Saturday, February 16, 2013

Pink Panties and the Urban Classroom

While professionals from all walks of life continue to criticize and demonize those who are working with young people in urban settings, the challenges we face as Educators continue to impact the daily rhythm of our schools and classrooms.  This country is full of adults who believe the ridiculous adage, “Those who can’t, teach.”  What that adage does not say is that teaching in the urban classroom is always MUCH MORE than the mere dissemination of information.  The task, in this setting, also requires the teacher to teach lessons that traditionally have been taught in the home.

Imagine this:  My students were reading Lorraine Hansberry’s classic drama, A Raisin in the Sun.  While I usually enjoyed teaching this text, over the past several years, it had become more and more difficult to get students to comprehend all of the themes and concepts found within the play.  As a result of their comprehension challenges, I was spending a good deal of time interrupting the reading to chastise students who chose to entertain their peers rather than wrestle with information that challenged them intellectually and personally.

On this particular morning, two young ladies walked into their English class 24 minutes into a 55 minute time period.  Their tardiness alone was a distraction but the verbal exchange that took place as they entered the room would have challenged any adult, from a trained Teacher to a Neurosurgeon.  As the first young lady walked past a female student on her way to her desk, the student who was already seated suggested, “Pull up your pants.”  When I heard the command, I looked up to be greeted by the site of bright pink panties.  A young man, who also had taken a gander yelled, “I can see your crack.”  The young lady, who did not seem to be embarrassed at all, shot back, “You can’t see my crack.  You can only see my panties.”

I am not writing a skit.  I am not writing fiction.  This exchange, in all of its glorious sadness, is but one example of where young people ARE NOT.  How in the world can any teacher be expected to teach young people about the literary classics that unite many Americans if they are constantly confronted with what is a normalization of ignorance?  Why are many good teachers being judged as a bad, less than, and an unprepared professional when so much of what teachers do depends on the quality of the student enrolled in their class?  When will parents be called to the carpet for their lack of parenting skills?  When will the lack of morals and respect cease to be tolerated by parents and other adults in the community?  When is this country going to begin to ask better questions that can lead to a shift in the current discourse about all that is wrong with those who teach in public education?  I can think of no better time than NOW!!!