Educators focus their instruction on academics and due to circumstances that are out of their control, rarely think about the implications of a student's race, identity, and economic status and its impact on the type of education that they receive. Our education system and structures were put into place during a time period where the industrial revolution was at its peak and the education of the majority of workers was geared towards that. The social issues that have existed in education were enacted purposefully so that those who hold the power would continue to do so and the working-class and/or poor would stay in their positions, without hopes of moving out of their positions.
Lisa Delpit and Partick Finn impacted the way I view our education systems and societal structures. After reading their writing, my intuition was telling me that my colleagues would benefit from learning a bit about their big ideas. I now understand why it is important for educators, like myself, to teach students the codes of the dominant culture while encouraging students to embrace their own home cultures. I was also reminded that schools are an institute that follows the culture of power. Economic status directly impacts the type of education one receives. It is through this learning, that I have begun to educate myself more on this topic. I find myself watching more Ted talks that focus on student identity and power within the classroom. I love hearing others' lived experiences and connecting it to my learning thus far. Therefore, when I was choosing my teach out project, I knew I had to teach her ideas.
The school I presently work at is an urban school which serves students who identify as white, hispanic, african American, and asian. Unlike other urban schools, we have worked hard to diversify our staff. However, even with the diversity, the majority of classroom teachers are white-females. My school also has a unique culture for that of an inner city school. We hold all of our students to high expectations and college and/or trade school is the end goal for all Cuffee kids. Our students are treated with respect, grace, and are taught the necessary academic skills to succeed but not necessarily the skills to move into positions of power. We also need to have conversations about the reality of their identities and where they will face adversity because of this identity.
Prior to teaching out, I found myself nervous. I choose to teach my colleagues because they are safe. I have known most of them for the better part of 11 years and they all have been my biggest supporters. I have presented initiatives in which I was given a leadership role to train and pilot new curriculum and assessment tools. However, this teach out project put me in my risk zone. I know my colleagues well, and identity and race have always been hard topics to talk about. Ego’s inevitable get in the way and energy always shifts from one of openness to closed off-ness.
Upon completion of my teach out session, I felt a huge sense of pride and accomplishment. As a community, they welcomed the information that I shared. It began the conversation of identity and race within our community. It also shifted into a great conversation about how our students become “Cuffee-ized”. A term that is hard to explain but I’ll do my best. Cuffee-ized means that a student has learned self-respect, respect for others, respect for their communities, how to advocate for themselves, reflect on their experiences, and persevere through challenging times. Our students know that the teachers are on their side through the good times and bad times. Our high school students discuss race and identity regularly. Teachers look at every student with the assumption that all Cuffee kids can go to college if they choose to.
Thinking back to my goals for this teach out project, I believe I was able to meet them all. I believe that my colleagues began to have an understanding of their own identities and where it places them on the culture of the power line. We began to dig into the type of school that Cuffee is and what an empowering literacy education would look like for us. We still have some work ahead of us . Many of my colleagues came up to me afterwards expressing gratitude for the conversation and a desire to do more work around the topic. I was extremely pleased by the response it received and I am looking forward to doing more work around Delpit’s and Finn’s ideas at future staff meetings.
This course, Social Issues in Education, has opened my eyes to the issues within our education system which prevent all students from getting powerful educations. I will fully admit to being a bit hesitant at the start of this course. However, being given the opportunity to closely read and digest weekly articles, and having conversations in class have helped me to grow my mindset around issues like identity, race, ethnicity, power, and best practices to educate students who live outside of the culture of power. I was privileged to get to learn more about these topics in a safe and welcoming space. I’m grateful for this teach out project, too. It was an empowering experience to take ownership of the learning. It was powerful to share the knowledge with others. The knowledge I learned this summer will be carried with me and kept in mind when I teach.
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