A Interview Meeting About John Daniels

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

Percy Lavon Julian was an African American chemist, inventor, and businessman however, he didn’t start out that way. Percy was born on April 11, 1899 in Montgomery, Alabama and was the grandson of a former slave (Britannica Biographies). He was the oldest of his six siblings and his mother was a teacher and his father took a job as a railway mail clerk (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Growing up, Percy faced racial prejudice not only in this personal life but also in his professional life. Percy attended school up to eighth grade but because he was African American there was no high school open to any black students. He traveled to Indiana and applied and got accepted to DePauw University of Greencastle, however since he was unable to attend high school he had to take high school level classes at night to be able to be at the same educational level as his classmates (Bio.com). Despite not going to high school, leaving his hometown, having to take night classes, Percy overcame all these obstacles and graduated as class valedictorian and with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

Growing up in Washington D.C. in an area with high poverty, STI and HIV rates, and low high school graduation rates, I was afforded an opportunity to attend a prestigious private school in Northern Virginia. While I was grateful to be able to receive a wonderful education in a safe environment, I always understood that many of my peers in the Black community did not have this privilege. Particularly, supportive faculty members encouraged me to pursue an accelerated math track so that I would be prepared when I pursued a STEM career. As I reached a high math level AP Calculus BC, I was one of five girls and the only black student in this course. I realized that as I pursued a career that requires high level math and science, due to educational disparities, my classroom’s racial and gender demographic will become my norm. Initially, I did not view this fact as a potential source of motivation to help bridge this gap. Instead, this observation led to loneliness, insecurity, and depression because no one else in the classroom innately related to me, not just in this math course, but for over 14 years in one school, the loneliness can become psychologically damaging. Yet, this damage was the cost of a invaluable education and the juxtaposition of emotional suffering and academic preparation allowed me to graduate top 10 in my graduating class in college.

These combined factors greatly undermine the social, economic, and political potential of minorities in America. I am developing myself professionally and through academic studies to develop comprehensive plans addressing school improvements, enforcing civil rights, and equitable access to resources and higher education for all people. Through HGSE I will expand my network of professionals that understand the achievement gaps and collaborate to not only ask the daring questions but be agents of change. I plan to become a leader whose future work is never displaced from the community I serve. After graduation my true desire lies to straddle both the hands-on forefront of the classroom and the transformative policy and administrative lens. My ideal position enables me to only to hear the voices and see the needs of the community I impact but also take the theories into practice to ensure that all students are prepared for a 21st century global society. Though my role is multifaceted; from a role model, artist, and educator, being a leader that demonstrates a commitment to equity and excellence comes

Correspondingly, nobody can inflict a massive transition like the students themselves. The student's program like minority scholar at my school place emphasis on thrusting minority students into advanced class (AP). As an African American myself I often struggle to voice my opinions on the educational matter because I feel like nobody regards my issue as serious. As a fellow peer member, my responsibility lies in uplift minority students to excellence on a land beyond their boundary. Nonetheless, the students need to believe in themselves and their goal considering the fact that not all teachers will partake in their journey for success. There are teachers who care about the student's success and those who could care less. The States and government must step up to the plate and aid the school through funding program to hire the true teachers who are willing to dedicate their time and effort promoting the success of all

Growing up in Baltimore, I was exposed to a variety of educational experiences. From walking gang infest hallways to taking advance placement classes, each school year was diverse with its own set of challenges. As I look back on educational journey, one experience stayed consistent: the lack of African American men in my classrooms. It was not until high school, that I met the only two African American male STEM educators I would have during my public school career. Seeing these men in the classroom had a profound effect on me and my peers because we idolized them, seeking them for both academic and moral guidance. For some students, these men were the only direct male influence in their lives, and for others, including myself, these men provided

Thus far the discussions of how race, culture, and socioeconomic status plays a role in education has been a very enlightened one. Up until now I really have never thought about how many things play a part in the education a child receives and how a teacher’s career is also impacted. Like many others I assume, education is something that we all receive and never think about it in great detail. For me going to school each day was just a routine and the end goal was to graduate high school and go onto college, always thinking that it was that easy for all others. Not until now have I discovered that it is not that easy and that there are many obstacles in the way of a good education.

I believe that with motivation and guidance, children of all backgrounds can harbor success in the educational world and receive the skills they need to have a successful and prosperous life. It is a teacher’s duty to encourage lifelong learning, consider individual learning styles and aptitudes, and self-reflect on how to improve. My experiences as an engineer, a person of color, a pre-service teacher, and a STEM advocate have culminated together to form my educational values and philosophy.

During my third year in college, I participated in the Civil Rights and Social Justice Pilgrimage that the ministry department made each year. While on this trip, I was exposed to the good that came off the Civil Rights Movement, but I also witnessed the horrors that so many people endured. One of the events that really troubled was school segregation. One exhibit allowed me to view what a White classroom would look like compared to an African-American classroom. There were extreme differences in these classrooms. As someone who has a passion for teaching and helping children, this deeply upset me that the color of a child’s skin effected their education. At that point, I realized that if I was to become a teacher I would make my classroom

In Alyssa’s interview I asked what the majority ethnicity of her high school teachers and students were. She explained that it was pretty common to see white female teachers, which is not a surprise, because according to the Association of Colleges for Teacher Education more than 80 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in education awarded during the 2009-2010 school year where to white students (AACTE). Alyssa’s school was not completely filled with just white teachers she notified me that her school also had an average amount of African American teachers along with Hispanic teachers. As for students she said that they were pretty diverse. Mexican, African American and whites were the majority of the school population.

To sit down and choose one salient and defining aspect of my education was like asking me to choose which one of my Godchildren I love more—nearly impossible. Thinking though some defining events in my schooling, many of the events that stuck out to me were those related to my race. This came as a huge surprise to me because I had a very non-conventional schooling experience. Due to my dad’s job I attended 5 elementary schools, 2 middle school and 1 high school in 5 different states. In each state and through every move, we lived in a fairly affluent area and I attended a school with a GreatSchools rating between 8 and 10. The schools weren’t lacking diversity by any means but they were also far from exceptionally diverse. It is for this reason that I chose to analyze how my race has affected my education, is continuing to affect my education, and will affect my impact and experience as an aspiring educator.

STEM teacher’s professional development is becoming much more important than ever for mainly three reasons. First, according to recent U.S. Bureau of labor statics, STEM jobs are growing faster than any other U.S. sector estimated increase by 17% by 2024. Giant technology companies alone need to fill more than 650,000 new jobs by 2018. Nevertheless, U.S. lags by STEM workforce. Students’ academic achievement in STEM fields still lags that of their peers

This workshop opened my eyes to the issues I might face as a teacher. Even though this was specifically talking about black boys and overcoming the prison to pipeline statistics, I can apply this to all ethnicities in my classroom. Dr. Moore brought up views about how it feels to send his child to a teacher who he does not necessarily trust. As a teacher myself, I need to ensure I am openly communicating with my students and their parents especially. Parents need to see that I am more than a “white ally.” I will not be picking and choosing what I want to support but instead, I will be standing by my students and being their advocator no matter

Education is more than just reading and learning from books or taking test that tell what type of student you are. Being a educator is a vast career, it is not just about striking students with information. Teachers should connect with students more to improve classroom environments. Despite its work relief elements and large government programs,The U.S education system should be rebuilt on providing the same type of education for all Americans. American students shouldn’t have to spend large amounts of money just to receive a higher level of education, educators must change the way students are being misunderstood by changing their relationship with the students, and American students should not have to endure hardship like racism to obtain

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum in schools is undergoing a revolution in public education. This revolution is sparked by an increase in federal funding over the last decade. Between the years of 2011 and 2015, the federal government alone invested between three and 3.7 billion dollars yearly for STEM education (Johnson, 2012) (White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2014) and new STEM educational instructional strategies (Bruce-Dacis, Gubbins, Gilson, Villanueva, & Foreman, 2014). Despite these new investments and changes, many students are neither enrolling nor excelling in STEM programming, particularly students of color (Museus, Palmer, Davis, & Maramba, 2011). Concurrently, many of the areas of greatest economic opportunity exist in STEM related fields (National Research Council, 2011). In order to overcome the opportunity gap that exists between White students and students of color, it is essential for schools and districts to research and implement best practices related to STEM in classrooms. The practices must not only be based in strong pedagogy and professional awareness, but also include culturally responsive practices both within the classroom and the building (Johnson, Peters-Burton, & Moore, 2016)and development of STEM mentors both in and out of the classroom (Ware & Stein, 2013).