PUSH-ing Our Practices

Long before PUSH by Sapphire became the award winning film, Precious, it made my list of favorite and most influential reads as an educator. (So much so, that to this day, I have yet to see the movie).  At the start of each school year, and even sometimes during, I find myself pulling the book back off the shelf to reread, either in its entirety or just in excerpts. With each year of growth, I am drawn and connect to different aspects of the story.  Despite its fiction, PUSH drew upon Sapphire's own experience as a remedial reading teacher in Harlem, and the students she met, whom she described as being "locked-out."  I believe, that the relationship in which Sapphire depicts between Ms. Rain and Precious (and her students in general) can act as a springboard to further a teacher's insight and reflection of his or her own teaching practices and relationships with students.  

Recently I reread an excerpt which Precious depicts her first day in Ms. Rain’s class:

Mz. Rain look pretty bent out of shape then melt, say, "We got more new people than old people today, so let's just go back to day one and git to know each other and figure out what we gonna do here together." I look at her weird. Am' she spozed to know what we gonna do. How we gonna figure anything out. Weze ignerent. We here to learn, leas' I am. God I hope this don't be another ... another ... I don't know—another like before, yeah another like the years before. 

"Let's try a circle," teacher say. Damn I just did sit myself down in front row and now we getting in a circle.

"We don't need all those chairs," teacher say waving at Jo Ann who dragging chairs from second row. "Just pull out five or six, however many of us it is, and put 'em in a little circle and then we'll put 'em back in rows after we finish introducing ourselves." She sit herself in one of he chairs and we all do the same (I mean she the teacher 'n all).

"OK," she say, "let's get to know each other a little bit uummm, let's see, how about your name, where you were born, your favorite color, and something you do good and why you're here." (pp. 41-42)

Throughout the book, Sapphire’s portrayal of Ms. Rain is hopeful, optimistic, encouraged, but also grounded.  From the excerpt above we can learn, essential to the strength and success of Ms. Rain’s class and education, is the importance of building a community with established communal goals.  Ms. Rain’s decision to start from "day one" suggests the significance of recognizing the individuality and uniqueness each class poses. Despite the commonalities, each group of students possesses its own strengths, challenges, needs and desires. Each new individual adds a new dimension to a group, altering the current dynamic, and thus must be valued and considered.  As educators, we cannot assume the education of all students who come from certain socio economic class or cultural backgrounds is the same. Furthermore, as presented in this excerpt it is important for not just the educator alone to be aware of the commonalities and differences that exist, but for all members of the community to be mindful of them. 

In my experience, many teachers understand the importance of "getting to know" their students.  It is commonly in the form of a short personal questionnaire or essay assigned during the beginning weeks of a school year or course.  Usually though, the teacher is the only member of the community who then is exposed to the results. Although, the teacher may now have a better understanding of his or her students, the result of the assignment does not help in building a greater sense of community in the class. Sapphire, through Ms. Rain, teaches us to PUSH our "getting to know you" activities further as a tool to build stronger more cohesive and supportive communities. 

The above excerpt also provides us as educators, another, subtle but invaluable and transformative lesson, through the simplicity of Ms. Rain's physical setup and placement within the classroom.  Her request for the students to arrange the chairs in a circle, in which Ms. Rain also sits within, establishes a communal classroom tone; one where students maintain an equal voice and importance, in the development and collaboration of their individual and collective learning process.  Educators (myself included) talk a good game, but sometimes fault on walking the walk.  Often times, unintentionally, our actions do not always match up with what we preach. And at the risk of being cliche, our actions speak louder than our words. Everything we do as educators sends a particular message to our students, whether it is intended or not. Thus, we must PUSH ourselves to be vigilant in constantly reflecting on our teacher moves, evaluating whether our actions and words are projecting the same message.  Our students will forget our words, but will always remember our actions.  

Cast down your bucket

I have officially finished my first semester of grad school and I couldn't be happier with my decision to temporarily leave the classroom. For me, attending grad school was not an exit strategy to leave the classroom; rather an excuse to recharge, find a sustainable work-life balance, and, possibly most importantly, redefine and discover myself outside of my students in order to be a better educator in return.  This year, has not been without its own challenges, but has thus far lived up to the expectations: a rejuvenating, affirming, proliferating, and humbling experience.  More than ever, returning and remaining a classroom teacher is the ultimate professional goal. (Apologies to all those who have bet on me moving "up" into an administer role.)  

This semester, has forced me to check my ego at the door, exposing the gaps in my understanding of my students and reenforcing that as an educator, especially as a white female within a community outside my own, my learning and growth will never be over.  One of the main lessons I have gained has been the importance for educators to honestly be aware of who their students are.  It sounds simplistic and obvious; a teacher’s job description is to help facilitate learning of their students, so clearly they should know whom it is they are helping.  However, from my own experience, we tend to group our students together and make decisions based on the generalizations (often clouded by our own egos and perceptions) verses truly gaining a better awareness of who are students are and their needs both as students and individuals. 

As an example, when I moved from Chicago, a predominantly African American community, to NYC, a predominantly Latino community, I naively thought I would have little trouble adjusting.  I remember thinking I could use the same lessons, classroom structures and management styles which I employed in Chicago in NYC solely on basis that both schools were servicing, students who were from lower socio-economic minority communities.  How very wrong I was.  Despite the commonalities, my students in NYC had their own unique identities, strengths, and challenges defined by their individual experiences and histories.

Many of the readings and conversations I engaged within this semester highlighted the importance of continuing to broaden my understanding and perception of my students as members of a learning community as well a larger society.  I was encouraged to reflect on relationships with students of years past deconstructing our interactions based on who they were vs. who they appeared and I perceived them to be. In doing so, I have also begun to discover and uncover more about my own identity and insecurities as they relate to the realities of my students, despite the discomfort. 

In the book Radical Equations, Bob Moses, draws inspirations from Ella Baker, who in facilitating the organization of SNCC, taught organizers to “cast down your bucket where you are." Ella Baker urged organizers to become part of the community, learn from it, and become aware of its strengths, resources, concerns, and ways of doing business.  Bob Moses further explains, that the organizer does not have the complete answer in advance. Instead, the organizer wants to construct solutions with the community, understanding that the communities everyday concerns can be transformed into broader questions of general importance.  Most importantly the form of these questions and the actions that follow are not always known in advance.  The organizer helps the community members air their opinions, question one another, and then build consensus.  He goes on to note that this process is a long journey, one with ups and downs and push and pulls - equating the process to a young child who is learning how to walk.  This understanding of an organizer, encompasses my current journey as an educator.  

Since schools never exist outside of the communities in which they service, nor the teachers they employ, it seems natural to view the development of educators, schools and pedagogies similar to that of small or large community movements.  No matter the community, an educator that separates themselves from the rest of the community, blinded by their own ideal visions and research, risks neglecting to honestly cast down their bucket to see where they are in order to thus move forward.  Sometimes I wish there was a do-over button; go back, especially to those first years in Chicago. Instead, as I move forward, I will strive to cast down my bucket, see my students, in hopes to move forward together, as allies.