The courage in teaching seems to be Gallagher's biggest emphasis here, and for once he got to the point quickly. He says that "If we are to find our way again--if students are to become avid readers again--we, as language arts teachers, must find our courage to recognize the difference between the political worlds and the authentic worlds in which we teach to swim against those current educational practices that are killing young readers, and to step up and do what is right for our students" (118). I couldn't agree with him more. We as teachers must advocate for our students and their learning needs and have to find the balance between the politics in education and the realities of the classroom.
I am going into the language arts classroom, and I often hear others in our classroom ask, "how would this be applicable to my classroom?". This statement that Gallagher makes is applicable across all contents. All educators must advocate for their students between the balance of the politics of education and the fights that come from policies that are implemented and the crucial realities that we as educators face every day. We are these students' voice and more often than not their needs are silenced through our inability to stand up and deal with this. I'm not saying that we have to be some superhero teachers, but I am saying that we must pick our battles within our classrooms and what we think is effective for the students that are in them.
As a 3rd year teacher I completely agree with you. It is important to cover the material, but it has to connect with the students, otherwise it is pointless. Hearing from other students that a lot of poetry is on the GHSGT motivates some of my students to pay attention. However, I make my poetry units connect to my students. They have to apply the poetic devices they learned by writing poems about themselves and important events in their lives. I cover the politics, but satisfy the students' interests as well.
ReplyDeleteSo true! and Jessica, you have such a way with words... you make it seem simple. Hopefully when we get into the classroom we will find that the art of incorporating student desires with political criteria is not as hard as it's been made out to be... in every content area!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with both you and Cathy. It is important to connect with students! My students often have difficulty paying attention when they cannot relate to the material. It is harder to connect sometimes than you think however - sometimes you think students will connect with you and they will not so just be flexible! :0)
ReplyDeleteYou make important points, Jessica. Teachers need to advocate for their students. I like how you are viewing it as "picking the battles." It makes me think that we need to get to what really matters.
ReplyDeleteWe DO have to advocate for our students! And you know what? Maybe we SHOULD strive to be superteachers. We are our students' voice and we are responsbile to them. If they leave our class without a sense of purpose, we have let them down.
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