Kris G:
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed my Fieldwork and Ethnography assignments. It was exhilarating to be with the kids and engage with them. Getting to know the students and understanding their wants and needs seemed natural to me. Perhaps it’s because I am a Mom, and I have had kids their own ages, that I have an innate desire to help influence them towards their personal best. Or maybe it’s because I have a very similar back-round and have experienced so much of what they are walking through that I feel an affinity or bond with them as well. I realized early on, that I also participated in and Upward Bound program for Science and Math when I was a rising senior in high school. My program was located on a HBC (Historically Black College) campus in Atlanta for 6 weeks as well. So I understand about the magnitude of this summer enrichment program and how it gives you a competitive advantage on college applications.
We discussed the “culture of power” (Delpit 1995) and “white privilege” (McIntosh 1990) and other sociocultural constructs (prejudice, meritocracy, race, and poverty) that play an invisible role in shaping the macro dynamics in education as a whole and the micro impacts as these constructs become visible in our classrooms. It is pretty surreal to wonder if it is really possible to make a difference in our practice, as we engage with students who face a society that is so inherently biased against them. These social justice issues are weighty and we will continue to navigate them on political, cultural, community and the education landscape. On a macro level, these discussions will continue and progress will come at the pace of change. But in my classroom practice, I hope to create a learning environment that is engaging, purposeful, safe and neutral of the negative societal constructs that are divisive and counterproductive. A place where traditional and progressive pedagogy work together (whether it’s Grit or Lemov’s Break it down). A place where my students feel challenged, cared for and where they know that everyone’s intellectual ability can grow, intelligence is fluid and that your intellect can be developed when you focus on learning, hard work, and you are resilient in the face of adversity and setbacks (Dweck, 2010). I am not sure if this truly levels the playing field to neutralize the effects of some of the privilege they miss, but it’s where I will start.
Being a Black female gives me an “invisible” advantage in the urban classroom environment. I am not challenged with the difficulties and borders that exists because of my race. On the contrary, I am extended respect and a bit of “street credibility” because I look just like many of the students and I understand intimately many of the obstacles they are navigating. I hope to leverage this advantage to hasten the pace of getting to know my students and to focus in on what is necessary to help each them find academic and personal success.
We discussed the “culture of power” (Delpit 1995) and “white privilege” (McIntosh 1990) and other sociocultural constructs (prejudice, meritocracy, race, and poverty) that play an invisible role in shaping the macro dynamics in education as a whole and the micro impacts as these constructs become visible in our classrooms. It is pretty surreal to wonder if it is really possible to make a difference in our practice, as we engage with students who face a society that is so inherently biased against them. These social justice issues are weighty and we will continue to navigate them on political, cultural, community and the education landscape. On a macro level, these discussions will continue and progress will come at the pace of change. But in my classroom practice, I hope to create a learning environment that is engaging, purposeful, safe and neutral of the negative societal constructs that are divisive and counterproductive. A place where traditional and progressive pedagogy work together (whether it’s Grit or Lemov’s Break it down). A place where my students feel challenged, cared for and where they know that everyone’s intellectual ability can grow, intelligence is fluid and that your intellect can be developed when you focus on learning, hard work, and you are resilient in the face of adversity and setbacks (Dweck, 2010). I am not sure if this truly levels the playing field to neutralize the effects of some of the privilege they miss, but it’s where I will start.
Being a Black female gives me an “invisible” advantage in the urban classroom environment. I am not challenged with the difficulties and borders that exists because of my race. On the contrary, I am extended respect and a bit of “street credibility” because I look just like many of the students and I understand intimately many of the obstacles they are navigating. I hope to leverage this advantage to hasten the pace of getting to know my students and to focus in on what is necessary to help each them find academic and personal success.
aaron c:
SLA is a highly regarded, high-performing urban magnet school and a learning community in and of itself. It provides not just access but advantage (to borrow Labaree’s terms) to urban youth of diverse backgrounds from around the city. The school environment is highly collaborative, parents are highly encouraged to be involved, and all parties consider themselves stakeholders in the school.
Exploring the neighborhood, I quickly realized that, although SLA is located in the Logan Square neighborhood, it is, for the most part, a self-contained community of learners, in many ways separate from the neighborhood. Close to 500 students (and close to 30 educators and staff members) commute to the school from virtually every neighborhood in the city (including Logan Square); meanwhile, many high schoolers in the neighborhood attend other schools, both public and private. That being said, there is a strong connection with the nearby Franklin Institute, which helped found the school, and other resources in the area. In that way, the SLA community expands beyond the walls of the school and into Logan Square.
I see SLA as a potentially exemplary force for reshaping a democratic society. It enrolls students from diverse racial, ethnic, and SES backgrounds. It creates a desegregated space where students are encouraged to connect across racial, ethnic, and class difference. (They even collaborate on large scale social justice projects.) In their essay, Sizer & Wood point out that charter schools were originally intended to be small, self-governing public schools—a democratic and equitable option, where innovation could thrive. SLA, as a public magnet school, seems to be living up to this noble ideal.
Ultimately, I can’t help but wonder what effects (positive and negative) this relatively quiet gentrifying neighborhood in Center City exerts on the school body. Similarly, I wonder how going to school in a different neighborhood impacts students. When they think about the community they most closely identify with or belong to, do they look to their neighborhoods or their school?
Collaboration is one of the school’s core values, which implies that the classroom is very much a social, discursive space. This leads me to another question: In what ways are students’ identities being redefined at SLA? It would be useful to examine these questions in light of the ways that students and teachers construct their identities both inside and outside of the classroom (as James Gee discusses in his essay “Identity as an Analytic Lens for Research in Education.”) I am excited to incorporate into my teacher research as I move forward.
In the end, in order to be a truly effective teacher, it all comes down to knowing your students and finding ways to connect with them—to turn borders into boundaries. SLA’s emphasis on social justice in education has already made strides with regard to creating an interconnected multicultural classroom space. I’m looking forward to being a part of the school community, and to getting to know the staff and faculty. Having a greater general understanding of the school is the perfect starting point.
Exploring the neighborhood, I quickly realized that, although SLA is located in the Logan Square neighborhood, it is, for the most part, a self-contained community of learners, in many ways separate from the neighborhood. Close to 500 students (and close to 30 educators and staff members) commute to the school from virtually every neighborhood in the city (including Logan Square); meanwhile, many high schoolers in the neighborhood attend other schools, both public and private. That being said, there is a strong connection with the nearby Franklin Institute, which helped found the school, and other resources in the area. In that way, the SLA community expands beyond the walls of the school and into Logan Square.
I see SLA as a potentially exemplary force for reshaping a democratic society. It enrolls students from diverse racial, ethnic, and SES backgrounds. It creates a desegregated space where students are encouraged to connect across racial, ethnic, and class difference. (They even collaborate on large scale social justice projects.) In their essay, Sizer & Wood point out that charter schools were originally intended to be small, self-governing public schools—a democratic and equitable option, where innovation could thrive. SLA, as a public magnet school, seems to be living up to this noble ideal.
Ultimately, I can’t help but wonder what effects (positive and negative) this relatively quiet gentrifying neighborhood in Center City exerts on the school body. Similarly, I wonder how going to school in a different neighborhood impacts students. When they think about the community they most closely identify with or belong to, do they look to their neighborhoods or their school?
Collaboration is one of the school’s core values, which implies that the classroom is very much a social, discursive space. This leads me to another question: In what ways are students’ identities being redefined at SLA? It would be useful to examine these questions in light of the ways that students and teachers construct their identities both inside and outside of the classroom (as James Gee discusses in his essay “Identity as an Analytic Lens for Research in Education.”) I am excited to incorporate into my teacher research as I move forward.
In the end, in order to be a truly effective teacher, it all comes down to knowing your students and finding ways to connect with them—to turn borders into boundaries. SLA’s emphasis on social justice in education has already made strides with regard to creating an interconnected multicultural classroom space. I’m looking forward to being a part of the school community, and to getting to know the staff and faculty. Having a greater general understanding of the school is the perfect starting point.
michael w:
I loved working on this ethnography on the school I have been placed in for this coming academic year; Science Leadership Academy (SLA). I think there are three things that I am very excited about for my year at SLA. The first is the inquiry based learning approach they have to education. I had the opportunity to listen to the Principal of SLA, Chris Lehmann, give a TEDx talk in Philadelphia that was accessible through Youtube. He emphasized the fact that high school and education can be exciting and not have the stigma it currently has. I am excited to be in a school that promotes creativity and critical thinking, and successfully from what I learned through this project. I am particularly interested to see how inquiry based learning is done in a mathematics classroom. Secondly, I am excited to be in a school with less than 500 students in it. With such a small number of students there is a higher possibility to interact with more students in a deeper more impactful way. Conversing with my Classroom Mentor I was made away that we will have two senior assistants in some of our classes this year. I am especially excited about that because in a given class we may have 32 students and with 4 people available to assist we can work with groups of 8 students at one time. Thirdly, I am excited to be in a school with a diverse population. Being multiracial myself, I seek out diversity and personal relationships and I am excited to get to know my own students and other students in SLA as well. One concern I have going into this school, or any school for that matter, is not being aware enough or careful enough. As an educator I feel like there is a higher standard of conduct that must be upheld, with good reason. I am just afraid that I will not meet that standard at times and potentially harm my students or coworkers in ways I never intended. I think that this will be an awesome year to learn, grow, and teach and I cannot wait to get started!