Seeing the film, the Boys of Barack, cemented the concept of struggles in Quadrant 4. Seeing the boys find success away from their home environment, drives home the point of how difficult it is to be successful when you are dealing with factors such as, parent drug addiction, parent imprisonment, and struggles that a young person shouldn't be having while trying to excel as a student. Our expectations for academic success are unrealistic under these conditions. We need to find ways to improve life for these kids so that they can achieve!
The article "Closing the Gap" addresses the issues for African Americans in the classroom. They are not in quadrant 4 and do not have the same struggles from an economic standpoint; and yet, some of these kids are still not achieving. Is it the attitudes of the teachers, thinking they don't care, not caring themselves or is it the kids are truly struggling and don't want to acknowledge that. From the outside, it could appear to me all of the above. It is difficult to say I am doing all I can and still I am not understanding. It is hard for a child to be working extremely hard and feel it isn't enough. I am also able to see that a teacher has the power to help that child feel safe and help them be the best they can be. Each of us knows that teachers have this ability to make a difference. I can see, as an educator, if you have an attitude of they don't care, you might adopt that same laissez-faire response. The answer in this situation is not an easy one and one that I hope educators will continue to explore for the success of students everywhere. I think it is also important to look at each student as an individual and find out their particular situation and other aspects of what may be contributing to their failures/successes.
"Acting White" because I am white has not been a particular issue for me nor my peers; however, I have, in the past few months, become increasingly intrigued by this concept. I was especially challenged by the articles and how the accusation of "acting white" for African American youth and the detriment that can be for them. I also have begun to think more deeply on the stereotypes of "acting white" and how we have come to label each other, why we label and the negative connotations of labeling.
I also agree with your statement about teachers. They have the ability to make an incredible impact on the children they teach. Regardless, they WILL have an impact and it is either negative or positive. It is discouraging to hear some of the girls I mentor talk about their teachers and explain how they feel like their teachers don't care about their success so they don't apply themselves. They said that they feel like if the teacher doesn't care about them why would they care about their teacher's class. I think this is a good point that they make. If teachers could understand their impact and how to be culturally aware and sensitive, then the achievement gap would maybe get a little smaller.
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