Respect Goes a Long Way

I think the rest of my cohort would agree with me when I say that this has been quite the first semester. I have learned so much in many different categories of my life from this class. 

First and foremost I have learned that in order to stretch my thinking and be open to new things I need to drop my defenses. Something that was stressed this semester was that when it comes to understanding the overall causes in education we need to drop our personal experiences to be able to have a more specific picture of what is actually happening. I learned concepts, words, and overall perspectives that I had not been exposed to before. For that I am thankful. I can connect those new tools to the idea of helping our students reach their unique potential. I believe that did and didn’t happen in this classroom. 

Just like Professor Cunningham explained through his illustration, when we have the opportunity to meet new people from all kinds of cultures and backgrounds, we are exposed to know things that push us and help us reach that potential that we have yet to reach. I experienced that through my new relationships with my peers, as well as the talented professors we had this semester. Professor Cunningham pushed us to see things differently, and be able to have a better definition of what we stand for, as well as where we need to continue to grow in our understanding of today’s education.

 I think where there was lacking and was not seen in our class, was an understanding of how we go about reaching that point with our students. I have a full belief that if you want respect, you have to give respect. In my last three years of teaching, I have learned that although it is powerful to be truthful and honest, it is also just as important to develop relationships that show respect to your students. 

We want to make those connections with others who are different than us, and have those unique experiences we can learn from. To do that there has to be some sort of an understanding and layer of trust, both participants in the relationship have to feel a sense of respect for one another, even in differences of opinion. If we want our kids to reach the unique potential, it is our job to help connect those opportunities and bring in those connections and relationships to make that happen for our students. That is not going to happen if bars and guards are raised because we do not show a little kindness or respect to create the relationships that make that happen. Dana Piraino, a wise professor we took this semester, discussed the idea of culture like an iceberg.  We see the surface when we are initially with our kids, but it takes time and effort on our part to learn and understand the deeper larger part underneath that surface. Three hours a week with students does not give you the understanding of who you’re working with. 

When I approach and begin my school year with my kindergarteners, I am going to daily keep in mind the unique potential that is yet to come. I am going to think about who I can connect my kids too, and what experiences of my own can add new branches for my students. I am also going to give them the respect and kindness they deserve, while holding them to high expectations. 

Looking Deeper

I went on my community walk visiting my new teaching placement at National Teachers Academy and the surrounding community. Do to school work, I was unable to visit the location with the Masters of Teaching crew I have been placed with. To be honest, I was disappointed. I was looking forward to getting to know this new groups outside of my cohort. I saw my peers posting lively, happy pictures of themselves on Facebook, and beautiful pictures of the school building. 

My experience was different. I am thoroughly excited to be placed in the building of NTA. When visiting I can already see the great community effort happening. There was a summer camp happening with parent volunteers dishing out hot dogs and sides, and kids running around the gym. There are posters all around the area advertising local happenings, and upcoming after school programs. The actual school grounds are kept beautifully, and there are large spaces for kid activities.

 If you only view the building with that lens though, you completely miss out on what is happening in the area. Now, granted, I only had a two and half hour time period where I walked around but when I was filtering in this visual information compared to what I was reading about in my school statistics and information, I was a little perplexed. National Teachers Academy is located directly next to China Town. You walk underneath the Metra Bridge and you’re moments away from the square. My school population is made up of 91.5% African-American Students. In the time I spent, the only African American’s I saw were homeless people. In fact, just to the right of school there were five African American homeless people sleeping next to the school’s fence. 

When walking to the left of the school there are giant vacant lots of land and abandoned businesses. The school is lucky in that it is located directly in front of a giant park. The park though, is completely loaded with trash. It is like that in much of the surrounding neighborhood lots and sidewalks. When I exited the train stop, there was a large piece of graffiti that depicted four men. One was holding a gun, one was being hung, and the other were standing. In the corner of the picture said “See you around”. For me this was very powerful. The picture’s location was subtle, but gave off so much sadness and violence all at the same time. 

I did venture into the actual China Town and was blown away by the beauty and culture. I walked into many shops and restaurants experiencing the authentic Asian cultures. Particularly I was pumped to find an entire store dedicated to Sanrio’s Hello Kitty. Within the community I saw four different Christian or charter schools specific to Asian culture or the community. I guess I am wondering if that is where Asian students are choosing to send their students. I am looking forward to spending more time adventuring in the area. 

My point it all of this, is that we need to view our building’s culture further than what our building’s aesthetic or playground looks like. So in this instance, you have this beautiful school located with one side filled with China town and the other barren vacant lots. I believe there is much going on there than what meets the eye. When learning how to be culturally responsive teachers, we talked about how an individual’s culture is much like an iceberg, buried beneath the ocean. I believe not only is this same with individual culture, but also about the building as a whole. 

We watched the TED talk, A Single Story by author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who explains it perfectly by saying “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” I want to start the year by understanding that we need to dig deeper, pay better attention and ask questions in order to not only understand the school building and community, but have a better idea of where our students are coming from with their own stories.

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript?language=en