So here is the question, have you told your students how badly your hands are tied? If you haven't, I think you should tell them. Then, can you ask them to help out--bring things in from home, however small they might think it is, maybe you can use what they can contribute. Have them talk to their parents and get them all charged up and 'bombard' the school boards. Strength in numbers, Cristina. Just remember that, and if you need voices, use your resources; use the kids, get them fired up to learn. They have too many restrictions on them as it is, they shouldn't be restricted to learn!
My Response:
Eileen,
Thanks so much for your strong words of encouragement! It is so nice t begin my day like this.
In response to your question, yes and no... I have told the kids that my hands are tied in certain respects and I try to be as transparent as possible without being a downer to the kids. When I do so, however, I've found that the more I try to rally the troops, the more my students feel disempowered. Something I did not fully understand - although I spoke about it as a concept all of te time - was the extent of disenfranchisement and defeat in communities of poverty, immigrants, and of color. For my students, raising your voice gets you arrested, beat up, or even deported... in their minds and the minds of their families. The climate is one of defeat and instead of taking my message as one of empowerment, usually my kids just get mad and say "You see miss, they don't give a damn about us, this school is mad cheap." I am still struggling as an educator to turn this sentiment into action, but I am fighting the influence of communities who believe "snitches get stitches" and that if they just take care of their own business they'll get through the week. My kids have yet to see how their voices can be heard. Last year, I even lost some of my own hope in my frustration over starting a student council. I never realized how much I took my position of priviledge for granted in that I was surrounded by people who got what they wanted... so I believed I could get what I wanted too. The student council floundered after a few meetings because the kids just didn't see the point... they wouldn't write the letters because it was boring and it wouldn't make a difference anyways. They wouldn't plan the bakesales because they truly believed the money wouldn't be enough for whatever they wanted to do. It was heart breaking. So, yes, I do tell my kids that my hands are tied, but no I haven't been able to empower them to make a change for themselves.
- Show quoted text -
To the NYC Chalkboard
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4 comments:
that just kills me! It does! to read what eileen read and qhat you Christina wrote, I just am wading in the water. What do you do? I mean i have hope and then I don't have hope. What you Christina are going through is messed up crap! That broke my heart. How do you get prepared to make a difference? What keeps you going now as a teacher? I couldn't work if I didn;t have something to work for/towards. reading what you had to say, made it more real for me. Like dawm, teaching in the inner city is mad hard! In the context with which you work, what is realistic change? You know what you can't do, what can u do? I mean i am asking myself this question as well. And I think, well no wonder people get cynical about this education business. It seems like no cares and the students know this too. It also feels as though its a toxic, unhealhty place to work in terms of aspirations being defeated, and conflicting directions told to students from cops and teachers and students feeling like they shouldn't even try and the structure of education, at ur for instance has insuffiecient resources "no chemicals for chemistry" and few sports teams, and well, wow! I just got to soak this all in. But you kno what in all of that, i count it a goal accomplsihed and a victory to nbring some of your students to Smith! You hgot them out, got them to experience someting new, deelop a vision, a dream, and think differently, WOW! I rejoice in that! Tell Shannon Wilson I Said hi! I sent her an email, i hope she got from me today. Just in case she wants to communicate mine is nais@email.smith.edu
thank you so much Christina for what you do!
Damn it;s hard!!!!
thank you
nat
Christina -
thank you so much for that post. reading it is just a punch in the stomach for me. your statement makes it so clear how big a problem urban education really faces. the kids themselves are without hope for change. one of the most beautiful things about childhood is the hope and curiosity in a child's eye. it's the defeat you speak of that's so gut wrenching. the very real fear that if you speak up, you're putting yourself in danger. there's so much passion within the hearts of these kids - and teachers like yourself. how can it be harnessed in a way that will promote change? of course these kids question whether a bake sale's one hundred dollar profit make any difference. they need millions of dollars, and a new set of policies, to change their school. how do you get these kids to believe otherwise? because, in part, it's true. how can you work to make small changes if they just seem pointless? it's an entire set of social norms, an entire environment, that makes hoping for institutional change in schools seem impossible.
Without people like you, I don't know where these kids would end up. Its so hard to keep hope and strength in situations such as this, but I'm sure your efforts don't go unnoticed by them. Keep fighting because these kids need someone to fight alongside them everyday and you are doing just that. Thank you for sharing your passion.
-Sarah
Cristina,
Thanks for your post and very honest response, because as you've demonstrated, sugar coating the problem doesn't get anyone anywhere. It was clearly disheartening to hear about the disempowerment these students feel.
And I know that I'm coming from a very different perspective (having no experience actually teaching in a struggling school), but I'm trying to think on the bright side as a way to combat the distress and lack of power you and the students feel. Reading your post reminded me just how smart kids are. While much of society (including in places where they are supported and not written off) sees kids without really taking the time to understand them, you've proved that these kids are so much more aware of the world around them than most adults would give them credit for. They know society's expectations of them to fail and it clearly has a huge effect on them.
So, that makes me think...with kids being so aware of those putting them down and their dreams slowly being written off, they have to be just as aware of someone who truly believes in them. There is a world pushing down on them, but sometimes a single person or single act can work against all that. I think that they know what's expected of them, and can't see themselves not meeting those low expectations without having someone tell them they can go far beyond it. And I know that you do believe in them, and only want the best from them. I know that you are doing all you can to give them skills to help them succeed and support them to give confidence that they can do so.
So I would say, know that that is so important. They pick on things easily, they are aware of your caring and I think probably are so grateful for it. Just knowing that someone believes in them and is pushing them is enough to continue to fight against all those who don't. So while they receive a lot of disempowerment from their environment, they will certainly pick up on signs of your support and encouragement and it will make a difference.
In solidarity,
Shanti
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