Sunday, November 15, 2009

public radio is for rock stars.

This past week was quite a challenge for me. I suppose that is not a very surprising statement; every day is a challenge in its own way, but this week hit me particularly hard. Now, I am not complaining - in fact, I love a good challenge - instead, I say this in a very quizzical, perplexed sort of way, because I have no idea how to go about surmounting this particular challenge. Maybe you can help...

I am currently student teaching at a comprehensive, neighborhood high school in West Philadelphia. If you do not know anything about the Philadelphia School District, let me give you a backdrop: the Philadelphia Public School system is generally divided into three types of schools: charter schools, magnet schools, and neighborhood schools. The charter schools are loosely bound by the restrictions of the state and provide "alternative" education, where faculty and staff often use nontraditional, state-of-the-art teaching practices and methods in attempt to revolutionize education within a struggling district. Unfortunately, these schools only have the means to provide for so many students, so entrance restrictions are set and students are often selected out of a lottery system. Magnet schools are schools that "draw" students out of their natural school designation zones. These schools are generally reserved for students who achieve high academically (both in class and on the state standardized exam) and have no behavioral issues. What you are left with are neighborhood schools, which are the local schools to which a student would normally be assigned based on residence. These schools are filled with the students who did not qualify academically and behaviorally to be pulled out, or were not "lucky" enough to win the lottery.

Sayre High School, where I work, is a neighborhood school. It currently serves a student population that is 99% African American, the vast majority of whom live under the poverty line. The dropout rate is exorbitantly high, more than 50%, where the national average currently teeters around 16%. Inside of the school, the heating system is out of whack, the water is undrinkable and the hallways reek of the garbage that is strewn all along the floor. This is not any place that you would want to send your child to for school. At Penn, we are focusing on how we as educators might help bring about social justice, a cause for which my heart has become impassioned. I must say, however, that the what and why come much easier to me than the how, which is where my dilemma arises.

I love my students, I really do, and we generally have a ball together. But as of late, I have realized that while we may be having fun, I am not sure how much learning is going on within the classroom. I am presenting the necessary material, but I do not believe it is being absorbed. I am in the unique position of being the instructor of a Civics course (I typically teach history), a class where I think this "social justice" idea can really be hit home. Up to date, however, I feel like I am failing miserably. While my students seem to like me as a person and as a teacher, they do not appear to be buying my idea that they can bring about change in their own lives and communities.

My overall goal for the course is to show students how education is really the tool for success. While it may be easier for someone of a higher socioeconomic status to "blow off" his/her education, that high school diploma (and hopefully college degree!) can make a world of difference to someone in my students' position. I have tried the "learning for learning's sake" approach and, at least for the moment, they do not seem to agree, which has been very hard for me to understand. I am an information junkie! Anyone who knows me well will quickly be able to describe my unending affection for trivia. I love words, I love facts, I love to learn... I love school, and I try to show this with energy and enthusiasm every time I walk into Classroom 230. I have shared with my students my obsession with Merriam-Webster.com and National Public Radio, only to be met with laughs. I have tried to argue how cool it is to be smart but they readily disagree. So, what do I do? Clearly my approach is all wrong. How do I teach my students that not only is education itself absolutely essential, but also fun, interesting and exciting? How can I create that voracious, insatiable appetite for learning, not just as a tool for success but for its own sake? This is the challenge I spoke of, and one that I have no idea how to conquer. Any advice would be much appreciated; thank you kindly in advance!

2 comments:

  1. All the young teachers I know have the same dilemma. I admire you for your motivation to improve the situation of your students. My answer is philosophical and based on the ideas of free will and double ignorance.

    If you don't have time to read the entire message, my idea is that your students will be eager to learn when they understand the free will they think they have is actually very limited and they are prisoners of their double ignorance.

    As a very occasional "teacher" or "coach" at my former graduate school, I have more educated and hopefully more motivated students in front of me. Every time they miss some important point in my explanations or show some lack of motivation, I feel disappointed, sometimes angry and wonder if I am loosing my time (I do it for free...)

    My current answer is that any human being has its free will and although you can force someone to do something, it is extremely difficult to force someone to think or to believe something. And is it fair, even if you are sure you are right?

    Clearly, you are right, as a cultivated person, to believe everybody should be able to access all the knowledge of the world. As a Wikipedia maniac, browsing from Theory of Chaos to the complicated life of the many Byzantine Emperors, I agree. But, as I learned when going to Eastern Europe, for many people, it is more comfortable to stay in a status-quo "I have food, I have basic comfort, long live the first secretary of the party" than to try a more challenging "I want to try something else".

    Which brings us to a circle: the more educated are the people, the more they want to use their free will... And the more they are aware of their free will, the more they want education. How to trigger the virtuous circle and break the opposite vicious circle?

    Communism felled because people were frustrated to live behind a wall and they couldn't stop dreaming of what was behind. They knew there was something behind. And they were eager to learn because it was mostly forbidden. Your students live behind a wall, an invisible wall, so they don't know there is a wall, they have no idea there can be anything interesting outside their small world. This is the double ignorance. They don't know that they don't know. And since education is allowed and encouraged, they will logically not make any effort to learn.

    In one word, make them see the wall, so they can decide by themselves to break it. And make them read The Time Machine of H. G. Wells and ask them if they want to become Morlocks…

    Sorry if my explanation is too theoretical and philosophical, not structured and badly written.I am fascinated by this question. I wish you a great success with your students.

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  2. I have a feeling it will be hard to follow Laurent's comment but I'll try anyway. My initial reaction after reading your post was that your students need physical examples, real life people that can show how learning and gaining an education is something that should be important to them. I am a very 1+1=2 type personality so that seemed to always work on me. I'm not sure as a student teacher if you have this sort of access or ability to bring in someone to talk about their experiences (or even your own for that matter; study abroad, etc.) but maybe that will help? Do you know anyone who may have had the same background as your students who either never realized his/her own potential who could talk to them about his/her experiences? Or even someone who did stay in school and why they made their decisions? I'm not sure if this helps or if this is the kind of answer you wanted but I wish you all the best.

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