Well this article brings up so many excellent issues about teaching and teaching in difficult spaces. I don’t think it needs to just be about urban education, many of the issue brought up in the article reminds me of similar issues of teaching in rural South Africa. I had to prepare pre-service teachers to teach in environments that were incredibly difficult and environments that were not set up for teachers and students to be successful. There was no support for new teachers, it was very much sink or swim, no collaborative teaching and mentoring and again spaces that would make any normal teacher run away. Most teachers did not run away in this environment because teaching is one of the few jobs available in the rural areas that pays. But instead, teachers would give up and just not show up to teach their classes. I can’t tell you how many times I would go out to schools to visit student teachers and walk past classrooms full of students and no teachers.
While I was there I got involved in forming the rural english teachers association. The goal of this groups was to recognize educators who were committed to teaching and improving education and who wanted to come together to share best practices and stories about their classes. We organized a conference and the teachers would present. This was really difficult to convince teachers to present because they did not think of themselves as effective educators, they were so use to getting outside, top down directions, that they felt disempowered to make changes in their classes. This article brings that issue up as well, that teachers look outside instead of relying and collaborating to build a strong foundation and community supporting learning and teaching at the local level. The teachers did finally agree to present and the conference went so well. The teacher were re-energized with new ideas and new collaborations. I really believe in the power of small, committed groups of teachers who work in similar environments coming together to collaborate and share and how powerful that experience can be. That is what this article reminded me of. It is not a perfect process, and teachers are dealing with difficult issues that they can’t fix, in this case gang violence, in South Africa, hunger, HIV, drug abuse, sexual abuse and slew of other issues that I am sure also affected the community around Power elementary school. But having these groups can be a place to start and let teachers who teach in these incredibly difficult spaces that they are not alone in their efforts and mission to provide students of all backgrounds a good education.
November 12, 2009 at 4:40 pm |
Hello,
I sent this article to one of my former South African students who has just finished his master’s degree and is looking at ways to be a teacher educator in a rural environment and this is what he had to say…
Hi Beth,
Thanks for the article. I read the article and i realized that it speaks directly to what i`ve been thinking about lately. I think it will work provided that it is communicated in a manner that is embraced and welcomed by many if not all the teachers or staff members. A lot of one to one discussions with teachers will be critical before the idea is officially communicated to all the staff members in the school in order to sell the idea and fertile the ground first. I also feel that initiating dialogues, collaborations and partnerships between schools and universities can work wonders for our ailing education system in South Africa. I`ll love to try something like this in South Africa because i also believe strongly in Critical Pedagogy as espoused by Paulo Freire especially in communities where i come from with many social evils that many students bring with them into the classroom.
I don`t mind reading academic articles now. Reading is in my blood. Send more readings of this nature. I think this article is relevant and very insightful.
November 12, 2009 at 5:27 pm |
How great that you were able to share this article with your friend and talk about it! I have been trying to do similar things with the Austin SJ teacher inquiry group as you were doing in South Africa. However, there is a dual focus on building curriculum together and sharing our work. The group in St. Louis that I will talk about a little today had a great effect on me as a teacher and we had a great experience building community over time. I think you are right that small groups are much more powerful than any professional development experience that is whole-district or disconnected from actual teachers’ practices, which links to Alice’s blog and Bina’s comment. I’m sure we’ll get into this in class.
Also, can you write about your reflections on your process over time of blogging and learning?