate candidate knocked on my door. I was entirely unaware of her political party affiliation at the start of the conversation, but it wasn't hard to catch on as the interaction progressed. Her hook line was that she wanted to inform me of the terrors that are happening in our public school systems her in Texas. Generally I would turn away these political volunteers, but she intrigued me so I took the bait. I listened as she ranted and raved about how hard our local school districts worked to earn the funding that they have, and now its being stolen and given to less deserving districts. She emphasized that these districts are less deserving because they did not work for the funding, and that voting for the state senator she was endorsing would help end these practices. 

This volunteer didn't understand the implications she was making, but the way I see it she was imposing her capitalistic views on beings who aren't even participants in this money making hell-scape yet. It  contributes to why poor kids are forced to 'mature up' faster than their wealthier peers. They are expected to show they are deserving of help, and then help is instead granted based on the performance of the administration in their communities. When she says that certain districts worked harder than others to raise money, does she mean that the children within those schools worked harder, or the adults who service them? We know that the children rely on us for success, and any shortfalls are our responsibility to attend to. It is never the child's fault. So then how come it's okay in some people's minds to hold children accountable for the shortfalls of the adult systems working around them by refusing them adequate funding? 

As I previously stated, we live in a capitalist hell-scape. Money is what makes our world go around. The people who have amassed the greatest amount of wealth in the world had to exploit others in order to gain that position. Now they are asking us to exploit our children so that they can hold on to their treasure; Educate their own children; Build their empire. By pushing for the removal of programs like The Robinhood Acts, you are holding children accountable for the adult systems failing around them, all whilst yelling at them to pull their selves up by their bootstraps and show they deserve better. Their performance can't improve until we do something to help them first, and it won't matter until we do. With the current education funding system in place in our capitalist society, it doesn't matter how hard they work because the rewards aren't granted in such a manor. The implications that certain districts are less deserving of money than others is equivocal to the thought process that the children inside of those schools are less deserving, and that's not very 'equal-rights' of us. Money has everything to do with it, but nothing our children do can get them the funding they need. That's on us. 

What lengths am I willing to go to do right by every child?

 

    I am instilled with a number of privileges, but I have also faced a number of hardships that I don't usually talk too much about. I understand that presently, I'm less privileged than many of my peers in my age group in a socioeconomic sense. After I finish my degree, I know I won't be rich, but I will have worked my way to a greater level of privilege than where I once was. Despite my hard word and everything I have sacrificed to be here, I remember the barriers I faced and I know that there is no way I could have overcome them if it weren't for everything I am privileged with. It has become impossible for me to look at a situation at face value because I remember the people who were suffering along side me, and I know they still suffer because they didn't all have the same path of escape as I did. This is where I was able to grow an empathetic heart. This is what drives my career path. I can't save everyone, but I must use my privilege to do whatever I can to give back to the communities that supported me when I had nothing. We have advanced forward to a place in society where there is a blind association between schools and equality, so I have to instill my disadvantaged brothers and sisters with the funds of knowledge gained through my higher education that they were never able to access. This is why I am a teacher. 

     I've experienced co-teachers in the past criticize families over what was packed in a child's lunch, or what the child was dressed in to school. This is harmful to the child because they hear us doing it and they understand what we are saying from an incredibly young age. It makes a mockery of their families' struggles, and tarnishes a piece of their identity. There was a quote from W.E.B. Dubois that stuck with me. "Ignore the school's unprofessional principle and the other, less well-educated teachers. Your real duty is to the Child." I agree with this idea in the sense that we cannot let teachers like this, exhibiting empathy limiting mistakes, get our stress levels accelerated. However, we can't just shy away from these conversations either. They are poisonous, and by ignoring them we allow stereotypes to become perpetuated that harm the children. I think the best way we can do this is by telling personal stories. If we can create circumstances around these situations that are relational for 'unprofessional teachers,' it could have a greater chance of changing their perception on the issues. 

    So what lengths will I go to do right by all children? I will keep confronting these issues when they arise, and never shy away from tough conversations because it is my duty to the child to defend their identities. When I hear swift judgments, I will counter with personal stories and accounts of what I have experienced around me. As hard as it is to relive those stories, my past could help someone else. I hope to build rapport with the other teachers in children's lives and their families to see where we might be able to work together to eliminate oppressive systems. We have to wrap our arms around the individual lives in our communities, and listen with empathy so that we can find out what their children need, and give them equity. We won't achieve this without placing ourselves in their shoes and authentically caring first.

Do I Have the Full Picture?

No one on this planet is omniscient, therefore we will always encounter sides of the story that we have never heard before. Each of our stories is unique, our identities one of a kind, but we also belong to various groups across our social schema. Since everyone has an individualized perspective, I do not think any of us have the full picture. I am learning everyday about new ways in which the limited scope of my white experiences prevents me from ever being able to truly experience what it is like to live from the perspective of my Black and Hispanic counterparts. In addition, I am becoming more aware of the different attitudes that have been bred about people from other races within my own race. Despite the fact I don't know what it is like to not be white, I am not excluded from showing empathy. Through conversations, historical analysis, and self-reflection we can begin to understand what motivates the feelings that people harbor within. These conversations need to happen across separate cultures as well as within individual classes. Instead of removing ourselves from the past and boasting upon the fact that we ourselves have never personally owned slaves, we must recognize the long-lasting impact that the institution of slavery has made in our society. Our past generations have put the new generations of POCs in the position they are in today, so we cannot just move on from it. We owe it to our future children to have discussions. We might not ever grasp the full picture, but we can build relationships and learn how to make up for our empathy limiting mistakes in the present. 

Stories: Whose are told, and whose remain in the margins?

    A critical aspect of every story is the perspective from which it is being told. The side of the story that will be shared is the one that benefits those who are in power. Often times this is whoever stands in the majority. In America, it's white people. Anyone who falls outside of that category has been historically marginalized, and although the political climate in the United States is evolving, the education system still lags far behind, trapped by traditionalist values. 

    From what I have experienced, Teachers are becoming more aware of these perspectives. Numerous courses revolving around cultural diversity, and cultural communication competence have been added to our college repertoire. This makes it evident that the leaders of our education, the people who decide what teachers need to learn to be successful, know that certain students have remained marginalized by oppressive systems and it has to be changed. However, if we walk into a modern classroom we will see that many of the outdated lessons we were force fed growing up are still being passed down to the present generation. As of 2018, under eight percent of high school students were still unaware that Slavery was the main cause of the Civil War. Another example is a video that went viral over the past thanksgiving holiday, where an elementary school was still enacting out the false and culturally insensitive story about pilgrims arriving on the mayflower and sharing a peaceful dinner with the Indigenous people. 

    The stories that paint the white guys in a better light are the ones that are still being shared, because it is how the curriculum is written. Any attempts by educators to change it have been thwarted. Governor Greg Abbott has made motions to ban the teaching of critical race theory in Texas. The same has happened across various states in the nation, particularly in the southern states. We know whose stories remain in the margins. They have been screaming at us for the past decade to pay attention! The real question is how do we find ways to incorporate their history with all of these obstacles in the way? This shows why it is important for us as teachers to be politically involved. We need to turn to the people who have created these obstacles, the curriculum writers themselves, and demand a change. 

   

    

What is the Purpose of Schools?

The most well-known purpose of school is to teach children the information they need to know to be professionally and educationally successful. In laymen's terms, schools are learning centers. However, should this be the prevailing reason? In the simplest circumstances imaginable I would agree that it should be. Unfortunately, simplicity is not the reality for all children. Within our nation we have populations who struggle with homelessness, starvation, drug addiction, inadequate health care, and the list goes on. As these populations are increasing, schools are now faced with a precursory barrier to teaching their children. For a child to grow and succeed, they must have each of their hierarchal needs met primarily. If the children are starving or without shelter their physiological needs are not met. If they are abused at home, then their safety needs are not met. If they are neglected outside of the walls of the school, then their need for love and belongingness has not been met. In this sort of mental state, they cannot achieve their maximum potential, and any expectations to perform otherwise would be as to suggest they prioritize their education over their survival. We have come to realize that for schools to be efficient learning centers they must wrap their arms around social welfare. Schools are now purposed with ensuring that children are fed, clothed, cared for, and protected. It is not only our problem to aid in these issues, but also to identify signs of them. Over the past few decades, we have seen an emergence of school nurses, social workers, free or reduced lunch programs, and counsellors. Learning is not simply supported by these new roles; it depends on them. Our students who have been disadvantaged by their circumstances cannot grow without them. We all understand that education is a particularly important function of school, but the school's role in social welfare has become a top priority as our nation has evolved.