I've been trying to get student teachers into our school for some time. It's not that I have any pull or anything, but since I'm in graduate school at a local university, I figure that maybe I can be a communication point for it. Basically, I think my school would be a great place to learn to teach: our curriculum is flexible and created in-house, not handed out by distanced curriculum specials; the students are mostly open-minded, respectful but disarmingly honest at times; we often collaborate and backwards-plan on units. And, I'll be honest: it would be cool to have a student teacher, to get fresh ideas and improve my craft through the eyes of another.
I finally found what I thought would be an "in" at the university. My advisor and current professor is trying to start up an urban education program at the school. She asked me to come and speak with interested students. However, just two showed up today. There is currently no one signed up for the course.
It's too bad, because the only way our cities will become better is if the schools become better, and I don't understand how there can be this little interest in teaching in urban schools, or even learning about teaching in urban schools. When I was at Michigan State, I felt like this was a bit of a priority from the professors - we read Jonathan Kozol and Mike Rose; I remember something clicking for me when one of my professors sort of looked at us all and said he expected us to consider teaching in an urban school. I had never really considered it, and still reall didn't, but was placed in an urban school upon graduation for my post-graduate student teaching year, and fell in love with it. I'm quite sure I'll never teach in another type of environment again, just because, as cheesy as this sounds, I feel like I'm making more of a difference than I would be if I was teaching elsewhere.
The stories she told me about prospective teacher candidates at this university, however, were disconcerting. She has students (her college students, the prospective teachers) attend an event every semester hosted by the Baltimore Urban Debate League, one of the many beacons of hope and intelligence within the city school system. She said that one girl walked into a school and walked out without seeing any of the debate events. The next week, at class, she said, "Well, I just walked into the school, and this black girl was just yelling her head off, and I just turned right around. I can't deal with that." She says this is the sort of thing she is up against when trying to create an urban education program. Unfortunately, this is more the rule than the exception. Most of the teaching candidates want to work in the county, or even where they went to high school.
One of the paths I can see myself embarking on is trying to reach out to young teachers who want to teach in city schools. I thought this university, where I'm getting my Master's degree, would be my path. I'm still hopeful, but disheartened. How can someone who cares about making the future a better place just refuse outright to teach in a city school? How can, out of sixty student teachers last year, only one put city schools in their top three choices for placement? I just don't get it, and, honestly, I don't think I'm that special. When I got my education degree, I was ready to change the world. I still am. Isn't that why people become teachers, after all?
The Day The Earth Went Cold
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I’ve been coming to Paris in late May (i.e, post-Cannes) off and on for a
good 10 or 12 years, and it’s never felt this chilly. Why does it feel like
effin...
1 hour ago
6 comments:
I can understand wanting to teach at your old high school. If you love the place enough, you'd want to go back and give back to it. I feel the same way about my old high school, even though my own teaching aspirations are more for the college/university level than secondary.
But, as for the sentiments that you're experiencing in your peers there at grad school, I say this: when you're speaking of students who want to teach in "the county," I'm assuming you're referring to students from Baltimore County, Anne Arundel, Harford, Howard or Carroll. And if you are, then I say I'm not surprised.
So as not to upset the rather anonymous nature of this blog, I won't say when, but I graduated from a BCPSS school and when I went to a college in Maryland whose name I won't mention, my peers at that that particular institution could not understand how I, as a product of a BCPSS school, walked into the school as a devotee of jazz, a fairly capable writer, and closer to fluency in a foreign language as a freshman than my county-based upperclass peers. They simply could not accept that students from any BCPSS school could be the way I was. They had their image of what a Baltimorean was supposed to be. My peers from Baltimore City, as well as those of us from Prince George's, experienced the same sorts of sentiments.
So I'm just not surprised. Students from areas outside Baltimore (PG aside) simply view all BCPSS schools the same way as those JHU students from a while ago (the "HIV pit" students). To them, there's bound to be absolutely no difference between City, Poly, Western, Dunbar, School for the Arts, and name any school that's currently plagued with violence, teen pregnancy, low test scores, what have you. And that's not even to say that all of the students at that school are mired in hopelessness, mediocrity and failure. It's just not true.
But, if you went to Long Reach, Friendly, Hereford or some other distant or even not-so-distant outpost, you likely just have your image of what Baltimore schools and their students are like. I read message boards and listen to the radio and I hear what their parents think. I know what their parents thought 20 years ago. Hardly any difference to me.
Plus, this sentiment isn't likely limited to just Baltimore schools, either. I'm sure if you asked one of your peers at your school whether they'd like to go to Randallstown, Milford Mill, or Woodlawn, you might hear the same thing.
You should continue along your path of getting young teachers who want to teach in city schools. Get them to actually step into a city school once in a while, for more than a couple of minutes. Their problem is that they know a story their parents and peers and the evening news told them. Maybe once they get to know actual people, things may change their minds.
But don't stay disheartened. These sentiments were in place long before you ever came to Baltimore. This sort of change takes time. Listen to the words of John Cena:
"If you wanna tell me to go to hell, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop believing in what I believe in."
Wow, I've never commented before but I feel compelled to mention a few things. I'm not certain what M.Ed program you're enrolled in, but speaking for College Park (my alma mater), this could not be further from my experience. I attended a one-year intensive master's program at UMD and was nothing but impressed with the emphasis on diversity, social justice, poverty and the implications of NCLB in at-risk schools. Every professor and administrator I encountered urged us to consider working in an underserved setting, rather than fleeing to the suburbs.
An excellent professor I had in grad school once told us that "50% of the candidtates in teacher ed programs should not teach," and I've come the the sad conclusion that there are a LOT of folks in education for the wrong reasons (like 'summers off' which I have actually heard as a reason to become a teacher). Our profession is a constant challenge. I never worked harder in my corporate career than I do as a teacher.
I'm dismayed to hear that there is so little interest in urban education--but maybe we should forgive these kids a little. After all, they're most likely sheltered and very young. Perhaps they've not been exposed to injustice and inequality and can't imagine the need to pitch in the fight.
Thanks for your blog--you're an inspiration to this first-grade teacher.
I think part of the problem can be caused by separate urban ed programs versus weaving social justice into the entire teacher education curriculum (like it seems like MI did).
And there are also problems with just dropping potential teachers into urban schools. Without the proper debriefing and reflection, many of them will only see the negatives and not the positives, and will have their stereotypes reinforced. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try, but have to be super-careful.
I have to add that I work at a Special Education/Vocational School and the students coming out of teacher education are the same way toward us. No one wants to be placed with us and when they are, they often complain and try to get switched out. We have some of the most innovative programs, dedicated teachers and supportive administrations in the entire district but no one seems to care.
I try to remember that it is more disheartning to have student teachers in the school who don't want to be there than to wait for the ones who do. I have had student teachers with no patience, who don't believe in my kids, who aren't flexible, don't and aren't able to program and teach to their level. Student teacher's aren't taught how to teach my students, they are trained for a fantasy land where every kid is a genius just waiting to be taught. I have had a student teacher say to me "I don't know if these kids will ever learn anything so why do we bother teaching them?" I hope that teacher will NEVER teach at my school. It is not just an urban/rural issue, it's a class issue and a bias against teaching challenging students of all types.
I'm glad that you've decided to stay in the urban schools.
A family friend retired several years ago after teaching in the inner city of Detroit and his retirement party was the most emotional event ever especially through some great parental speeches. He made a great difference. There were a lot of students who ended up pursuing college degrees.
I know you can make that difference. So rock on Spartan! ;o)
This is interesting, because like tired teacher, I also went to College Park ... I was a career changer getting my masters in special ed (and taking a few undergrad courses because I had no teaching background). When it was time to do my student teaching, I specifically requested placement in a city school because I live here and wanted to teach here. I was told that College Park didn't place students in the city, and had to take a placement in Anne Arundel County instead (which turned out to be a great placement). At any rate, I've been teaching in the city since I started teaching five years ago, and love it, but would have very much appreciated some support in getting placed in the city schools as a student teacher. I knew NOTHING about how special ed worked in the city, or how paper-intensive it is (much more so than AA County, when I started.
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