Day 82: Teaching in Your Own Community

Source:
Will, M. (2016, August 18). Teacher diversity gap not easily closed, report warns. [Web log]. Teaching Now. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/p9yJT4

What is Sacred:
This article is a review of a report by the Brookings Institution on High hopes and harsh realities The real challenges to building a diverse workforce.

In a nutshell, the gap between what the students look like and what the teachers look like (racial mix/identity/culture) is not only out of sync, but even up to 2060, based on the predictions for African American and Hispanic students, the gap will continue at its current pace.

Connections to Current/Future Work:
I have been meeting with a lot of possible mentor teachers this past week, as well as having a meeting at Nanakuli High with a teacher interested in starting a teacher academy. After 23 years of teaching in my own community and ingraining myself in the life of that community, I moved to somewhere that is not my community to do this work. Funny thing is the meetings I had this week, for the most part are with mentor teachers who also are not from the community in which they work. We may look "local," but I feel like we bring the culture of our own communities with us and sometimes there is a disconnect in values and experiences.

What does this have to do with this article? I think this is a good discussion starter for my class. Maybe my intro to teaching. Why wait to have the conversation? Who knows where the conversation will lead but I'm willing to put aside my own "prejudices" to let the students voice their own thoughts.

Comments

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