The Need For A Diversified Education: Teaching Moments

Everyone has teaching moments.  No matter the profession, there comes a moment in our lives where we find ourselves educating, advocating, or just shedding light in situations where our particular knowledge is needed.  In these moment we assume the role of "professor", hoping to dispel ignorance and at the very least challenge our "student" to consider alternative interpretations.  These teaching moments come in a variety of settings and at times catch us off guard and may even interrupt our light-hearted good times.  No one wants to have a teaching moment while waiting for our morning coffee at Dunkin Donuts, or at the airport after missing a flight, or especially while dropping off our kid at the day care before rushing off to work, but we do, and we deal.  Today I had my teaching moment in the likeliest of places; the classroom.

I recognize that when teaching difficult and stigmatized subject matter such as feminism there are certain terms and concepts that are unfamiliar and complex for my students.  The typical knowledge base, regarding feminism, of students that operate outside the gender studies or women's studies discipline tends to be limited at best.  With this said I am continuously surprised at just how vast their limitations are, considering I deal with terminology that expands far beyond the women's studies discipline and even feminism.  While covering the articles that were assigned for this week's class I discovered that the majority of my students had no idea what the term assimilation meant or in what context it is used.  One of the major themes for this week surrounded the ideas of assimilation and tokenism as a form of oppression by the ruling class or dominant group in this country.  Now I will say that I did not expect my students to make complex connections off hand or initially understand oppression as it relates to assimilation and tokenism.  However in a college level course I did expect my students to know what assimilation meant.  What was alarming to me is that the students that did know what assimilation and tokenism meant were students of color and none of my white students had even heard of the term.  So alas, a teaching moment!

After defining the terms, I asked my students to think about why they had not been taught about assimilation or tokenism before this particular class?  I wanted them to consider why these terms that are widely used within minority communities were not used or alluded to in their white middle class neighborhoods and peer groups.  One student shouted out in a moment of clarity that "they" have to assimilate to "us"(meaning minorities assimilate to white society).  She added, "why would we be taught these terms they don't apply to our lives, they are not our reality".  With her revelation the need for a diversified education system was reaffirmed within me.  The lack of cross-difference (beyond cross-cultural) understanding solidified by a flawed education system smacked me in the face when I digested her words.  My responsibility at that moment was to fill in the holes left by the shallow, narrow, monolithic education they had received in their previous years.  Diversity in education means more than just having teachers from different backgrounds, it means having a curriculum that represents the varied experiences of people.  How do we begin to prepare our children for success when we are not invested in rounding out the quality of their education.   

WELCOME!!!

Hello all I want to take this time to welcome you to the movement.  My hopes for this blog is to find professionals that are willing to join me and my business partner in starting up programs based in under served communities that focus on educating minority youths.  We have several ideas on what services these programs will offer and how they will function.  We are looking to network and strategize and possibly connect with people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work.  We invite your thoughts and energy to this online community.  So don't be shy. Lets get started on making lasting change in America.

Time To Educate

As I think about the state of education in this country I can't help but to feel a kind of sadness for students' lack of preparedness for college and life in general.  Thinking back on my days in the public school system I do realize how lucky I was growing up.  My parents were college educated and fanatically invested in my growth and development not just as a student but as a budding intellectual.  My teachers saw in me enormous potential and went above and beyond to make sure I was evolving intellectually by continually pushing me to strive for excellence.  As a result not only did I finish in the top 3% of my high school class but also received numerous academic awards throughout my public school career.  Having these influences in my life, whether it was my parents stringent study rules and home made quizzes or my teachers extremely high expectations, impacted the confidence I had in my intellectual ability and ultimately how I navigated through a tough college curriculum.  Although I was able to excel in school and arrive at a place where now I hold multiple degrees, I still look at my relative success as a sort of tokenism considering the realities of many minorities in the inner cities of America.  Just on a small scale I can literally count on one hand how many people I grew up with  have even entered college, and the number dwindles when calculating how many of them actually finished.  If I begin to think on more of a larger scale the statistics of minority, specifically black and latino college students, are appalling.  The fact remains that statistically speaking the number of college students of color are alarmingly low.  What I feel attributes to this fact is that students of color are underperforming in school from the elementary level on up.  I am not one to site the students or even their parents for fault.  The truth remains that educating students of color particularly from impoverished communities is not high on the list of priorities.  Schools in these communities are underfunded and lack the resources to even attract highly qualified teachers.  Many of these schools employ teachers that are frankly not fit to teach these students and are riddled with preconceived notions about the worth of their students.  Hence why I feel that it is time for us (meaning well educated, concerned, professionals) to step in and pick up the slack.  Too long are we siting back, concentrated on our own existence, and many of us lining our pockets, without taking a moment to reach back and help someone.  Sometimes it is as simple as volunteering our time to a child that could use a role model.  However I am a little more invested than just giving my time.  I look myself in the mirror everyday and wonder how successful am I if all I do is contribute to my own well being.  If I do not use the talents, good fortune, money, and intellect that I have fostered, then what purpose do I have.  I guess I am just tired of seeing young children of color fall through the cracks and stifle their potential because not enough people are willing to take responsibility for their development. I'm ready to stop talking and complaining about injustice and actually start doing something to make change.