A Teacher’s Challenge
While reading the Henry study and Staples article, I found myself overwhelmed by their content, especially when considering the daunting task facing teachers today. In our schools, we have a diverse population of students with varied socioeconomic, racial, and cultural backgrounds. The students also bring different languages and experiences. Many come with such a broad range of issues, that trying to learn to read and write (not to mention other subjects) is difficult. We must not simply teach a subject, we must attempt to engage the students so that learning becomes something valuable to them. In doing so we have to be knowledgeable in content and skilled in teaching techniques, and we have to know how to “reach” our students. How do we make school relevant to their lives? How do we make reading and writing in school relate to the literacy experiences in their lives outside of school?
In her study, Henry outlines how to combine student interest with curriculum by giving students the opportunity to openly express their “voice.” She describes “voice as a student’s desire to express ideas in a clear, coherent way, because that student understands that his or her thoughts are important.” She also reports on the practice of combining reading and writing together (rather than teaching these separately) by having students respond to literature through journals. This therefore gives students a chance to use their voice. Moreover, this compares with Staples’ study, where students had “continual practice in reading, writing, speaking and listening.” She also makes an excellent point by stating that it is important to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and then provide activities that bolster their strengths, while also supporting their weak areas.
A fundamental goal of teaching should be to help students see their education not only as a way to obtain information, but as a way to use that knowledge to grow as a person. This, therefore, shows students that education is a tool for exploration and personal growth. As reading teachers, we first must teach the student with limited experience (or the young student) how to read and know how to get information from print before we can teach them how to critically think about a text and voice their perspective. As we move to further engage students, reading, writing, speaking, sharing, and responding to literature become a natural occurrence.
With students who have limited school experiences or students with barriers (either cultural, social, emotional or gender related), literature can be used to help them understand their lives and situations. As teachers, we must provide a positive, cooperative atmosphere where students feel free to express themselves with acceptance and no fear. We must expect high standards and never assume students are not intelligent because of those barriers. Some students may not be comfortable with writing and this can inhibit their ability to express their thoughts. Allowing them to share and talk about their issues can help them form clear thoughts and then express themselves in writing. And in doing so, students can learn from each other. To further enforce this notion we need to allow “noise” in the classroom by letting students work in groups. The teacher can act as the facilitator. The teacher is not the only one who can impart knowledge.
Teaching….good teaching, is, at its core, an art form. As teachers we must spin a web that interconnects to reach children. We must support and embrace students’ diversities and cultures, allow them to “come to voice,” encourage a positive sense-of-self, provide a rich experience that engages all learners, AND teach the mandated standard course of study. All of this must be done while at the same time feed them, clothe them, nurse them, parent and discipline them, and see to it they are physically fit. Teaching is an art to be mastered.
Susan Hines
Comments (5)
Susan,
You comments really hit home with me. When you listed out all the duties teachers have, it is amazing we have any energy left at all! I appreciate your coment about teaching being an Art form. I truely believe that as well. As we know student teaching and college didn't prepare us for teaching. I think it helped shape belief system about education. But you can't perfect your craft until you are in the battlefield.
it is a struggle to tap into our students outside lives. What literacy experiences do they have once they leave school? We know many of them do not have the same type as what we provide at school. So we must be creative in our attempts during the day. Your comment on helping them to see education is needed to help them grow as a person is so true. Finding that connection with students I think is the only answer to it all. But then again, that is a challenge too!
Michael Lemke
Posted by MIchael Lemke | June 13, 2010 4:48 PM
Posted on June 13, 2010 16:48
Susan,
I really liked your statement in the beginning paragraph of your critique: “We must not simply teach a subject, we must attempt to engage the students so that learning becomes something valuable to them.” Teaching is an art like you mentioned and it takes time, commitment, flexibility, and teamwork to be a good teacher. We have so many diverse roles as a teacher. I remember when I was in undergrad I had no idea how many roles I would take on when those students entered my classroom on that first day. Teaching is a challenging but a very rewarding task. If we are not allowing students to have a voice in the classroom then learning will not be valuable to them. I totally agree with your comment about allowing “noise” to occur in the classroom. I have really tried to incorporate more group work, stations, discussions, and partner work this year. I have been amazed at how much my students learn from their peers. I think as teachers we are so used to talking and giving instructions that when we let the students take some control of their learning we are a little unsure how to react. I like the word facilitator to describe what we should do. We should help guide and challenge our students but not think for them. Maybe when we do this they will value their education more.
Posted by Emily Rhoney | June 13, 2010 10:47 PM
Posted on June 13, 2010 22:47
Teaching is an art to be mastered. We have so many roles that we play in our classroom just as you have stated. We have to do all this and keep them actively engaged. It is hard at times to keep up. I teach at the polar opposite of your school. There aren't many different cultures represented at my school at all. So, I have a hard time figuring out how to expose my students to different cultures. I guess although the majority of my students are white, how can I show them different types of people? A two week multicultural unit just isn't cutting it.
Posted by Odessa Scales | June 14, 2010 8:50 PM
Posted on June 14, 2010 20:50
I agree that teaching is an art form....a delicate balance. I have found over the years that the art may change slightly in how it looks, but that the core components are the same. Kids now them. Teaching is at its best caring about the children that you teach, knowing the material that you are teaching, and being willing to admit that you don't know everything (and want to learn more). A good teacher learns as much as he/she teaches. Nothing frustrates me more than to come across someone in the profession who doesn't see that the life of a child outside school really does play a part in what they do inside school (and in turn what we need to do as the teacher). We can't always deal with the things that are going on in their lives outside of school, but that aspect of their lives is important as well.
Posted by Christy Laws | June 15, 2010 2:08 PM
Posted on June 15, 2010 14:08
I think we need to examine “limited experiences” because we are looking at it from a middle class viewpoint. Students may not have the beach experience, dining in a restaurant experience, flying in an airplane experience or sitting on mom’s lap listening to a story experience but they have experience in their world. We, as teachers, cannot discount their experiences because their experiences do not meet our standards. In my experience with low socioeconomic students and ELL students, they have the ability to think critically and voice their opinions. They may not do it in the classroom but watch them on the playground or some social group setting. It is our job to create a bridge between the classroom and their world.
Journaling is a great way because it removes the fear of being right. Teachers can ruin journaling with their red pen. Since the journal is not published, the teacher should ignore the errors and open their mind to the child’s experiences. From my former second grade students’ journals, I learned about a home invasion, domestic abuse, killing and cleaning a turkey and the danger of scorpions in Mexico. I have never had any of these experiences. Secondly, teachers should have conversations with their students about nonacademic topics. Conversations build trust within a learning community and open the door to the students’ interest and life.
Posted by Zandra Hunt | June 15, 2010 8:03 PM
Posted on June 15, 2010 20:03