I have been living, tutoring, teaching and working with families in the inner city now for ten years. I have seen many teachers come and go. I have seen teachers come in to “rescue” the poor inner city children and I see teachers who feel like they can really make a difference. And they soon discover that they can’t–at least no with that attitude. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let me start with a disclaimer. I know that in one sense my inner city experience is unique. It’s unique even than other parts of New York. But there is also a lot of commonality. We have gangs and drugs, crowded classrooms, and ineffective bureaucracies. . .everything that you think of when you think about schools in the inner city.
I also know that it’s “bad” everywhere. Everyone has to worry about violence, drugs and other vices. What makes the inner city worse is that it’s everybody that’s tangibly affected. Rather than there being that one boy in this one class whose brother is in a gang or whose mother is on drugs, it’s more that it is that one boy in that one class whose parents seem to actually have it together; at least a little.
So in this series of blogs I want to discuss some of the problems that plague inner city schools. They are not problems that plague every where–they are unique–and they need a unique set of solutions specifically geared towards the inner city if they will be solved. Will you join me and listen to my inner city story? Will you entertain my observations and consider the plight of our nation’s inner cities?
Why Do You Teach?
I know a few teachers who got into teaching because they like kids. I know some who got into teaching because they wanted to make a difference. I know a few more who got into teaching because they were really excited about what they were teaching–they were passionate about their subject content and it was just exciting to no end to teach it to the next generation. I don’t know any teachers that got into it for the money. Partly, I’m sure because we all know that there’s not millions to be had by working for the local board of education.
In any case, it is this last group of teachers. . .the ones who are just passionate about what they are teaching, who tend to stay in the inner city. It is not enough to like working with kids. There are lots of jobs where you can work with kids, make more money, and not deal with the frustrations of politics in the system.
It is not enough either, to want to make a difference. These teachers, “the rescuers”, think that they will do a few karate chops as per “Dangerous Minds”, or throw out a few candy bars and really ‘care’ the kids into making the right choices. What someone fails to mention somewhere along the way of teacher preparation is that kids slip through the cracks here. Not just one or two but lots. It shouldn’t happen but it does. It’s simply a reality. Can you imagine having built up this image of “rescuing these kids” only to discover that your first year of teaching you have 30 5th graders and only 2 or 3 can read at grade level? “The rescuers” either burn out trying or they realize that they can’t and move on.
So that leaves us with those of us teachers who are passionate about our subject areas. We will do anything to communicate our love of books, or science–whatever. But the flicker of a mind getting what we’ve taught is enough to keep us going. It is enough to know that one child is going to keep striving to learn. This passion and vision, keeps the politics, desparate situations and other trials of inner city teaching at bay. That’s where an inner city teacher can make a difference.
Why Should You Care?
The New York Public School System is the largest public school system in the United States. Future leaders, yours and mine, will likely come out of this school system. Yet, high schools (not including the 5 “special” high schools) graduate less than 30% of their kids. The national average is around 50% and that’s still pretty low. Keeping good teachers, who truly love what they’re doing is only one step to correct this problem.
In an Ideal World
In an ideal world teachers would receive “job counseling” before being allowed to come to the inner city to teach. Not every one is cut out to teach her to be honest. Just as teachers will talk about how it takes a certain personality to teacher kindergarten or high school, it definitely takes a certain personality to teach in the inner city.
Perhaps more importantly, new teachers would be offered mentors who not only have demonstrated success in the classroom but have demonstrated success in the inner city. This mentor needs to know the culture, the system, and the particular school. I really see how mentors could be instrumental in keeping good teachers here in the city.
Finally, teachers who come to teach in the inner city need cultural training. They need to learn basic skills like getting around the city, what to expect in the neighborhood and even training regarding the different cultures they will encounter.
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