These two students, Daniel and Zonnie have such a strong love and dedication to their Native American culture that their daily life in school they are not able to be themselves. They want to express themselves in ways that show their culture and others judge them, criticize them, and refuse to look past their differences to see their gifts and talents. This makes me mad to say the least. Kids can be so hateful and mean. It's so sad to see everyday in school kids being bullied because of their cultural differences.
Zonnie had a gift and desire to write poetry and to dance, and Daniel loved to write, especially the horror because of the great details, and also into music. He wrote many stories that were overlooked by his teachers that created him to become less interested in school. Zonnie's teacher also overlooked her talent and strong interests. Seeing that these teachers only saw these unique and talented individuals as mediocre or unmotivated left me with a feeling of disgust. These teachers didn't take the time to get to know them and look into their culture to truly understand who they were. As a teacher, we are obligated to care. Why else would we be teachers? When I read articles like this one, it makes me examine what my flaws are. What do I do that maybe makes my students not feel important or acknowledged. Each student deserves the same chance to prove themselves and share their uniqueness. In today's public education it is becoming harder and harder to focus on each individual and what their true gifts are because we are shoving information down their throats without taking the time to teach with improving and allowing them to grow and develop into individuals with unique differences that need to be celebrated. If I was a teacher in a community such as theirs, I would like to think that I would take the time to go to their homes and learn more about their families, because right now I could tell you that I know nothing about Native American culture. It makes me also look at the diversity in my classroom and ask myself, how much do I really know about their cultures? An honest answer is, not enough.
Abby Boughton
Comments (2)
Abby,
I agree...I don't know enough about some of my students' cultures. I had even posted a comment to someone's blog wondering about the role of males/females in the Native American culture because I have no clue. I do know some about the different cultures that are represented in our school, but not nearly enough. I would hope that I would take the time to get to know my students- if I wasn't familiar with their cultures. I think it's so sad these 2 students aren't judged by who they are instead of what they look like. Marsha Warren
Posted by Marsha Warren | June 11, 2010 8:37 PM
Posted on June 11, 2010 20:37
Abby,
I cannot agree with you more. It sounds to me like we all have changes we can make. After reading your post it got me thinking about what I can do to allow my students the chance to share things from their background and from their family. I think I might start a "share time" at the end of the day where my students will get a chance to bring something special to them from their family background to share. This way it gives me a chance to get to know them and it gives them a chance to share what they want to share about. I think that this will help us learn more about their culture.
Posted by Natalie Enns | June 11, 2010 9:45 PM
Posted on June 11, 2010 21:45