Diversity in the Classroom

Hurricane Katrina and Education

Hurricane Katrina did not directly impact my education as a child nor has it influenced my teaching. I was beginning undergraduate school and a server at Ruby Tuesday in Mississippi when the tragedy struck. I remember meeting many people from South Louisiana and Mississippi in the restaurant. Once, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I answered the phone expecting an ordinary togo order. The man on the phone said he was a Katrina survivor. He said that he was hungry and had no money or food for his family. I told the store manager and she gave the family a free meal. I couldn’t imagine how humbling it must have been for the man. A man that, only days before, had been a hard-working, successful husband and father of three children. When life-changing events happened, America came together to support the unlucky people in the hurricane’s path. It seems only logical that the ordinary, accepted policies (regarding money) in education should be blurred by such a natural disaster.

Teacher’s Cost of Living

I graduated with a teaching degree in May. The entire summer I searched for a job. I applied to many local school districts. When I did not get a call, I slowly expanded to larger and larger metropolitan areas. I applied at Nashville Metro, Memphis City, Shelby County, and even New York City Schools. I was drawn to NYC Schools because of the pay. The pay was over $55,000 per year! I was blown away at such a high salary. Then I looked for an apartment in NYC. The rent was triple what it is in West Tennessee. I did the math and I would have needed to make over 90,000 in NYC to live as comfortably there as I do in West Tennessee. I was so thrilled when I was offered a position with a local school system.

Green Schools

I student taught in a “paperless” classroom. Each student had a computer. All of the assignments were submitted electronically. The classroom had a real “cool-factor” - was even in the local newspaper. However, I think that the classroom was just that - publicity. I have recently been considering that going green is the politically correct thing to do.

Child Poverty

The students in my classroom are diverse in so many ways. Recently, one of the students in my class has been sealing things from other students. The items he stole seemed so trivial to me. It was a few mechanical pencils and a hall pass in the shape of a sports car. After being caught red-handed three times, he found himself in the principal’s office. He was given in-school suspension for three days - one day for each offense. After the meeting with the student, the principal asked to speak privately with all of his teachers. We sat in her office as she told us about his living situation. It was heartbreaking. His “house” has big holes in the walls, and he lives there with three other children and his guardians. The principal brought it to our attention that he might not have ever been given a mechanical pencil by his parents because it was a luxury. It made me think - an item that is approximately $1.00 is a luxury item to some? After that meeting, I wondered how many students were like him in my classes. That very day, I bought 100 mechanical pencils. I gave them out as positive reinforcement for performing well on a test. Each student received a mechanical pencil. The next day, that same student walked up to me with his hand clenched around something. He said, “Here, Mr. Hooper, this is for the Halloween donations.” I held out my hand and he put four pennies in my hand. It was his best contribution to the Halloween fundraiser. I believe that some students only need a chance.

Social Control

The definition of “social control,” as defined by Wikipedia (2009), is “Social control includes social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behavior, leading to conformity and compliances to the rules of a given society or social group.” I see two different types of social control in the schools – social control during the school hours and social control after school hours.

During School Hours

Teachers call it “classroom management;” however, the fact is that it is social control. The classroom is a minisociety. The classroom has social norms. These norms might not be the same as the cultural norms for adults, but the norms are there. We control our students and create a classroom environment that is “acceptable.” We uphold the norms of the classroom environment in the following ways:

• Lines: We ask our students to walk in single-file lines. We ask them to travel in that style so that we can keep the students from forming an out-of-control mob in the hallway.
• Speaking: Teachers use different methods to control student communication in the classroom. Some teachers ask students to raise their hands and ask for permission before speaking. Other teachers teach their students a hand signal. The common characteristic is that the teachers are controlling the students’ ability to communicate.
• Knowledge: Without thinking about it, teachers withhold certain information from students. This is a form of social control. When students enter my classroom, I do not say, “Hey boys and girls! We will read 50 pages in the textbook today!” I would say something like, “Good afternoon! I hope you are all ready to read an awesome story!” Do you see the difference? It has a name – social control.

After School Hours

Donald Clark (2009) describes Bloom's three domains of learning as the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. When we teach values, attitudes and beliefs, we are involved in both instruction in the affective domain AND social control. Let’s think about a scenario that plays out in 5th grade classrooms everywhere.

In the Classroom
• Sue – “Mr. Hooper, Johnny called me ugly!”
• Mr. Hooper – “Johnny, did you call Sue ugly?”
• Johnny – “Yes, Mr. Hooper.”
• Mr. Hooper – “Step outside with me, Johnny.”
• Johnny – “Yes sir.”
In the Hall - Outside the Classroom
• Mr. Hooper – “Johnny, is it appropriate classroom behavior to call people mean names?”
• Johnny – “I don’t know”
• Mr. Hooper – “It is not appropriate at all? How does it make others feel when you call them names?”
• Johnny – “It makes people feel bad when you call them names.”
• Mr. Hooper – “Yes Johnny, it does. What should your next step be?”
• Johnny – “Apologize to Sue.”
• Mr. Hooper – “Exactly.”

The dialogue above describes a teacher instructing a student in the affective domain. The student is changing the moral beliefs of the student. By changing the students’ moral values, we are changing their social behavior as adults. Without instruction in the affective domain, Johnny may exhibit inappropriate adult behavior .

References

Clark, D. (2009) Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains. Retrieved from: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

Wikipedia. (2009). Social Control. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_control