Wed+2-8


 * What do teachers expect from students and why do they expect it?

Inquiry Guides: Erica Glinski and MK Ledford || White Teachers/Diverse Students: http://youtu.be/WhXQDQZdKq4
 * Do you think the teacher in this video discriminates people of color by using harsher directives?
 * How could this teacher approach this situation of diversity in the classroom differently or more efficiently?

[] "Billingsley went on to explain that the problem was not so much skin color as it was a clash of expectations: teachers who expected to be viewed as authority figures simply by virtue of their position, and students who believed adults should earn their authority by showing they knew how to exercise it." (p.7)
 * What do students expect from us as teachers, especially if you are a teacher of color or of the minority? Does gender also make a difference?
 * How does this clash of expectations affect the atmosphere in the classroom?

"What Serrano wants for her students, White teachers must desire to develop in themselves: a questioning mind, a critical consciousness, and a greater understanding of the systemic factors--disingenuous educational policy, unequal school funding, gentrification, complacent public officials--that impact communities of color and city schools." "...when I asked Toni Billingsley what she thought distinguished the White teachers who found success at her school from the ones who didn't, her initial response was simple: They stay. '[It's] because they hang in there,' she explains. 'From day one, you can tell that they care about the students, and they stick in there. They're not going anywhere. See, with these other teachers, after a year, they left. And to the kids, it's like, 'Oh, you're another White person who's abandoning us. You're trying to save us, you think it can't be done, and then you leave us. You're not willing to stick with us.''"
 * Why do you want to be an educator?
 * As teachers, it's very important to learn from your students, stick with them, and really show that you care about them and their situations. How might teachers go about showing their students that they really care and are willing to learn?
 * How can a White teacher go into a classroom of all African American students or Latin American students and encourage them, challenge them, inspire them, help their minds grow without seeming like they are trying to "save" their students or just going through the motions?
 * Is it by learning about their students' home life and background, race and culture? Or also by learning about the discriminating factors that come into play when it comes to education?

"...White teachers are sometimes afraid to delve into students' backgrounds in the classroom if they think such explorations might touch on matters of race. 'I think there's a fear of how kids will react,' she [Kirby] says."


 * SMALL GROUP: When is it appropriate to bring race into the classroom? At the beginning of the year, when a problem arises, never? How?

"Still, Kirby believes that despite their uncertainty, White teachers must be willing to say to Black students, 'I know I'm really ignorant about your experience, but I want to know, and I'm open to learning, even though some of what I learn may be hard for me to understand or painful for me to hear.' Teachers who are honest about their own gaps of knowledge and who demonstrate a sincere desire to learn, Kirby says, will gain their students' respect."
 * Is it offensive to approach discussing race like this?
 * How can you, as a teacher, not be offensive or ignorant towards your students when talking about race?
 * Is talking about ignorance with race only with White teachers to African American and Latin American students an issue?