Bell Hooks Reflection

Teachers should advocate for all students’ backgrounds and cultures to better their students’ learning. To accomplish this, teachers should be informed about their students’ home lives, be conscious of how and what they should be taught, and ultimately make their education a priority. Students from poverty in a multicultural classroom need the correct tools and teaching approaches from their teachers.

I have a personal connection with the children in these areas because I am too come from a low income, impoverished, rural area. I understand the hardships that many kids will face because of the lack of educational resources and quality teachers. I believe that many of the obstacles can be abstained if each student is able to be impacted by a teacher who is resilient and passionate as I was impacted by Ms. Gloria Brantley. As a child growing up in rural Georgia I had no aspirations in furthering my education. I did not dream of being a doctor, teacher or lawyer because I did not have the encouragement from my family or other teachers. It was not until I met my sixth grade English teacher Ms. Brantley that I started to believe that I could actually do something with myself and that I did not have settle for the life that I was accustomed to. She saw the determination

In her book Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black, bell hooks describes how she helps her students find their voice within her classroom.She discusses her use of authority to enable her students.For her, teacher authority is a necessary part of helping her students find their voices:

For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that

To progress in society, one needs knowledge to further themselves. If one does not gain a good foundation for that knowledge, society will leave them behind. There are certain obstacles that prevent others from pursuing an education such as an inability to access a place of learning, not getting good education from teachers, or just flat out quitting school to make easy money by joining a gang. In Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool,” seven delinquents quit school to engage in rebellious behavior and in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson,” a teacher takes several underprivileged children to a high-class toy shop. By using point of view, diction, and symbolism, Gwendolyn Brooks and Tone Cade Bambara show the reader why it is important to learn

Ruby Payne is respected by the educational world as she provides many ways to help those in poverty learn and rise to success. Educators attend conferences and seminars to learn about how to help those in their classroom that have conflicting behaviors to what is accepted at school. According to Payne in “Nine Powerful Practices,” she addressed nine ways to help these low-income students.

Gloria Ladson-Billings spent time observing teachers in public schools that were located in predominately low-socioeconomic school districts to figure out what makes them successful with typically low performing students. Some of the things she observed are all the teachers “shared pride in and commitment to their profession and had an underlying belief that all children could be successful” (learnnc). Furthermore, these teachers established trusting relationships with their students that allowed the students to take responsibility for their own learning. Lastly, these teachers also went beyond the classroom to show support for their students such as attending community events. These observations led Ladson-Billings to realize that in order for “teachers to use culturally relevant pedagogy successfully, they must also show respect for students, and understand the need for the students to operate in the dual worlds of their home community and the

Jimmy Santiago Baca is a prime example of the impact that can be extracted from a strong and caring passion towards an education. Baca was passionate in learning how to read when he was in prison, and he eventually achieved that goal. With his passion fueling his career, Baca would go on to become a poet, writer, and education activists for diverse classrooms. Baca is fueled by improving the conditions of those who feel like they have hit rock bottom like he once was. Several books were written from Baca’s backstory in hopes that people would learn from his mistakes and lessons learned within his lifetime. One of the subject areas that Baca has spent a good amount of his life promoting and discussing is the importance of education. Baca wrote a collection of stories that showed his experiences where people attempted to keep him down, but Baca’s drive to continue to expand and learn prevented him from staying down. This collection of stories is called “Stories from the Edge,” and Baca decided to add something extra with this book. He decided to go into a classroom with diverse students and he shared his stories from the book in greater detail. There were open discussions with the students about how his stories related to the students lives. After the student group left, Baca met with the teachers that aided with the student interaction, and they discussed the teaching methods that fuel the students motivation to learn. Jimmy Baca clearly is passionate in aiding individuals

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

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings was a great resource in thinking about how I would work toward influencing my staff, and the school community as a whole, to engage in discussions about equity. Most notably, she advises us to “acknowledge the race and culture of your students and try to weave it into your teachings” and to “foster a sense of community”. I am lucky to work in a school that was founded and lead by a woman of color for the last 6 years, so equity conversations are not as awkward as they may be in some other schools. In light of recent travesties of justice that have occurred in the US over the past year, these conversations have the potential to become more high-stakes

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.

Something that I connected with was in the Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, was the idea of multiple identities based upon their social location. I liked how the author explained what was social location and the use of the overlapping circles that are specific features of our identity (race,gender,class) and a persons social location is where all those circles meet. I connect this to the classroom by thinking about how each student comes from a different life, experiences, culture, and backgrounds and as a teacher you need to realize and accept each student for who they are and do not try to change them or make them into someone they are not. Each student brings their own set of tools and knowledge to the classroom that enrich your

It’s our job also to be the resources that our students need. Opening up to our students will help them with the unjust education system, social, and inequality there is in this world, it’s a life skills every student's need. As a teacher I want to be able to help students who are struggling at home, communities, and in school of course. I want my students to beat the achievement gap that is towards them and pulling them down to succeed. Most parents don’t have a choice but to work two more jobs just to pay bills and put food on the table, it’s not their fault they aren’t part of their kids education road. Communities that these kids live in have low or lack the resources these kids need to succeed in their life or do well in school. That’s why I’m pursuing this road of not to just be any kind of teacher but to also be a parent to these kids that needs just love and support in their life. I’m looking forward to my journey to make a differences in my students

I am attending Concord College to further my education. After graduating with an Elementary Education Degree, I would like to teach in an elementary school in Southern West Virginia. Preferably, I would like to teach in a kindergarten environment. While teaching I plan to further my career with a Master’s degree. I would like to be able to reach those children that aren’t as fortunate as others. As a teacher I will not only teach the children, but they in turn, will teach me. Education is one of the most important aspects to the success of the country. It is important for everyone to feel a part of that success; therefore, I feel strongly about teaching students to succeed.

Teaching children of poverty can be very challenging. These children are more likely than their peers to experience poor nutrition, parents with low educational attainment and underemployment, broken families, child abuse and neglect, drug abuse, teen-age pregnancies and high rates of dropping out (Holt & Garcia, 2016). It has been my experience that these students are a little rough around the edges which may cause an educator the inability to see beyond the exterior of the child thus treating them more harshly than their peers. Being employed in a Title 1 school, I have had the pleasure of working with students and families whose major source of income is welfare. They often came from a single-parent household and arrived at school improperly dressed and usually hungry. I found that meeting the child’s basic needs helped them focus on school and took some of the stress off of their parents as they knew their child was in a safe, caring place. One thing that was vital in our classroom was firmness and consistency. Unfortunately, many teachers and schools do not possess the knowledge and experience required for success in these more challenging schools. Impoverished students often do not care about their education nor did their parents seem to care how their children perform in school (Holt & Garcia, 2016). I feel this can be attributed to distraction from just trying to survive. In order to have greater success in the classroom of impoverished students, teachers need to