“Lifting Students Up Without Lowering the Bar”
After speaking in class about how to identify critical teaching practices, I was really interested in reading this article and its perspective on teachers at a groundbreaking school in Washington D.C. (The original article, from NPR’s Code Switch, and written by Cory Turner and Kavitha Cardoza, is linked below. The teachers depicted, at Ron Brown College Prep, believe that, “They can’t just be average.” The intricacies of racial division plays a huge role in this quote, with ‘they’ being the black males that they teach. The teachers strive to push their students further in our society, giving them the opportunity to be able to stretch beyond the social constraints that unfortunately lie within the color of their skin.
In her interview, one teacher (Schalette Gudger) talks about understanding the diverse lives of the students, and individualizing their experiences without allowing them to fall behind or make excuses. One interesting thing that she said was that, “Some of them are so on edge that they literally do not sleep at night. So, if you need a break … if you’re comfortable enough here to put your head down, Baby, by all means rest.” It is remarkable to see that she is able to put forth this compassion towards her students, while still holding them accountable for their work and actions.
Another math teacher, Shaka Greene, uses his own experiences to relate to and understand his students’ own experiences. “I watched my mother work multiple jobs to make sure we ate. There were times I went to school with holes in my shoes. So I get it. That is why I am as hard on them as I am, because I know your circumstances don’t matter as much as your will and desire to be successful.” Mirroring Gudger’s philosophy of being able to relate to students while still pushing them, Greene uses a different approach to compassion, by using his own insight into the classroom.
After reading this, and after wondering all week if it was really possible for teachers to find the balance of allowing and encouraging students’ individualities, while still upholding a standard of excellence. At least from their interviews, and the success of the school, the critical classroom perspectives discussed shows that it is possible.
