I'm currently involved in several book studies. I'm reading Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed. I'm also slowly progressing through Culturize by Jimmy Casas. One other book I recently read is On Your Mark by Thomas Guskey. I mention all these because they really have all fit into my whirlwind of thoughts on this.
I'll start with Guskey... in his book on grading reform, Thomas Guskey draws attention to a pretty important distinction in what we think we are doing with our instruction and grading, and what we actually are doing. His question: Are we developing talent or are we selecting it? We hear all the time about how teachers mold and shape young minds, that we push students to do and be their very best. But if we are honest, we don't develop as much as we want to think we do. Sure we will push any student we meet that wants to learn, or even those who are really smart but don't put forth the effort we would like them to. But really and truly developing all the talent in our buildings? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, I've been as guilty of this as anyone else has, but I also recognize that I need to do better, and so it's something I work on a lot, as it can be difficult and take a lot of work. And honestly, in our current state of education, the way we are set up is just not as conducive to developing all students, all talent. There are some movements on the horizon that could help make it easier to do, but right now we are using what we have and doing what we feel like is the best we can. And that best places a heavy emphasis on "selecting" the best by teaching and pushing students, and seeing who comes out on top.
The problem with selecting talent, though, and not developing it, is in the way we recognize, or rather, don't recognize those who aren't selected. Those who don't rise to the challenge, for whatever reason, just don't cut it. And *shudder* we regard them as such, some of us *double shudder* even tell them so. I just read the saddest thing in Culturize by Jimmy Casas, and it stuck out so much to me because I know it still happens now. "I wanted them to hold me to a high standard, not turn away and tell another adult that I wasn't worth it."Oh. My. Gosh. This happens?! It really happens! It's one of those things where you are shocked at first to even fathom it, but then you start to think about it, and you actually hear comments like these come out of teachers' mouths on occasion, or even regularly. Students have come to school, a place where they are supposed to feel safe, encouraged and challenged. For some school is the most secure constant in their lives, and instead they are given the message that they aren't worth the effort.
Now there are a lot of things that do not go in teachers' favor. Class sizes are huge, supplies are at a minimum, limits are placed on what teachers feel they can do, say or work on. Teaching is definitely a career that has it's massive ups and downs, and we as teachers seem to feel so much that we sometimes can't escape it. But when it gets down to it, we chose this career because we felt as though we could make a difference and teach young people. And we do not get to decide who gets that difference and who doesn't. We may not appreciate the way some students convey their feelings on school, but we should be taking those occasions as a challenge to change their minds, not dismiss them. As Casas says we need to be a "champion for our students," and that means all of them.
This time of year is high stress for everyone. Most of us have state testing that causes us endless worries for our students, as well as the usual end of school year chaos. I don't want to add one more thing to the list, but I do feel like the question is important enough to be at least posed. So if you don't mind, ponder these questions over when you are frustrated at a student or group of:
Are you championing all your students?
Are you ensuring that all your students know they are cared for and encouraged to be the best they can be?
Are you remembering that every student is worth it?
These are just meant to be gentle reminders that even when we think our students don't care about school, or about us, they are still watching to see if we care about them.
So this brings me to the final book I'm reading by Sara K. Ahmed, "Being the Change." This book is all about helping students to be more socially aware and cognizant of the importance of our differences as people. We all could benefit from these lessons, and its especially important for us to model them and demonstrate how important this level of awareness is. We also need to recognize the stereotypes we make towards others, including students. I'm not talking just about cultural ones, but ones based upon possible labels or behaviors that students possess. We cannot perpetuate that all students with a certain attribute act in a particular manner. We inadvertently mimic these types of prejudices regularly, and honestly we need to check ourselves. Part of our responsibility as educators is to model appropriate and welcoming interaction to all people, especially our students. If we aren't doing that, we are doing our kids a major disservice.
So yea, this was a bit of a ramble. But as I was reading I started tying things together in my head and I felt like this must. come. out. Our kids deserve better. No matter what time of the year, they always deserve better.
If you're interested in purchasing any of the books (I don't have any affiliate purchase links or anything) the links to them are below. :) They are definitely worth being added to any summer reading list.
On Your Mark, by Thomas GuskeyCulturize by Jimmy Casas
Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension, by Sara K. Ahmed
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