Teaching at an inner city charter school has been...something. I love what I do. I love the students that I teach and I love the people I work with. I also have a special privilege to teach students who are from the community that I come from. There are several students who come from the Parkwood neighborhood, where I grew up until middle school. Several students also live or once lived in apartments in the Madison, like the Graycroft Graybrook Apartments where I lived for at least two of my middle school years. I have so many shared experiences with my students. Some of my students are siblings or relatives went to Whites Creek with me. It's cool but it's very surreal. We have so many shared experiences. We shop or shopped at the same stores and chilled at the same parks. We laugh at similar sayings and talk about our connections to various parts of Nashville. I love that!
It doesn't seem that I was in their shoes as a 7th grader, long ago. I graduated from 8th grade in 2007. That's almost 10 years ago...So much has changed. Regardless of knowing some of my student's church members or their old teachers, there is a world that still stands between me and them. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes portarying a similar sentiment in that he has tried to teach his son all that he knows. He has done his best, along with his wife, to teacher their son, protect their son and share with their son their experiences,because as a young black boy like his father once was, there will be situations that he encounters that his dad may be able to help him with. However, the reality is, that his dad cannot protect him from everything. Yes they are both black, yes they are both men and yes they are both Americans. But Coates (the father) and Coates (the son) have, like me and my students, have several worlds between them.
How do I still remain relevant and share my experiences when their lenses are totally different than mine? Coates deal with the same paradox. He questions how he can teach his son how the world views him while trying to not shape his son's own view of the world.
No matter the similarities and experiences my students and I share... There are several worlds between them and me.
I find it interesting that you bring this book to the table. I have heard great things about it, and appreciate the parallel you have made about this book and what you are encountering with your students. You are young and youthful, but still much older than the students. You can relate to some things, but for most you are lacking. As someone on the outside looking into their lives, their struggles, even their hopes and goals, this would be an appropriate book to read as it speaks to so much of what is happening currently, particularly with black male youth.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea, thank you for your post. Even though I didn't grow in Nashville, many of my students are Arab or Hispanic immigrants like myself and I strongly identify with many of their struggles. I do feel like there is a generational gap between my students and me but I feel like the feelings that they have are universal. My teacher once told me that feelings are universal. If you speak in "I feel" statements, it allows people to identify with a time they felt similarly. Love, jealousy and adversity is something we all struggle with.
ReplyDeleteI have never read this book but I love the idea of struggling to preserve a child's innocence. I teach 8th grade and I go through this constantly. My kids are transitioning from kids to young-adults and are exposed to more and more mature content every day. I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. :(