When asked to define or name characteristics of urban schools, culture, low-income families, struggle, stress, overcrowded and under-funded, drugs and crime, safety, and defiance to learn, come to mind. Some of these associations may be naïve and even stereotypical, but they are the associations that come to my mind. There are certain stereotypes that coincide with nearly every facet of life. Lets take Irish culture for example. A notorious stereotype is that all people of Irish decent are a bunch of drunks. While this may be true in some cases, it is extremely naïve to think that the statement, all Irish are drunks to be fact. While I do not believe that all urban students do drugs, commit crimes, and have no interest in learning, I do believe that these students are subjected to it more often and do struggle to make the right decisions, whether it be a struggle towards social acceptance or following what they know is to be true to themselves. This is difficult at any age.
For me, the visual I conjure of urban schools and the educational setting looks like this: An old school building that looks similar to an old factory, which has signs of neglect of care on the outside, plopped in the middle of a busy street block with commercial stores across the street and next to it. There are no trees or grassy fields to play football or baseball, just cement fields and structures. On the inside of the school, the main corridor looks like any other school with display cases and lockers except for the metal detectors and security guards who determine whether or not you gain entrance into school today. Although these measures are an attempt at securing safety, the idea of needing that level of security is frightening and stressful in itself. The hallways, main office, and classrooms look the same as they had in 1900; nothing about the structure or persona of ‘school’ has changed. The hallways are dark, not very inviting or well kept. Some of the teachers come into their classrooms with the same drab, exhausted expression as the day before, wondering how they are going to reach the children who do not want to be bothered and when the day will end, while other teachers bring a level of enthusiasm to reach their students and get burnt out by the early afternoon. Most of the students enter their classrooms loudly and in no disposition to learn while others roam the hallways, find ways to cut school, or the few who really want an education, sit in the shadows of the disrupted classroom environment.
As you may have assumed, I have never visited a typical urban school and have concocted the worst-case scenario of it. I have attained the knowledge of what I think to know of urban schools from television, movies and simple stereotypical generalizations. I have however, visited an academy in Newark, Science Park High School that blew my mind as to the idea of what an urban school is. Science Park High School is different in nature however, taking academically high-end students on an application basis. The facility looks nothing like a traditional high school. Science Park High School’s structure inside and out is technologically state of the art, aesthetically pleasing, artful, and museum-like on the inside and uses solar technology on the outside. Its qualities are not that of a typical high school with narrow hallways and rows of lockers; instead, a huge, open and inviting space for the students to gather and disperse off to class. So, I know that my description of an urban high school is over the top and not true of all schools in urban communities. Having said that, I would like to learn more about the students’, teachers’, and facilities of urban districts and take this negative concept of an urban school and foster positive associations and change, like that of what I’ve seen at Science Park High School.
My hope is that I can instill change in each of the three important aspects of education: the students, teachers, and school. If I can reach out to one student and really make a difference in that child’s life, or bring a new perspective to a seasoned educator, or create a new program within the school to keep students interested, off the streets and engaged, then I have done my job. As an educator, you will never reach every student that you teach. A good educator will try. My idea of an urban school may subconsciously persuade me to think or act negatively towards the environment and its counterparts as a whole. This preconceived notion can seriously inhibit exemplary teaching habits. I believe that keeping an open mind, fostering a positive outlook, and remembering that very generally speaking, these students are all kids with the same basic needs bringing with them their personal experiences, identities, and talents, which make them all unique. As an educator, I feel getting to know my students, not just academically, will help me connect and employ the best learning strategies to keep them engaged. I also feel that if I show through my lessons how passionate and enthusiastic I am about the subject matter, that may spark an interest in my students within that content and may even help them to a realization of their passions or talents. Working together with other educators will help me learn about environment that I am entering from those who have already experienced it. Collaboration and consistency between educators is a must and expands the realm of learning, creativity, and opportunity into unimaginable levels. In retrospect, the educators are all their for the same reason, for the students.
My positive outlook and theories seem glamorous and easily stated. No matter how much schooling one has in the field of education, only hands on experience is going to truly give you the knowledge needed to succeed in the field. Schooling, will give future educators and me the tools and strategies needed as a starting point to soar from. Instruction is about trial and error; we learn best from failure. Each school is different, each class, each student, staff, administration, funding, educator, and the list goes on. The school administration has to support and work with the teachers towards a goal or success. I’m not talking just standardized test scores either. Education should truly be about the students; their future needs, strengths, ambitions, learning styles, successes and failures (failure as being positive) not the school’s ranking as compared to standardized test scores. I believe in creative thinking techniques, project-based learning, and choice-based methods that mesh the content areas together and give the students a greater involvement in their educational achievements. The teachers then become the mentors having an external role. I also believe that students should have an active role within the community. Teaching the ‘test’ is not going to give students the skills needed to succeed in life as the document SCANS (The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) suggests.
SCANS addresses the issues that an individual will need in not only the work place, but in life. The skills found in the five competencies of SCANS include: identifying, organizing, planning, and allocating resources; interpersonal skills; acquiring and using information; understanding complex inter-relationships; and being able to work with a variety of technologies. The prerequisites for these skills are found in a three-part foundation and they include: basic skills such as reading, writing, performing arithmetic and mathematical operations, listening and speaking; thinking skills such as thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, visualizing, reasoning and knowing how to learn; and personal qualities such as displaying responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty. These competencies and foundations are what students should be learning intertwined with the different content areas as applied to real life to solve the question the students will inevitably ask, “Why do I have to learn this stuff?” I feel that reluctance to learn stems from this question of why I need to know this and interest in the subject area. In urban schools, like any other schools, this is an overlooked detail.
As long as I have a good head on my shoulders, use rationalization, understanding, and learn from my experiences past, present, and future, I will be a competent and strong educator. My enthusiastic ways of thinking and teaching will project towards the future and give my students an understanding of themselves and the world around them by relating what they are learning to real life scenarios. I hope to overcome any of the negative associations I have towards urban schools and grow to make change in not only the students but also, the teachers, and school itself. The power is within us to give the future the hope, strength, and confidence it needs to take on the great responsibility life.
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