Tag Archives: Public Education

The Reason

02 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Poetry, Uncategorized

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Falsehoods and desires for greatness

Left with the responsibilities of our ancestors

Most of whom I’ve never met

To the future generations who I hope to help empower

This chosen path often positions me in the role as gatekeeper or antagonist

Neither of which I seek to portray

So much is at stake

The past, present, and future converge upon us

With the impact of an atomic bomb

Destroying all within its reach

Yet, we persevere like abolitionists, freedom riders, and infantry of the great wars

Each battle we embark upon impacts an unformed legacy

Of young and old

Insanity is defined by our actions as we believe in those who often have had no opportunity to believe in themselves

Intellectual idols are few and far between for many because we’ve never been allowed nor taught about the intellectuals who look, talk, or act like us.

In recognition of these truths as self-evident

I embrace my reason

My purpose

My calling of being an educator…

Random Thoughts of WE

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Poetry

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Figments of our imaginations
offer us solace in times
when reality is not in line with our desires
Trepidation ensues
Leaving remnants of stains
Emotional residue
Our own carbon footprints
Positioned to trample
On…
The bludgeoning of chance
Yes, you’re familiar
And if not
You may need to return to the sands
Those that have scorched many who have dared to cross them
Symbolic
Like the Sphinx whose been offended by history
Yet, still finds a way to remain
Situated in nothingness is not what Jean-Paul Sartre would recommend
If you were reading philosophy
Existential Terrain is challenging to navigate
Not only for those who understand the symbolism
But also for those who are unconscious
Unconscious of what emanates from within or towards them
For foreign objects are treated worse here than along
the southern borders
No Minutemen here
And if they are
They lack documentation
How ironic is it that those who seek clearance
have no ability to grant it for themselves?
Sounds like the every day struggles of public school teachers who are held to the whims of uncertified critics
Or the misguided influence of currency from the ever present lobby
Lobbying to keep children from our classrooms because we need their papers
Unless their elders are mowing our lawns, picking our fruit, preparing our food  from beyond our view, or building/cleaning our fancy houses in the early morning or long nights
The beauty of modern capitalism
Where labor is cheap or damn near free
And systematic practices of misdirection remain a key tactic
Go Google it while you’re at it
According to analytics they already know what you’re thinking…
You’ve be trained and dare not to question it because then you’re not Patriotic
And you know what that act can suggest if you’re not careful?
Guantanamo is not as distant as one may think
Just like on certain sides of the tracks when the sun goes down
And you will clearly see
Or will you?
It depends.
On what channel you’re turned to
ESPN won’t carry this unless you purchase the right subscription
Walter ain’t releasing people these days
They work them hours so that when you visit you’re entertained
Yep, I was there too.
And thoroughly enjoyed myself
Can’t be claiming to be Che or El-Hajj
Too many flaws in my game
Oops, I don’t play those
Unless it’s the game of life that I have to win
Because if I lose
All of those who lost their lives or sacrificed their freedoms
will have lost even more on their incalculable investment
Not in me
But in the future that encases me
Encases you
Encases the little ones that we seek to have
Seek to protect
Seek to love
The little ones who are still residing inside of
Each of us
So protect your little ones
Therefore you’re protecting yourself
The Big Bad Wolf loves more than Little Red Riding Hood
Or was that a Little Red Corvette?
Of course not, that is just a reference to date myself
My experience in the game
Ooops, I don’t play those
Yet, everyone around me does
Matrices are around me as if I were Ne-Yo
I didn’t misspell it, I did that on purpose
Since memories are short I tried to be current
Doesn’t have to be the truth
It just has to be something that you wish to believe
Like on Gentlemen Fox
With his Friends
This is what America does
so therefore that includes Ameri-cans
Yet most Ameris-can’t
Like read above 3rd grade level or read text that isn’t bullet pointed.
Yep, we’re talking comprehension
When did that happen?
Did you notice?
Or did you care?
Never mind, it ain’t that important
All I really need is 140 characters or some emoticons and I’m good
But am I really?
I don’t know but if I turn to the right channel I don’t have to think about it
You know that I could be making all of this up, but would you go research it to find out?
Ooops, that means you’re back to Google.
Hopefully Google Scholar at least.
Just don’t pay too much attention to my profile
I didn’t follow the rules
I like long sentences
Complex if possible
Don’t get mad if you find a few split infinitives in the mix
Yet, I wish it was an Infiniti G
I’ll let you pick the model as long as it’s a convertible and hopefully black
I grew up loving Knight Rider
But not the new KITT
Nor Kit Kat
Don’t need no breaks but if you did
Make sure it included Nell
You know her last name?
If not, go and…
That blank was filled before I even finished typing the line
How easy certain things are when you try
(Ooops, I did it again like Britney)…
Or is it when you are conditioned?
Air Conditioned like in Texas around August.
Yep, I’m being reminded of that right about now
I have mine on 76
And no, it didn’t declare me anything
There weren’t a whole bunch of men to sign it in protest
Ooops, don’t use that word too loudly
Especially in that place with an M-O.
But then again, be careful in N-Y or D-C or F-L-O-R-I-D-A
LeBron wasn’t the only one who left
I did too.
Yet, not soon enough
I got the scars to prove it
But I’m relearning a few old letters like U-G-K
Some readers got that because you like them underground kings
“and I keep yelling it but ya’ll don’t hear me though”
Like it was “Who ya rootin’ for?”
Have fun with that
Until Homecoming…

The Perils of Educational Patience

08 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in Educational Trenches, PSDW Reflective Journal

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Classic denial of exceptional promise: Origins of the journey

Over the years that I have taught and learned, I have always struggled with or been the cause of struggle for others when it came to the notion of patience. Whether this was as a fifth grader who was gifted but was easily influenced by his peers to deny his gifts. Or when I was a high schooler who made all types of wrong decisions related to learning and my giftedness. I did not understand what or why I was doing what I was doing beyond the limited vision that I had with the coinciding age. Yet, those who were  charged with educating me both as a student and young man of African descent knew better. They, in retrospect, exhibited what I’m now calling “educational patience”. They hung in there with me by calling my parents, with mainly my mom visiting, to hear the latest development in my misguided decisions. They always talked in terms of my potential and promise with her which made their disappointment with me during those mishaps even more striking and pertinent to this post.

I can so clearly see their faces and recall their names as if I were still in their respective classes doing whatever I was doing as I exemplified denial or the outcomes of stereotype threat, which I would learn about during my graduate experience. I can remember how their demeanors changed or were influenced by the things that I did that were not of their approval. My justifiable excuse, if those are truly possible, is that I was a young person who really did not understand what he was gifted with in terms of intellect, creativity, and character. As a result, I saw those qualities as deficits to who I thought I should be in order to be viewed as one of the “cool kids”. In every case and interaction, my teachers were exuding to the highest degree, educational patience.  And with each enactment, they paid an internal price that I would not myself understand until I shared the role of teacher educator.

Roles reversed: Claiming the Mantle for Educational Patience

Years later, my first encounter with educational patience met me in Houston, Texas while teaching the first grade. I inherited a group of children who I grew to love for so many reasons. They were students who, like me, developed reputations that did not always mirror who they really were. Working through personality conflicts and the normal activities of 6 year olds should not be thought of lightly, and I know any parents of this age group can attest to this statement easily. The energy that they expended through questioning and the need of repetition of educational tasks was something, as a new teacher, that I was not prepared for. Fortunately for me, I was a young tall man with a powerful voice and stern demeanor, I truly thank my father for modeling facial expressions that set definitive tones (I say that kindly, LMBO). Yet, to help my students develop, I often had to forget about where I wanted them to be in order to understand and support where they actually were. As many teachers often remind me, even now at the university level, that we often plant the seeds in students that we very rarely get to see grow.

As a first grade teacher, watching my students grow or at least seeing their seeds take root was the greatest experience for me outside of seeing them physically change and grow. I must admit that I was always moved when my students lost their first tooth then proceeded to give me that open door smile, LMBO. Educational patience always took its toll on me, like my own teachers, yet in its own way. It hurt to see some of the situations and circumstances that my students were in. It hurt to see that sometimes I was one of the only adults who was invested in them. Sometimes my enactments of educational patience, resulted in additional roles beyond the one I was hired for as a self-contained teacher. Sacrifice is the name of the game when it comes to teaching students who may not have all of the world at their finger tips. Sacrifice can amount to spending your lunch break working on additional activities for students later that afternoon. Sacrifice could mean earlier morning check-ins in your classroom or late evening check-outs right before the janitorial staff/or principal makes the last call to go home for the day. Let us not forget the many weekends that are logged to complete grading and course development.

Upholding the mantle in a different space: A university setting in Florida

Much of what my experiences as an elementary teacher taught me about education still reside in me as I now work with university students. Just as I did then, I struggled. I struggled with adjusting to the new context, the different students, and, more importantly, who I wanted to now be at this stage of my life. As a semi-newly minted PhD who had all of these aspirations and knowledge, at least in my mind, to achieve great things within the field of education.  I was both so wrong and so right. I was wrong in that I made some mistakes that ultimately resulted from my unwillingness to be authentic with my students. I did not fully commit to being present with my students as I now know that I must always do. I must make myself both vulnerable and human in the eyes of my students. Not in a way that is forced but in ways that simply mean just being me. I was right in my belief that my students deserve and require so much from us as well as the requirement that they are also to bring all that they have to the task. I was right to believe that my students are knowledge holders and able constructors who have every right to be at this educational table with me. I was right in my belief that enabling learning is a harmful thing if you don’t provide them with the means and opportunities to develop independence and self-efficacy. I was right in my belief that their futures and the futures of the students who they will one day teacher are the most important outcomes in my role as an educator. I was right in my belief that I am a more than capable and passionate educator who wishes to impact the lives of those who I meet as I continue my journey.

Educational Patience: Bearing its fruits

Ironically, as I confess to all of those who have taken the interest and time to read my thoughts reflected within these words, I am forever grateful to all of those who evoked educational patience at their own peril. That young 5th grader and high schooler has embarked on a lifelong quest to better himself and hopefully others through the valuable lessons that were afforded to him by each and every one of you. That first grade teacher who was the inheritor of such wonderful and promising young people is now a developing scholar and intellectual who cherishes the bonds that were forged so long ago. So I hope to be a testament to other educators who are also demonstrating educational patience. There are many more like me who are forever thankful for all that you have done. Please know that we attempt to pay it forward in our own unique ways with your influence in mind.

Tangible Rewards of Teaching

30 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by in Educational Trenches, Live In The Discomfort

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As I continue to talk about what I find the PROFESSION of teaching requires–living in the discomfort–I had the pleasure of having a conversation with a former student that has led me to this current entry.
Some back story…

My evolution as a teacher continues to occur in which I honestly have to say has been shaped by many of my former students’ impacts on me and my thinking over the years. They have challenged me in ways that I never thought that they would or even could. One of those areas is being more patient with them and their development and/or perceived needs. I must be the first to admit that while I love teaching and learning, I have noticed that I have more patience with learners in the primary grades. My expectations of my adult students and what they brought with them to the learning space was constantly at odds with most of what they actively would show. Sometimes what I thought that they should or would know, as undergraduates, was not always the case. Sometimes the amount of effort or passion that I assumed them to have was not the case either.

Now as I say that, there were plenty of students who were amazing and demonstrated vast amounts of intelligence, creativity, dedication, motivation, and the like. As a teacher, we sometimes take those students for granted and expect them to grace our classrooms with all of their potential and abilities. But when those gifted students’ gifts don’t appear as I expect them to, I now realize that those situations were my greatest challenges. This disconnect was painful for me to realize and accept: Why can’t they _______? Why won’t they _________? Why haven’t they ______? These are questions that I found myself reflecting on and asking my mentors periodically. I kept thinking that my students could do this or that. I never saw them as having deficits, but instead I saw that as not reaching or maximizing their potentials. What I failed to realize in that line of thinking was that while they had the potential, I often didn’t scaffold to the degree in which they may have needed. This realization meant that I had to relearn the level of variance within them regarding things that I considered to be foundational to undergraduate students (i.e., writing and critical thinking).

Now back to the conversation with my student…

In talking with my former student, I was pleasantly reminded of the student’s ability to actualize success. What I mean by that is even though I sought and often demanded a great deal from my students, their respective paths to success are as infinite as their minds, the context they’re in, and the varied supportive mechanisms afforded to them. As a result, I am now more aware of this part of my teaching identity–the critical idealist. And my former student’s current successes and the fond memories that I have during our time in the course have become even more powerful for me. For this was a student who I felt challenged my teaching in ways that made it better. The student’s persistence, creativity, and thoughtfulness during class assignments and discussions still appear in what my student is currently achieving. While, I speak of my student with some attempt of maintaining anonymity, if that student is currently reading; I would like to say I’m very proud of you. And more importantly, thank you!

As I have found to be true within the field of education, many times our students can be our best teachers when we’re willing to listen…

Until next time.

PSDW~

The Struggles of Teaching

29 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in Educational Trenches, Live In The Discomfort, Uncategorized

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The beauty found within teaching for me is something that has little to compare with. You see the growth, determination, creative, among other things of your students as they pursue their educational goals and dreams. These things are, at least for me, the most important aspects for why I do what I do. Seeing diamonds in the rough take shape and form all that you hope and more is so rewarding. I have had the privilege of seeing 6 years olds blossom into amazing teens, college undergraduates harness their abilities in ways that I wonder if they would have dared attempt during previous opportunities, and graduate students traverse the challenges of reclaiming their sense of direction within their educational journeys. All of this matters to me as an educator. There is nothing like it for me, even when many of my contemporaries deny our students the opportunities to flourish. The field of education requires remarkable women and men to serve as educational stewards for future generations of community members. No matter the background we have to safeguard ourselves from our own tendencies to undermine our expectations for and of the potentials of future generations. When I think of all of the students who I have taught, I find pride in the fact that, whether they realize it or not, I imparted at least a little wisdom and knowledge to them. 

The educational conundrum is one that most public educators have some level of familiarity with. Whether you were an elementary teacher, as I was, or a middle school/high school teacher, seeing your students become more of they were and are has to touch your heart. Why else would you become a teacher? 

Yet with all of this hope and promise, we find our schools and schools systems failing our kids in some form or fashion. The lack of support for our public schools, in certain areas of course, allows for others, who usually aren’t educational professionals to make decisions that are often uninformed yet have dramatic effects of the lives of young learners. Standardized tests have become the archenemies of most educators who have experienced third person test anxiety—witnessing your students get scared while taking the test. 

Crush-Hopper Presentation Video (Jan. 17, 2013)

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Blog, Identity Politics, Racialization Impacts, Uncategorized

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Hello everyone,

I am including the video of both my lecture and the subsequent Question and Answer session with Ms. Mandisa Haarhoff about her one person play, Crush-Hopper. She was truly amazing as a performer but more importantly as a person.

De Walt Crush-Hopper Lecture

Crush-Hopper Question and Answer with Ms. Mandisa Haarhoff

Enjoy,

PSDW~

Onward to the Next Chapter

13 Monday May 2013

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Hello everyone,

Today marks the start of a new and exciting semester (10 weeks). As I have taught over the years, I am reminded of all that makes teaching and learning so important to me. I see it in the responses that I get when I post here on the blog as well as through other social media sites https://www.facebook.com/pages/Patrick-S-De-Walt-MBA-PhD. As I became more aware of the ways in which my beliefs and passion for teaching was shared by others, I found that I was more concerned about everything that I was saying. I don’t take this privilege and honor lightly by any means. I thank each and everyone of you who have taken the time to read anything that I have ever posted online….

The Life of an Educator

It is a very interesting thing to learn from other educators about how they see and experience the life of an educator. Some find the joy in all that they do, others see the responsibilities that are inherent with the position, and others are still trying to figure their way through the process. In many ways, I find that I embody all of these components and feelings each and every time I nervously step in front of my students. While my exterior presents a self assured and somewhat confident person, the interior self is always wondering if he is “doing right by his students.” I find that to be one of the hardest things to come to terms with for me as an educator, I want to always help and prepare my students for all that they will face as they continue their pursuits within the field of education.

The answers that I seek are rarely found within the time that I have my students within my class, but I naively still wish to see any indication that my students get it! As I have discussed about my interactions with Jekyll & Hyde learners in my previous posts, my desires for my students’ success intensifies. I find that I am often fighting them when in comes to my undying belief that they have amazing yet untapped potentials that they seem to not even recognize. I find myself thinking back to my own educational experiences and realizing how fortunate I was to have educators who stayed the course with me even when I didn’t seem to care. From these intense feelings, my teaching philosophy and pedagogy were ultimately born. As a result, I work insane amounts of hours thinking about my lessons and, in the past, grading tons of student assignments.

My growth as an educator has resulted from these educational experiences that consisted of trial and error, long nights of anxiety, and many intense conversations with family, friends, colleagues and mentors. My ideology and integrity are at the center of all that I do and that gives me great pride. Pride in the fact that I am now seeing the seeds that I have helped to plant begin to blossom in multiple contexts as I hope that I have done for my own teachers.

Starting Anew Today

As I write this entry, I am less than an hour away from another exciting and unpredictable semester (Summer 2013). I have so much that I want to achieve with my students and hopefully they will ultimately achieve their own goals as well. I’m teaching my normal class on diversity. I’m also entering into a new area that partially resulted from all that I have done here which has motivated me to explore–a course that merges both student engagement and social media. For now, that’s all I have to say about it but in the coming months I hope that you stay around to see those finished products. So I write to all of the learners and educators out there. Continue to explore your own realities and the beauty found within them while still challenging them for their ultimate enhancement.

My excitement and anticipation have again returned to my core preparing me for a new group of learners who have all the potential in the world to achieve greatness. I just hope to be a small part of their journey as they continue to be a huge part of my own….

Until next time.

PSDW~

Beautiful Liars and Bully Beatdowns

04 Saturday May 2013

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This weekend I am supposed to be speaking on a radio show in Dubai about the phenomenon of bullying. Of course, I’m nervous. I’m always nervous when it comes to these things. Bullying has been on my mind quite a bit this week as I prepare for my appearance. Although some may feel it is a great thing that bullying has become the fad of the moment, it actually makes me quite sad. It’s kind of like when the kid that no one likes all of a sudden becomes the popular kid of the moment. Everyone knows it won’t last and when it is over, the poor kid is left in an even worse place than before. Bullying has become a buzz word. It has infiltrated pop culture. Real Housewives are claiming that they are a victim, talk shows, commercials, plots in cartoons, etc are all focused on the topic of bullying. Unfortunately, there have been several important things that are always left for the viewer to figure out. What exactly is bullying? What would be considered bullying and what is not? Oh yea, and now that I have been told not to be a bystander, stand up, be brave, etc, etc, how exactly do I do that. This movement is under the misconception that schools, parents, school counselors, and teachers are gong to pick up the slack and fill in the blanks. Sadly, this is not happening. This campaign feels dangerously similar to the D.A.R.E campaign that research has indicated failed at accomplishing its goal of keeping kids off of drugs. Campaigns such as these will cause tons of people to rush into the field of bullying prevention bombarding our schools with here-for-the-minute interventions. Research has demonstrated that after these ‘momentary’ interventions leave, most often bullying spikes. There are many of us that have been working in the world of bullying prevention for some time. Researching it, working toward a way to prevent it, reduce it, and bring awareness. It feels as if pop culture has pushed its way into the conversation, will stomp around a bit, and leave us to pick up the pieces. For those of us that consider bullying prevention to be a life-long mission, I hope that bullying does not fall victim to the ‘fad of the moment’ syndrome by quickly rising to the peak of everyone’s attention and then quickly falling into obscurity. I fear all of this hype may leave the poor child trapped in the locker room being beat up for the umpteenth time without a word to use to describe his ordeal. I hope that saying the phrase ‘I’m being bullied’ does not become synonymous with the boy who cried wolf.

Teaching Who We Are: Seeing the Beauty in Student Engagement

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in PSDW Reflective Journal

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One thing that I have come to embrace about myself, personally as well as professionally, is my passion for learning and seeing others excited and empowered within educational contexts. I often forget that the passion that I have is unique to me as other things are unique to others.

“We Teach Who We Are.”
—Parker Palmer–

The more that I write, the more that I reveal…

This statement is how I also think about teaching. The more I teach the more that I reveal about myself and sometimes discover about my students. After teaching for as long as I have now, whether it was as a first grade teaching in Houston or as a graduate student in Colorado, I have been one that gets a reaction out of my students. Sometimes that reaction is hostilely posted on faculty teaching evaluation sites (I still have not really reviewed them), university student evaluations and/or the responses of my students after they are no longer bound to my class and its rules.

The funny thing that I have found out about this process is that I am what I like to call, “An acquired taste.” Yes, this statement, as the previous journal entry laid out, positions itself as a dualistic perspective. But the data so far confirms it. My passion is one that propels me to want my students to excel and I push them to the point of discomfort. I challenge them even when I agree with what they may have said. I am and can be relentless in this regard, as many who have taken my course(s) might say. However, I know in my heart of hearts that I do all that I do for what I hope they will see in themselves one day–a promising teacher. Most teachers that I know have at some point in time referenced this saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” I struggled with this phenomenon so much as an instructor here in Florida, as I did while I was a graduate student in Colorado. I wanted all of my student to be nourished by the educational process that I so love in its non-conventional forms. I teach who I am and I push them to learn who they are, so that they can teach from those meaningful parts of who they are when engaging their students.

Food For Thought

I had a very interesting conversation with my graduate assistant today and much was revealed to me, both directly and indirectly, regarding how “Teaching Who [I am]” was/is my greatest strength.  Yet, it is also the most challenging aspect of my role as an educator. My passion and perceived intellect can be too much for others even while I know that I have so much more to learn; because, as I have shared with my students today, “The more I learned, the more I realized how much I really didn’t know.” I teach from my mind and heart each and every time I step into a learning environment. I don’t know any other way to be an educator.  And as a result of this way of being and knowing myself, whomever acquires an understanding of me and my pedagogy developed palates that allow she/he to engage in varied perspectives on a host of topics. They attain the ability to engage an eclectic personality and mind who only wishes to better himself and the community in which he is obligated to serve–our future generations of learners.

My graduate student, after a lengthy conversation about the course and our preparation for future course objectives, reiterated a perspective on my way of teaching and it humbled me. In the midst of all the chaos of our conversation, key elements of my and my teaching philosophy were articulated–the allure in learning. This phrase is something that has stuck with me since my graduate days. It written and introduced to me by one of my graduate school professors–Dr. Daniel P. Liston. It, in essence, is one of the staples of what I begin each semester with, challenging my students to connect with their internal capacities for becoming the best teachers that they can be by confronting, engaging and/or understanding themselves in more critical ways.

Engaging the Toxic Word “Race” in a Diversity Course

An example of this occurred today as my morning sections began to discuss chapter 5 PulseClicker2of our text. I asked my students to answer our “Clicker Questions”– Clicker is an interactive assessment tool that always for me ask students questions and get instant feedback– for the day. This question was a short essay that they were to answer about, “Is ‘race’ still in important part of U.S. society, yes or no?” As an introduction to this topic, I decided to not run from this feared word like many others do not only in our classrooms but in almost every other place in our society. This question also required that they expound on why they chose either yes or no. And I enjoyed hearing those who said “yes” explain their answers but I also enjoyed those who said “no” explain theirs. If you’ve read my previous post, there appeared to be a lot of Jekylls and Hydes in attendance during this topic. But I pushed and pushed the conversation and many of them took the risks of sharing their perspectives and why. I truly loved it! Because it was them engaging the tough topic wherever they were in their understandings within my classroom. These moments mean so much to me. To hear a student who has been positioned as a Jekyll turn out to be more of a Hyde.

Students gave ranges of responses that said, in a sense, while they didn’t want to use race they recognized that it was still impacting their lives. Others offered positions that promote ideas of humanism. I found all of the examples to be of significance and usable in this learning opportunity. So I took a few chances with them, I did an up down activity that I’ve done before with other classes. I had all of my students stand up and asked a series of questions (paraphrased and may not be out of sequence of how I did it in class, FYI): 1) If you are not male, please take your seat, 2) if you are not Protestant, please take your seat (ironically, after the completion of my lesson it later dawned on me that I misspoke), 3)If you do not own property (land), please take a seat, and 4) (what I would have concluded with had I needed it to) If you are not white, please take a seat. But in this case, there was no need to ask #4 because all of my 50+ students were already seated. In having my students participate in this kinesthetic exercise, I wanted them to think about how we, over time, have forgotten the sacrifices and injustices that have resulted from the application of race within this society.

Now we credit “the founding fathers” of this nation without holding their actions accountable to not only communities of color, but also non-land/property owners and women who lived during the era. WE, through our contemporary gaze at history, forget that women and people of color only within a short period of time have (re)gained the right to vote and other important aspects of citizenship in the United States of America. And more importantly, if our students have forgotten or have not been exposed to this valuable information during their own schooling process; what makes us think that the students who they will some day teach will have such opportunities to critically engage these such historical moments that shaped and continue to shape this nation?

Through this activity, my point was to get them to think about race and, more importantly, history within context. Instead of viewing historical moments through contemporary lenses. As many educators may now know, this is becoming a greater challenge with each passing year as history is becoming harder and harder to get students to engage in many instances. So I try to use these moments to provoke students’ thinking any way that I can if it aids them in developing their critical thinking skills as well as their, what I like to call, “their teacher identities.”

I have often told my students that education is a “social experiment” and all involved are a part of this dynamic process. Much of what I do within my classes requires that I take some level or risk. Yet, as what those who have taught me proved only a few years earlier, that the risks we take both as educators and learners have immense power to help redirect and inspire others to keep learning. I am reminded of the many teachers–Mrs. Boone, Ms. Sullivan, Mrs. Terry, Ms. Carson, Mrs. Gobert, Ms. May, Ms. Defibaugh, Mr. Lavergne, Dr. Sigren, Mr. Haynes, Mr. Knowles and the list could continue–who shaped a path for me that I could never have imagined, yet am proud to now travel….

As I conclude this entry, I am drawn to a quote from Palmer (1997),

Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one’s inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together. The entanglements I experience in the classroom are often no more or less than the convolutions of my inner life. Viewed from this angle, teaching holds a mirror to the soul. If I am willing to look in that mirror, and not run from what I see, I have a chance to gain self-knowledge–and knowing myself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing my students and my subject (p. 15)

So the question becomes for any other educator and/or learner who took the time to read this, “What does your mirror show?

Until the next time…

PSDW~

Parker J. Palmer (1997): The Heart of a Teacher Identity and Integrity in Teaching, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 29:6, 14-21.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00091389709602343

The Learner as Jekyll & Hyde

29 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in PSDW Reflective Journal

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Teaching yesterday, and periodically at other times over the last 2-plus years, I have found myself in very interesting moments with my students. In those situations, I am not always sure where they are in their understanding of the course material. In terms of what I see as the beauty of learning, I find that I have a very dualistic perspective on student engagement. It is either the exchanges/displays of engagement are abundant (good) or not at all (bad)– as the saying goes “quiet as a church mouse.” As I stated in my earlier post, “I’m greedy” when it comes to my students having their own educational epiphanies.

Since I clearly know this about myself, as a person as well as an educator, I found that I have, for this entry, concretely framed this thinking in a very dualistic way by using the characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. jeykll-and-hydeAs many who are familiar with this story can clearly see, these characters represent the joys and challenges of what education can be and/or how we may see our students’ level of engagement at times. While I do not want to give off the impression that I think or feel that all of my students are “evil” or “sinister.” I do want to use this example as a way to highlight how a person who loves seeing others have these moments–where you can easily see when students are actively engaged–as the Jekyll experience as opposed to when they are noticeably not engaged or what I’m calling the Hyde experience.

The Learner as Jekyll

In teaching a course on diversity, I am always amazed at the ways in which students enter this space based on their prior knowledge, what they’ve heard about me or the course, and/or where they are in terms of their academic ability. When thinking about the positive aspects of the learning experience that occurred in my Monday classes (January 28th); students posted terms on the board that they felt were significant from the chapter on immigration. This activity allowed me to see what terms or concepts they clearly grasped through their explanations of the terms followed by their linkages of that term with those their peers also placed on the board, in a sense creating a word web. Such terms as xenophobia, Americanization, nativism, English-Only and among others were highlighted.

As I pushed students to 1) post their terms, 2) begin to articulate what it meant for them, and 3) how does it connect with the other terms on the board; I began to see what I love most about the class and teaching, students owning the material. I could see a level of trepidation on some of their faces as they were waiting for me to confirm their thoughts and/or answers, but they kept on going. They began to prove critical thinking skills as they not only linked terms together but also began to make connections between the terms and current events. In some cases, I had to facilitate the discussion more or perform a quasi-lecture, but the process still was guided by their own positioning and comprehension of the text.

While I intentionally avoid using explicit scenarios for student confidentiality purposes, I had several students from both sections of the class offer very clear and connected examples of how the text makes sense in their worlds. Others took risks in what I felt were their own pursuits of understanding the material, hopefully themselves, and/or the world around them. Student processing of the additional topics and questions that I posed, to have them think about, focused on how much we have been socialized to readily accept many things within our society without questioning them.  This dogmatic approach still permeates our lives and realities today. Dogma picAn example of this was the use of the two terms “patriotism” and “nationalism” and the way these terms are often used in a dualistic manner while generating an “Us” vs “Them” scenario. After one of my students surprised me by “doing my work for me,” when the student provided a definition of nationalism that lent itself to the way patriotism is currently used in the US a perfect segue was provided–educational epiphanies…

I had a hard time holding back my pleasure in seeing her provide me with a key talking point to redirect my students’ thinking in terms of how these terms are symbolic of two divergent ways of viewing a belief in/of a particular country/nation. They were getting it and being critical in the process. As in most cases, I, as the instructor, care more about the process that my students take than often the content that helps us to get there. I have, depended on the content, taken a 70% process and 30% content philosophy when it comes to teaching. I totally believe that if they have a process for critically thinking they inherently will master and comprehend the content presented to them.

These moments are what inspires me to love and continue teaching more than I ever thought that I would.  Often these educational epiphanies help me, as I know for other educators who are in the educational trenches, recharge when the lesson or activity engages the other side of the learner–Hyde.

The Learner as Hyde

I find this experience to be one of the most challenging aspects of the profession beyond the politics and bureaucracy that has continued to engage education, the unengaged and/or non-risk taking learner-Hyde. As I thought about using these two polarizing figures to frame my post, I really hope that no reader takes away that I am condemning any of my students because that is not the case. Instead I see it as two polarizing ways that students have often been socialized to receive learner (I will revisit this thinking later).

Non-verbal communication has been one the most interesting features of Hyde learners especially when discussing topics on diversity. Over the almost 3 years of teaching at my current university, I always find the level of trepidation and/or resistance to engaging these sometime difficult topics very fascinating. Was it any different during my graduate school experiences? Often it was very similar, the students who displayed some level of critical consciousness were the active ones and asking all the question or pushing the discussion forward. The students who did not seem to posses any critical consciousness appeared to be apathetic and placeholders for the course to make its required student count.

When talking about the tough subjects in my diversity course (e.g., race, sexism, whiteness/white privilege, heterosexism and religion) my Hyde learners’ body language betrayed them. They sink back into their seats or they provide even less eye contact than normal. Their faces develop deeper frowns and/or scowl that could be interpreted to be directed toward me or their feelings about the contact. As I remind my students of the “two-way mirror” that is the interpretation of one another within the teacher-student dynamic, they sometimes look perplexed that the teacher could also make assumptions about their students simultaneously as they make their own assumptions. I like to address this periodically as I remind them of the potential cognitive dissonance that they may feel when entering this educational space.

These instances with my Hyde learners does wear on me at times. I have to be honest about that. As an greedy educator, I always want to get the best from my students or at least to see them acknowledge themselves in the learning process. For me, giving up is not a viable option when my students seek to be future educators. There is too much at stake for me to expect anything less from my students.

Meeting in the Middle: Where Dr. Jekyll meets Mr. Hyde

The most fascinating part of having Jekyll and Hyde Learners in a diversity class for future educators is they way they engage and disengage each other. Non-verbal communication is so critical to observing these exchanges. The different displays of energy about a topic and the level of risk that is taken by these polar opposites is striking because depending on the topic one student can shift from Jekyll to Hyde and back.  Knowing this requires me to be able and willing to know when to push, be patient and/or insert some form of transitional strategy (which I’m finding humor to be a good tool).

Now that I’ve been in this position of engaging Jekyll and Hyde learners more often, I see it as exciting challenge for me as a teacher. Can I get my Hydes to be Jekylls and how do I maintain the Jekylls that I currently have no matter the topic being discussed. I have yet to be figure that out, but I just hope that I’m on the path to that finding the potion. (How can one end this discussion without including Luda?)

Until the next entry

PSDW~

The Power of Educational Epiphanies

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

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Background

Webster’s Online Dictionary defines epiphany as, “(1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure”. All of these definitions capture the beauty of teaching in today’s classrooms. These are some of the most meaningful moments for any passionate and caring teacher. As a university faculty member, I am no different.

This set of feelings about education and seeing my students have their own educational epiphanies has led me to write this latest reflection. While the cognitive development of all of us happens at different rates and times, it is such a wonderful sight to see those who you are charged with supporting their learning process have these moments of revelation. No matter the level or degree of that occurrence, I find great joy and pride in being a witness in their classroom. I am an active participant, but never the only holder of knowledge.

The Topic: Moral Reasoning

Talking with my students and/or anyone about moral reasoning in a critical way is always an interesting activity for me. I often find myself immediately analyzing their responses to the material and each other in the midst of our class discussions or my mini-lectures. Today’s classes provided me with more opportunities to engage the ways in which others see or don’t see this topic–I use Perry’s theory of moral reasoning. These four stages: 1)Dualism 2)Multiplicity 3)Relativism and 4) Commitment are staples for my course on diversity. Through these stages, I challenge my students to critically evaluate not only their environments, but their own ways of thinking.

Activity: Student Interaction and Discussion

Using Perry’s model, I provided examples using concrete images such as referencing how this thinking can be applied to how they have preferences for Coca-Cola A Coca-Cola logo on a truck at a distribution center in Alexandriaand its ocokebottlesther brands of soft drinks (I found that using this as an example allowed for more students to connect with the activity). Using this concrete way, I stumbled onto a means to concretize this concept beyond some abstract notion to a concept that they can see in themselves and others with time and practice. Moreover, it served as a place holder for them use until they were able to conceptualize their own examples–ownership (potential point of humor)!! This moment of student ownership is one of the most rewarding times to me as an educator. I view educational epiphanies as students’ first steps to educational ownership or, more importantly, them owning their paths in their educational journey.

The other beautiful thing about this process is that you see students begin to take educational risks. I often don’t provide students with affirmation of their answers to allow for them to grapple with their own thoughts independent of an immediate assessment that they may be accustomed to from the prior educational experiences. For me, this is a risk that I’m willing to take because I seek to offer students opportunities to share their thinking as opposed to silencing them before they even speak. Yet, I honestly admit that this is one of the hardest things for me to get students to buy into, based on how they’ve often been socialized to learn and demonstrate their learning. It’s almost like fighting Iron Mike Tyson in his prime (Yet I haven’t given up though).

With these experiences in mind, I go back to work preparing myself and the lesson for the next opportunity. As I told my students, “When you show me you can do it [critically think]. I get greedy and want you to do it every time.”

Until the next entry.

PSDW~

PSDW Reflective Journal

20 Sunday Jan 2013

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As an educator, who works with students who also wish to become educators, I have come to learn much from them as it relates to not only how they see the world but how I see their visions of it. Through this process, I have been challenged in ways that I would not have ever imagined. I have been made to ask myself questions such as:

  1. What do I really value in terms of education?
  2. How important is the content that I’m teaching compared to the process in which I want my students to undertake?
  3. How much of me do I really wish to share with them while providing the space for them to be who they are and need to become?
  4. Do I want them teaching the next generation of learners?
  5. Do I want them to make the same mistakes that I made when I was teaching as a public school teacher (1st grade and 3rd/4th grade)?

I find that these questions are always on my mind when I’m preparing lectures, class activities, and/or talking with them or others about them. This collection of questions are my basis for much that I do as an instructor and field experience coordinator. This collection has a vice grip on my consciousness in very interesting ways. These ways, I have decided to share in this new component of my blog.

In a similar fashion to what I ask of my students to do in the course that I teach regarding “Diversity”, I will also participate in by writing my very own reflections for whomever accesses this blog to read and make their own assessments. My reflections will be based on what occurs in my classes without providing details that easily identify anyone. Instead, I wish to take the overall thoughts that I have from those moments with my students and share them. While some may wonder what makes this different from the “Educational Trenches” section of my blog, I decided that I wanted to support that space for other educators as they and their stories were/are meant–to take center stage.

So with no further ado, my reflections on teaching and what my students teach me will start after completing my next classes which are not slated until this Wednesday in light of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Until then…

Take care,

PSDW~

Moving Beyond the Polarized Debate – Bridging Differences – Education Week

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Educational Trenches

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This contribution is by Dr. Pedro Noguera. As you read this entry courtesy of Education Week, please think about its message and the implications it has to you as a student who wishes to become a teacher, pre-service teacher, and/or veteran teacher. All of us who are in the educational trenches are seeking better solutions for enhancing the educational opportunities of future generations of learners. As you read this post, think about what side of the debate you are on. I look forward to reading your thoughts.

PSD~

Moving Beyond the Polarized Debate

Dear Deborah,

While the debate over the direction of education policy continues at national and local levels and the new administration begins to consider what, if any, new initiatives it might take to promote school reform, we know there are educators across the country who are thinking about what schools can do right now to meet the needs of the students they serve. I think it is important for us to weigh in on these matters for the sake of the educators who are on the front lines of school reform and their students.

This is clearly an area where your leadership in developing new ways of thinking about how schools might be organized and about how teaching and learning might be carried out has been so helpful to so many. The schools you have been instrumental in creating and leading—Central Park East in New York City and Mission Hill in Boston—have served as models of possibility for educators who have sought to create learning environments that are thoughtful, creative, and most importantly, humane. Education activist Sam Chaltain is using the experiences of Mission Hill to create a series of videos that will be aired nationally to encourage educators and the public in general to think about how we might educate children differently. This kind of work is essential because we can’t wait until we put the right policies in place or until our society becomes more just and equitable to figure out how to create schools that can succeed in educating all kinds of children.

Certainly, policy and politics matter. As we have seen and discussed, policy is shaping how assessment (i.e. high-stakes testing) is used, and increasingly, assessment is determining what children learn, how they learn it, and how schools and teachers are judged. Moreover, as we’ve pointed out before, the fact that education policy largely ignores the effects of poverty and inequality and the way they influence on child development and the performance of schools is yet another reminder that educators are working under major constraints.

These constraints—the political, the economic, and the social—are real and should never be discounted or minimized; otherwise, we end up sounding hopelessly naïve about possibilities for change. Yet, naming them is not good enough.

A big part of what is wrong with the current debate about reform is that it is dominated by what I think of as naïve optimists and radical pessimists. The naïve optimists are the ones promoting simplistic solutions like: “fire bad teachers,” “lengthen the school day,” “close failing schools,” or radically expand the number of charter schools without any real public accountability. What these so-called reformers have in common is that they seize upon a single idea or set of ideas to promote change and then assume that if we just follow this narrow prescription schools will improve. The record shows that they never do, especially not in the communities that suffer from the greatest economic and social challenges.

The radical pessimists largely offer critiques of policy. They remind us that the obstacles to school change on a mass scale lie in the structure of our society, in, for example, the way wealth is distributed, poverty is concentrated, and race continues to operate as a means to deny access to opportunity. They force us to acknowledge that hard-working teachers and visionary principals are insufficient if these are the only forces we rely upon to overcome the obstacles.

The problem with the radical pessimists is they typically have very little to offer in the way of advice to the hard-working teacher who seeks to use education to inspire and impart tangible skills to students. They are even less helpful to the school leaders who seek to transform struggling schools into safe and caring environments where children can be intellectually challenged and supported in their development.

This is one of the reasons why the radical pessimists are losing the reform debate and why the naïve optimists are winning. Ideas matter and if we can’t offer practical suggestions about what can be done to improve schools right now we make ourselves marginal to the debate over reform. Of course it helps to have private foundations and hedge fund managers behind you, and the so-called reformers are generally well financed, even when there is little evidence to support their change agenda. Clearly, the naïve optimists really aren’t that naïve. Some are quite clear that their goal is to dismantle teachers’ unions and privatize public education. If they win, you and I both know our entire society will be at risk.

That is why we need to weigh in on this debate. Not merely from the standpoint of making the case that new policies are needed, but also from the standpoint of practice. Let’s use some of our exchanges to assist the educators who are looking for help and guidance right now, as well as the parents and community organizers who know we can’t wait for the right policies to be enacted to create the schools our children deserve.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Pedro

Moving Beyond the Polarized Debate – Bridging Differences – Education Week.