University Student Korean-American First Generation American Female LGBTQ Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: Often, I don't have that much in common with my teachers, unfortunately. I respect all of the teachers who have been in my life, and I've been lucky enough to have been in the care of several who were exceptional, but I'd be hard-pressed to name a teacher I could be grouped with in a game of Guess Who without tipping the whole board. What I share with my teachers is typically what I share with my city: we're WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic). In short, traits that don't really do much, on their own, to expand students' horizons or kindle a real desire to sacrifice the wealth we take for granted to spark change in the world that levels the playing field. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, when--as exceptions to the rule--I find that I share identities with my teacher, I am often also blessed with a mentor who can help me navigate my identities as they did at my age. Teachers have such a unique, pivotal role in the lives of so many students. Students turn to their teachers for help on so many things, especially as they're stumbling through elementary, middle, and high school and learning to suppress their "unfavorable" identities and express others. This is the period of life where kids come back home upset that their packed lunches are "too Asian", that their way of dressing or acting is somehow "gay" and therefore offensive, or that their economic standing is something to be ashamed of. Since they seek to discipline us and guide us, our teachers are in effect 6-hour+ daily stand-ins for our parents. And like parents, love them or hate them, they shape our relationships with ourselves immensely. For better or for worse, they hold this sway when we are at our most vulnerable and most desperate to fit in. Unfortunately, with a primarily cishet female, white, able-bodied, and college-educated pool of teachers, this influence may be for the worse. This group is the group to shape students ideas of how they or their parents should look and act in an America where white, straight, rich and able-bodied people are still upheld as the golden standard. This group is so often unhelpful when the really tough questions come up--the ones that make or break a student's desire to succeed in school, the ones that at their core ask "do I belong here?" or "is the way I'm feeling valid?" This group is ill-equipped to handle transitioning students, first-gen students, students of color, and all others who don't fit neatly into the Guess Who board. This group needs to change, so that students can find mentors to connect with and rely on. Bae is getting ready to start her second year at Stanford University where she is the Co-Chair of the student group Queer & Asian. See her beautiful and meticulous notes from class on Instagram at @its_the_bae_area. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong
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High School Student Chinese Immigrant Female Will be the first in her family to go to college Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I really couldn't think of anything off of the top of my head. This question took way longer than it should have. My math tutor is a huge nerd, we talk about Game of Thrones all the time. Then somehow I recommended a TV show on Netflix to my biology teacher, so I guess that's that. All my teachers are female? Does that even count? I think after I began developing a passion for education, I started relating to some teachers more because I can see their passion and how they care for students. This is a really hard question. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Most parents from my ethnic background would say it doesn't matter. As long as the students learn the appropriate materials and are well prepared for standardized tests, it doesn't matter if the teacher is approachable or not. But most students would agree it does matter. When the teacher cracks that one joke, references that one TV show or movie we like, I think we all suddenly become fond of them. We become willing to listen. I think we all learn better when we like the teacher. We grow to like the class, the the subject, then other subjects in that field. We become less scared to ask seemingly stupid questions, and we begin to learn at a much more productive pace. I remember when I first moved to the US in third grade, I could barely speak any English. There was a counselor who spoke Chinese. I suddenly felt so much better, and just a little bit less lonely. And that made learning English and becoming part of the community that much easier. BUT then again, we seem to be influenced by teachers that have no commonality with us. When I see my biology teacher ramble on and on about how amazing biology is, I get somewhat touched. And I start listening because the examples she gives us are so profound that it made a STEM class interesting. When my usually strict algebra teacher told the class we could talk to her and push the homework due dates back if we wanted to priotize AP tests instead (she literally said "don't do your math homework. This is not important. AP tests are important"), I became somewhat touched. And I started listening to her lectures because I knew she is a good teacher, and she really cares. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, similarities matter. It forms instant bonds between students and teachers. But even if we couldn't form that bond, students will evetually see a good teacher's passion, and grow to respect them, to open up to them. I don't know though, respect is respect, but trust is another thing. It definitly helps if the person we're supposed to open up to has had similar experiences. We'll know they understand that way. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Middle School Student Indian Female Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I like having things in common with my teachers. When I was India I had three things in common with all my teachers in each grade. All my teachers were Indian just like me, they spoke the same language as me, and they were all female like me. There are very few male teachers in India, most of then are female. Also one more thing I had in common with my teachers in India was that they were the same race as me. In India I had a lot of things in common with all of my teachers. But in America now I have very few things in common with my teachers. At my elementary school, I had one thing common with my art teacher. We both liked art. I was always excited when we had art. My teacher appreciated me, and we could talk about art. I was sad when I didn't have her as my teacher the next year. I always enjoyed art. What I had learned was that the more you have in common with your teachers the more you pay attention in class with them. You do not goof up, and get in trouble. You have fun being in their class. That is what happened to me. I had fun being in my art teacher’s class. This year in middle school, I had one thing common with my French teacher. We both liked French. Since I had this thing in common with her, I really like French class. I pay more attention, which helps learn French better. The more I understood French better, the better my French grade was. What I learned was that the more you like your teacher, the more you would try to get a good grade in that class. If you do not have anything in common with your teachers then you will probably not like your teachers. In addition, this year I had one more thing in common with my International Studies, we liked human geography. Every time I had International Studies, I would be excited to learn. I also understood better. When I learned that in 2nd semester I was not going to have her, I was sad. Now I have a new International Studies teacher. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, it definitely matters that students and teachers have things in common. When teachers and students have things in common, they interact more with each. They get to know each other. Students pay more attention, they like their teacher. If you have nothing in common with your teacher, then you probably will not like the class. You also will not be able to focus in class much. There are kids who do not have anything in common with some of their teachers or maybe all of them, and it is hard for them to focus in school. Some students try to find things they have in common with their teachers, and they find it. Then they can start to know their teachers better. Students and teachers can talk about the same thing if they have things in common. The thing is that students can get in trouble if they do not have things in common. What happens is that they will not like their teacher because they do not have anything in common with them. They will goof in class, and not pay attention. This is why it does matter for students and teachers to have things in common. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Middle School Student Japanese Female Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: “You follow MY rules in MY room.” First, it is not your room. It is the school's room. Second, why even have rules? Third, why should I even listen to you? Fourth, I really hate that voice of yours. These are my first four thought that come to mind when the teacher says the rules. I am Asian. I am female. I am tall. I have glasses. I do not follow the rules. In fact, I hate the rules. I never have had much in common with my teachers. I have had a few things in common, like gender, or family, or what I favor. However, one thing I had never had in common with my teachers was having an all-Asian teacher. In addition, I have never met or had a teacher with as much opposition towards rules as much as me. I remember that back in 5th grade, I had a Norwegian female teacher, who was very strict and expected a lot out of us. She was the bane of my fifth grade school life. And since our class was so boisterous, she was a pain. For all of us. I think that the biggest reason that I disliked her was because she had a chart of rules. And I always broke them. In addition, for some reason the teacher disliked me so I was punished. If some of the teacher’s pets broke the rules, they were not punished. For an example, I broke the rule, “No talking in class while the teacher was talking.” I was punished by staying in for my recess. The other kid who was talking to me should have been punished too. But she wasn't, since she was favored. My teacher obviously did not like me. I was fine with her not liking me, because I did not like her. From having this teacher, I learned that rules are rules and if I do not follow them, the teacher will dislike me and I will have a terrible year. I want to be who I truly am so I won’t change how I act in front of teachers or other people. Because I do not want to. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, I think that having things in common with your teacher is very important. When we have things in common with our teachers, we can solve problems easier and we can have fewer problems. Though it is important to have things in common, we cannot always have things in common, and if we do, we must cherish them. For me, it is very important to have someone who I can rely on and relate to. Whether that is a friend, or a family member, or a teacher, it is very important to have someone to relate to. I honestly do not like counselors. It seems like they understand you. However, humans cannot understand everyone’s feelings. We are humans. So we tend to take sides. It's human nature and we cannot deny it. I really felt this when I was involved in a problem with a fellow classmate in 5th grade. She had misunderstood what I said and was hurt and had started crying. I tried to explain but the teacher and the counselor took sides with the crying one. So I couldn’t really do anything. I am not sure if being Asian effects any of this, but one thing for sure is that in my family, I am taught not to keep all of my emotions in and stress over them. Therefore, if it is appropriate, I will say what is on my mind. However, teachers on the other hand want "school-appropriate conversations" and they want people to feel comfortable. Not saying that I disagree, but we should be able to express our feeling and not be punished. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong High School Student Filipino Middle Child Male Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I have never been a talker. I usually just listen to what my teachers have to say and then do my work. But every now and then my teachers and I have a small chit chat in the middle of class. Just yesterday me and my math teacher had a conversation about how weird and funny our pets are. Since I'm not a big talker I mostly learn about my teachers through my peers. They tell me about another teacher being a 'straight up savage' and we laugh and joke about it. I've also learned that some of the teachers like and play the same video games me and my friends like to play! I feel like I really started to connect with my teachers in high school. In elementary school and middle school I felt I never got to really know my teachers--not because they were mostly White Women and I am a Filipino Male--but because I didn't get to know them as a person; a human being. I feel as if I lost that opportunity to get to know them and for them to get to know me. But it's hard to get to know a person when all the talk is focused on what's going in our textbooks or about a test that's going to be taken the next week or at the end of the school year. There is one teacher that I will never forget from elementary school (especially with a name like hers how can you forget!). Her name was Ms.Star. She was my 4th grade teacher. At the time I was just starting to love art! I remember I would draw all the posters on my cousin's walls and she would show me all the drawings she drew. She inspired me to also start drawing and I fell in love with it! Ms.Starr loved arts and crafts a lot, unlike the other teachers. She was really into making handwritten and custom-made cards. She would tell us stories of how her and her friends would meet up and create together as well show us her cards in class. I felt like I could understand her love for making those cards and I could connect with her on that personal level. Although I have never shared the same culture or race with my teachers I feel like that it doesn't matter because all of my teachers have always treated me with respect despite our race and culture differences. Being able to say that must be very lucky for me compared to what other kids across the country and around the world have to go through. Especially for one of my friends who I talk to who lives across the country. Her relationship with her teachers aren't good and it doesn’t only affect her in school but also at home as well. I wish I could say the same for her. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I strongly believe that it is important for students and teachers to have things in common. Getting to know your students and teachers is not only the first step to becoming a better learner but also creating good connections. Because at the end of the day (and it's been said many times and sometimes we forget) we are all human. It doesn’t matter if the setting is within classroom walls or it's out in the grocery store, we are all still human no matter what. And being human is being able to communicate and communication plays a huge role in education as well as the path of life. Getting to know your teachers creates the trust needed between a student and teacher and vice versa. If you get to know your teacher as if they were a friend you start to respect them more and become more engaged in topics they bring in class. I believe that this special bond is important in order to keep students engaged and interested in the curriculum they are learning about. It's part of the teacher's job to connect with the students. It's their job to keep our ideas running and to show us that our thoughts and dreams are not impossible to achieve! But it's also their job to be second parents for the student, because students spend most of the day with their teachers rather than their parents, especially if both of the parents work long hours. The teacher should be someone who students can talk to and trust if they don’t feel okay at home or at school. And as of right now, in the world we live in today it's really important for someone to be there for them. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Middle School Student Chinese Female Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I had a few connections with my first grade teacher. When I was six, in first grade, I had just moved from China. My parents already knew a lot about English. On my first day of school, my head was still full of Mandarin dialects. I knew little English during that period of my life. I had to take a class with others my age and that class would help me learn English more fluently. I would always ask my first grade teacher what others had asked her. For example, a student near me asked her how to spell a word. Then I would ask the teacher how to spell a word as well, but a word I already knew how to spell so I could make sure that the answer was what I thought it was. My teacher knew that I was learning a lot and starting to understand English more. It did not impact me a lot with my teachers being from a different area than me. I loved their personalities. In addition, my fifth grade teacher and I had a very strong bond when we would do writing with our class. When we had conferences, each time I would get to know her a bit more personally. I honestly feel like having a race connection with your teacher does not matter at all, personality matters more. If you know each other personally, it helps you have a stronger bond. That is much more important than where you are from and what language you speak. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: It might have been easier for me if some of my teachers were Chinese too. Mostly, I think being from different areas is what makes us unique. I think that one of the most important things in school is to have a bond with a certain teacher you know personally. It feels like you and the teacher have a special link. Just like a friend. The first step to becoming a friend with another person is knowing more about them. If you never knew that person, you will not be friends. It is the same with knowing teachers. That is why a bond with a teacher is important. Another thing is that when you are connected to a teacher, you are more likely to give attention to their lessons, and that way you have a larger learning opportunity. A bond like that is important becuase not all students are very engaged in what teachers have to say. Sometimes when you know more about your teacher than your classmates, you feel special since it is like a secret no one else knows about. That is another reason why having a bond with your teacher is significant. You might be more willing to talk to that teacher if you have a stronger connection with them. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Middle School Student Indian Female Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I moved to America when I was three so I was brought up here, even though I was born in India. Most of my teachers have been American. I only had one Indian teacher and that was in preschool. I did not have a larger understanding of race culture and religion back then so it did not make a great impact in my life. If I had an Indian teacher now or in elementary school, it would have been different because my parents and the teacher could talk it over and have more in common. So there is not much I had in common with my teachers other than being female. For some people, teachers of the same gender can understand them better. However, that was not the case for me. I never really connected with my teachers most of the time. I was an average student who didn't have any problems. I never had too many personal or exiting things to share with my teachers. The only difficult thing was probably was being of a different race and religion. My family has a special way to do things. There are also some things in my religion that we do. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, I does matter because teachers need to connect with students to help with any problem they are facing. When students connect with teachers, teachers can understand the student and figure out a way to help them. That is why teachers are here, they guide students to become great successful people. Sometimes kids are afraid to talk to teachers because they worry they might be judged because they do not have that necessary bond. The student can end up in lots of pain. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong High School Student Korean + American Female First Generation American First Child Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: What I have in common with my teachers is a sense of individuality. Of passion. In fact, my favorite teachers are the ones who say sarcastically and endearingly, "Oh honey, if I was in it for the money, I would not be teaching." It goes unnoticed by students often, and our relationships with teachers often become a routine one of gives homework, does homework; teaches lesson, asks question; writes test, takes test. But, teachers go into teaching because they were so passionate and so in love with their subject that they chose to dedicate their entire lives to sharing their source of happiness with the next generation. And that's pretty cool because I want my life to be one driven by passion, an excitement for living, and the desire to live nobly and selflessly for a cause too. I have teachers who, like me, love to be active in their community and are constantly buzzing with activity. It feels like as the student, I am simultaneously being inspired by their invigoration with life, AND inspiring them in the same way as well! It feels nice to know that there are adults in my life who are just as active and excited about their community as I am. It feels reassuring to know that even when I'm in the workforce, like them, I'll be able to maintain my passions and actively live life. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: As with any human relationship, similarities between students and teachers do make it easier to develop personal bonds. It's like a support system. We are at school every day, and we see our teachers every day. Teachers are the easiest people to access as a resource, and when we have similarities with these adults who we can look up to, it just feels nice. With me, I had wanted so badly to do something for the undocumented migrant workers that I had volunteered with every summer, but many adults in my life told me, "It's a very noble thought but you're just a high schooler. Leave that for college. You'll have plenty of time to find your passions then. Focus on your schoolwork, SAT, and school clubs. That's plenty enough already." I didn't feel like they understood me. Also, I'm from a very Korean background, and I realized that most of the adults telling me to drop my hopes of helping the workers, were in fact, Korean. I don't blame them for not understanding how I felt and how personal this cause was to me. Korea is a very homogeneous country. These adults, having grown up in 70s Korea, hadn't been exposed from a young age to diversity in culture and in people, like I had here in America. They didn't understand that I felt like I could relate to migrant workers. I am the type of person who's only talent is working hard. I'm not a math prodigy or born-poet. When I saw the migrants working so hard, I felt like I had to do something for them. For me, if I worked hard in school, I knew I would do well. They deserved that reassurance too. If you work hard, you should be able to do anything. Then, I met Ms. Leong. She was the only adult involved in my academic life who, for the first time, had gotten me to open up about my passion to support migrant workers. She told me she saw much of her younger self in me. She gave me the type of advice that in 20 years, I would probably want to give to my 16-year-old self. She told me, "Change starts with an individual, but is executed by a team--so go surround yourself by like-minded people." She is an activist, and is incorporating her passions into her daily life. Without having had Ms. Leong recognize me as the activist that I am and lead me and provide me resources to develop my passion, I can't imagine how different I would be. The fact that Ms. Leong and I had something in common--a passion for equality in rights and in dignity, so strong that we could not possibly suppress it--has changed my life for the better. I think it is also important to me that she is female, is also of Asian background, and is such an activist. We have much in common, which made it easier for me to be inspired by her and open up to her. Now she is a mentor, a great role model, and an awesome grown-up friend. to me. Rachel is currently getting ready for her senior year in high school filled with activism and college applications. She has spent her summers volunteering with migrant workers throughout her high school years. Middle School Student Chinese + Caucasian Female Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: As a mixed race student, not many teachers reflect my cultural background. When my teachers and I can relate in other ways, I feel as if being a minority doesn’t matter because we connect in other, more important ways. You don’t need to have the same race or gender to understand another person, and even a small commonality can mean the world. I had an amazing 4th grade teacher; she was always extremely enthusiastic and loved teaching. Near the end of the school year, my class had an assignment to write about an important keepsake. Although at the time I had no idea what a keepsake was, I had known for a while that I wanted to write about my cello. I had never really struggled with writing before, but I was very apprehensive about how to put the connection I felt with my instrument into words. I knew it was just a hollow block of wood, but it meant so much more to me. Not many of my peers understood, and the thought that I had to funnel a tornado of thoughts into just five paragraphs was maddening. No words I knew could express my feelings. When it was time to present my essay, I was scared that my teacher wouldn’t understand exactly how I felt, and that I wasn’t precise enough in my explanation. Luckily for me, she had played the violin since she was a kid, and knew exactly what I meant. My teacher understood, and she helped me make my writing clearer. She helped me concentrate and explain my tornado of thoughts coherently. That similarity with music helped me with my education. And although my writing is nowhere near perfect, the fact that I had something in common with my teacher helped me build my skill. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Absolutely! I believe the most important part of student teacher relationships is empathy. The ability to see others point of view, and feel with them. If a student understands that their teacher respects them and knows what they’re going through, they are much more likely to respect and understand them back. Although students and teachers can be different, even the smallest commonality can make the biggest impact. Middle School Student Korean Female First Daughter Middle Child Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I have nothing really in common with my teachers. Almost all of them are female. I am also female. Some of them are Asian like me. Some of them have the same hobbies, play the same instruments, and some of them taught or teach my brother so I guess we both know my brother. I have a male teacher who is my only male teacher. And we do not have anything in common. He teaches my brother. But there is nothing we have in common. I don’t think I have ever had a teacher that I had a lot in common with. But maybe I just do not know. My kindergarten teacher was Korean. And my principal too. But they couldn’t speak Korean, like me. They were my only teachers that were Korean. One of my fourth grade teachers had a small collection of fossils on his desk. I also have some fossils. One of my teachers has died hair and I also die my hair from time to time. Some of them wear glasses. But only a few. I used to wear glasses too. But now I wear contacts. A lot of them have dark hair and dark eyes. I have really dark hair and eyes so it seems like black. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I do not think it matters that students and teachers have anything in common with each other. I have nothing really in common with my teachers but I get along with them just fine. I think that if a student has a lot of things in common with the teacher, maybe they could be closer. I don’t see anyone in any of my classes get along more with the teacher because they have things in common than if they didn’t. I am pretty sure that teachers treat their students equally. I had a friend who was born in the same hospital and liked the same baseball team as our teacher. Once in a while they would talk about it but I did not think the teacher was treating her better or liked her more or anything. Also, I do not think that if you and the teacher have things in common there will be a special bond between the two of you. I just think that they have something in common. A teacher is still a teacher. If you need his or her help, you can just ask. He or she will still be there for you. Similarities could start a bond between the teacher and the student but I just don’t think it matters. I think that if I actually had teachers with a lot in common, I would think differently. But I never had any teacher with anything big in common, big enough to start a bond. Even if I did have a teacher with lots in common, I would not really care. I have gone to school for years without having a special connection with the teacher and I still think that teachers are a good teachers. |
ROLL CALLHumanizing the gaps separating teachers and students. Archives
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