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Jessica Davis 1Synthesis Paper- Faculty Rough Draft11/14/14

What does it mean to be an effective teacher in public schools? This seems like a fairly candid

question, with a potentially straightforward answer. A teacher's job is to provide the most

developmentally appropriate, engaging, and meaningful education possible. This means that it is

culturally relevant, thought provoking, and promotes critical thinking and big ideas and big curiosities.

Students should leave school with skills, dexterity, abilities and capacities in addition to academic

proficiency. But how does one approach this task? As we look deeper into the history of schooling in

America, and the critical theories that have been developed around pedagogy and race, we realize that

there is no easy answer to what it means to be a good teacher. There is no clear path- in fact, to think

there is a clear path is probably the first indication that we have gone astray. So we must approach the

problem of “effective teaching” with big existential questions concerning meaning and purpose and the

question of how and to what end?

Our task as graduate students is to begin the work of figuring out what makes up good teaching.

The purpose of this essay is to begin to name what will guide my teaching practice. This is what my

roll as a teacher is. The purpose of this essay is to interpret what the tasks are in order to fulfill these

rolls. These are what my responsibilities are- what fulfilling the rolls looks like. The essential

components. What I am learning from this program and our readings is that good teaching look many

different ways- if anything I have let go of many ideas of what a classroom should look like. What I am

settling into is the idea that it is what is happening in a classroom that really matters. This is what it

means to be a social justice educator.

It seems fitting to begin with the stance of inquiry. It is my roll as a teacher is to question. To

me, questioning means to not passively accept the status quo. This is my point of entry. In Teacher As

Stranger, Maxine Greene charges teachers to take on the roll of inquiry and apply it to the very core of


our practice, “The individual must be moved to ask questions about the universe, to engage in a

dialogue with himself about the world as it impinges on him and about the explanation others provide.

He must stand, if he dares, in 'the wind of thought,' examining doctrines and opinions and

preconceptions...particularly if he is a teacher concerned with discovering what the known

demands.”(Greene, 1973, p. 21) As teachers we should begin our practice with this fundamental

foundation of deep questioning. We are taking on the work of making meaning for students. This is

such important work! I believe it is when we critically question that we become truly accountable to

our students, and our profession. Questioning is elemental to a teacher's work- we must question our

assumptions, our biases, our curriculum, our effectiveness, the very structures we participate in. When

we do make meaning, what does that meaning demand of us? This is the beginning of the real work of

teaching.

The stance of inquiry can be described by Piaget's cognitive model. I see the roll of questioning

as related to the state of conflict. Conflict is related to equilibrium, and disequalibrium. It is a

dialectical theory: change can occur when our ideas, our schema, meet counter-evidence that

contradicts our original way of looking at a problem. It is through this process that new schemas, new

cognitive structures can be developed. (Crain, 2011, p. 138) By approaching teaching from an

inquisitive stance, I believe we invite in the beauty of conflict and contradictions, and therefore we

invite in the potential for disequalibrium and meaningful learning. New schemas. We are no longer

saying “this is the way it is” we are saying “let's find out, let's see what comes up.” When we embody

this roll, we model it for our students. And then we can ask of ourselves, and of each other: “What does

known demand?”

My roll as a teacher is to provide equitable learning opportunities. This is the big one- I would


argue that it may be the most important roll. What does it mean to provide an equitable learning

experience? How do we know if we are doing it? What/who is our measure? We can begin addressing

this line of inquiry by applying critical theory. It is my responsibility to acknowledge that oppression

exists, and that racism is real- and that it matters in the classroom. In order to create equitable learning

opportunities, I have the responsibility to question “whiteness” (or “ableness” or “straightness”) as the

normative value against which everyone is measured.

Paramount to examining oppression is understanding the way power works in our society. This

is what Lisa Delpit calls “the culture of power.”(Delpit, 2006, p. 26) Power issues exist in classroom;

there are “codes” for participating in power, these rules are made by those in power. If you know the

“rules,” acquiring power is easier, those with power are often unwilling to believe they have it, and

those without power are often most aware of its existence. (Delpit, 2006, p. 24) Essential to creating

more equity in the classroom is knowing how and why power hierarchies exist. My job is to recognize

the “codes” and explicitly de-code for my students. As a practicum teacher, I am finding that these

codes are everywhere- and it will be a labor of love to deconstruct them.

Another necessary anti-oppression tool is Milner's conceptual framework for addressing

opportunity gaps. This framework is pragmatic and easily applied. I think it is especially useful because

it is so easy to see in the classroom. This is how it works: do not be afraid to recognize how race plays

out in the classroom, in an individual or institutional way; reject the notion of a context-neutral

classroom; look for and challenge deficit thinking- problematize deficit thinking; evaluate and

challenge dominant cultural norms. (Milner, 2010, p. 14,15) I am coming to realize how easily teachers

might slip into deficit thinking when considering a student's parents. One of my responsibilities is to

value and honor the roll of the parent and caregiver; Yosso might see this as connecting to Critical


Race Theory- do we recognize the cultural capital in all families? Can we name it? Do we invite this

capital into our classrooms, into our lives? (Yosso, n.d.) The critical frameworks of Milner, Delpit, and

Yosso alone could fill a lifetime of self-examination and critical pedagogy. These ideas set the bar. It is

our responsibility as educators to strive to reach it.

Creating equitable opportunities is one way that we invite children into the learning process.

My roll as a teacher is to invite children into the learning process. This is an intuitive roll to me, it feels

natural. It is both centering curriculum around students, and an anti-hegemonic approach to teaching. I

want children to have power and agency in their learning. I want them to know why they are learning

something- and I want them to question it. It is my responsibility to provide appropriate information

and transparency. McLaren identifies hegemony as a “struggle in which the powerful win the consent

of those who are oppressed, with the oppressed unknowingly participating in their own oppression.”

(McLaren, 2007, p. 203) This is serious language, but I am willing to take it on. Hegemony speaks to

power relationships, and one way to invite children into the learning process is to share power, de-code,

and provide context. De-coding means teaching the codes necessary to participate in the mainstream,

while valuing and acknowledging the expertness of the student. (Delpit, 2006, p. 45) Decoding invites

the student to share power.

Learning theory is also connected to the responsibility of inclusiveness. In order for students to

participate in the learning process, ZPD, scaffolding, and the contexts of transfer should be considered.

These are parts of sociocultural learning theories- and what I like about them is that they speak to

empowering the learner. Scaffolding connects the learner through adult guidance, or a more competent

peer, to a higher level of learning and potential development. (Miller, 2011, p. 174,175) This is not just

about good teaching, it is about providing access to knowledge. Equally, the ways in which classrooms


decontextualize knowledge, breaking down skills into meaningless subsets is also problematic, and

makes knowledge inaccessible. (Delpit, 2006, p. 45) It is the responsibility of teachers to contextualize

knowledge in a way that allows students to flexibly access their skills in a variety of contexts. This

facilitates the transfer of knowledge for different purposes, and at different levels of abstraction.

(National Research Council (U.S.), 2000, p. 62,63) Ultimately, it is about giving the learner power.

Inclusiveness also means inviting the whole student into the classroom- therefore, my roll as a

teacher is to coordinate education with community. This means building solid relationships. Teachers

must know their students- and have a solid, engaging, trusting relationship with them. Teachers must

know the parents and caregivers. As a teacher, I have a responsibility to listen to parents, to value their

insights and concerns, to invite a sense of commraderie and mutual support. My responsibility as a

teacher is to see the family in the context of the community, and have a positive relationship with that

community. We have learned that building relationships is a step towards creating equity. I think

building community is building equity too. This is small gentle work; and it is big, wide-open, risk-

taking work.

I would like to take up parties as an issue of relationship building. I think it is my responsibility

as a teacher to challenge the notion of a party-free school. I believe that it is through meaningful

gatherings, fun parties and maybe even mini-festivals that community is nourished. I know that one

argument is that we can't have “holidays” at school (and I have no problem with that) but does this

mean no celebrations? I worry that this may be an extension of a deficit mindset.

Another contradiction I see in the “party-less school” is how it relates to student/family support.

As social justice educators, we should be open to a full spectrum of what “support” might look like- for

families, for kids, for the community. Not all support needs to be official! I would argue that multiple


opportunities for coming together is a transformative model...a model that emphasizes celebratory

community relationship building as a means to transform our schools and how we care for each other.

My roll as a teacher is to teach above and beyond the standards. Standards can relate to learning

objectives without being our motivation, or co-opting our work as teachers. It is my responsibility as a

teacher to resist teaching to the standards. We, as teachers, can meet “the standards” through deep and

meaningful work- but we do not have to “teach to the standards.” I argue that the standards should

serve what we teach! Ideally, altruistically, standards are designed to serve the needs of the student. In

the truest sense, standards should benefit the students- as tools- a means to arrive- not the objective

itself.

I believe students should develop critical thinking skills, a wonder in learning, self-

esteem, and examine one’s own thoughts and actions. Therefore my roll is to assist in dispositional

thinking and acquisition. We must model dispositional work as teachers. This requires the teachers to

do the same levels of exploration, analyzing and self knowledge to genuinely model dispositional

qualities. I appreciate the difference between a teacher having the personal goal of creating

perseverance (as an example of a disposition) in the classroom, and a teacher actually revealing,

deconstructing, and sharing ownership of that goal with the students. The later seems much more

transparent and democratic. According to Costa and Kallick, “dispositions must be brought to the

students' conscious level through defining behaviors associated with them.” (Costa, 2014, p. 33) This

seems like a great interdependent practice. To acquire thinking skills to facilitate in the flexibility,

resilience and open-mindedness to live in a world with uncertainty and change, and do do that in

community with each other.


My roll as a teacher is to embody the change that is desired.

(aka -“be the problem you want to see in the world”)

-“To die satiated” - Delpit- purpose of education

-Invite in hooks, eros, emotion

-A word on being your authentic self- Greene

(Q: what if said “best practice” goes against culture or limits of school?)

Conclusion


bibliography


Costa, A. L. (2014). Dispositions: reframing teaching and learning. Thousand Oaks, California:

Corwin, a Sage Company.

Crain, W. C. (2011). Theories of development: concepts and applications (6th ed.). Boston, MA:

Prentice Hall.

Delpit, L. D. (2006). Other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New

Press : Distributed by W.W. Norton.

Greene, M. (1973). Teacher as stranger; educational philosophy for the modern age. Belmont, Calif:

Wadsworth Pub. Co.

McLaren, P. (2007). Life in schools: an introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of

education (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Miller, P. H. (2011). Theories of developmental psychology (5th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Milner, H. R. (2010). Start where you are but don’t stay there: understanding diversity, opportunity

gaps, and teaching in today’s classrooms. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

National Research Council (U.S.), & National Research Council (U.S.). (2000). How people learn:

brain, mind, experience, and school. (J. Bransford, Ed.) (Expanded ed.). Washington, D.C:

National Academy Press.

Yosso, T. J. (n.d.). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural

wealth.

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