University Student High School History Teacher-in-Training Mexican DREAMer Heterosexual Male First in Family to Attend College Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: Growing up in the southmost part of the country, I believe that I have had a unique experience. The majority of my teachers have been Mexican Americans. I sometimes see myself reflected in their stories about their childhood. We share the same culture and traditions. In Christmas time we all look forward to eating tamales and sharing time with our large, extended families. Although most of my grade school teachers looked similar to me, in college at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley things changed. Suddenly I was surrounded with Anglo and Asian professors. Sometimes it was difficult to communicate and relate with them. They would tend not to understand the culture of the students. However, I always felt I had home field advantage because they were the outsiders. Recently the University has doubled their efforts to hire Latino professors. Although we do share a common language and Hispanic heritage we are very different. Currently I have a Cuban, a Cuban American, and a Puerto Rican professor. Our customs are very different but it is always interesting to learn about their traditions. I usually find myself making connections between their traditions and mine. I’ve also had Mexican and Mexican-American professors. I can relate more with these professors but even then, they are usually not native to the valley. They come from California, Chicago, and different parts of Mexico. Ultimately, I have always looked up to the few professors who are from the area and are teaching in the area. They usually share the same stories and “have been there done that”. Disclaimer: This is not to say that teachers from other backgrounds and cultures are bad teachers. At the end of the day they have all been great teachers. A teacher’s role is to teach, and I have learned… A LOT! Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I think it is very important to have that connection between student and teacher. As a future teacher, I want to build that rapport with my students. I know that in the question above I focused on ethnicity a lot because that is what came to mind at first. But thinking about it we do not have to be from the same ethnic background, race, religion, sex or socioeconomic status to have things in common. The key is to respect and celebrate each other’s differences rather than point them out or try to hide them. My whole teaching philosophy is centered around the ability to celebrate diversity and be proud of the differences in the classroom and in our community. We live in a great country that even with all its flaws, it still remains the land of opportunity for all, although some have more opportunities than others. But that is what education is for and that is why I want to be an educator. I want to give all students the tools necessary to have an opportunity to succeed and close the achievement gap. Once again this is where having something in common comes to play. I am part of that achievement gap and have lacked opportunity so I can relate. I believe that the only thing that a student and teacher should have in common is acceptance. If the teacher and the student have acceptance of each other’s differences then they will forget about pint pointing differences and focus more on finding things in common. Similarities are not always dependent on racial factors. Wilbert is currently a university student preparing to become high school history teacher. He is a DREAMer--born in Mexico and raised in the Rio Grande Valley since he was 3 years old. He plans to stay in The Valley to teach with the hopes of giving back to the community that supported him. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong
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University Student Black Male Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: One thing that I always thought that was lacking in my ability to relate to teachers is that none of the teachers in my life have been black, which really shows the lack of diversity in education. However, I typically have had a lot of common interests with my teachers in high school. I remember frequently nerding out over the newest tech trends with my computer programming teacher and talking about the future of Artificial Intelligence with the head of my high school department. In both high school and college, I have found that my teachers and I both strive to make the world a better place. Many times when I asked some of them why they decided to teach despite the growing wage gap they would say that they love what they do and they feel it is their responsibility to create passionate and engaged students. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, I wholeheartedly believe that it does matter that teachers and students can relate to each other. Because of the common interests I shared with the teachers and administrators in my life, I have always felt much better about being able to express myself in academia. Instead of feeling like classes where a prison where I had to purely learn everything in the same way as others, it became apparent that everything that I was learning could be applied to areas of interest. For instance, I found chemistry really challenging at times. So my chemistry teachers, knowing that I loved neuroscience suggested that I try to relate chemistry to the brain by looking into the way neurotransmitters work. After that, I had a whole new outlook on not only the properties of chemistry, but also on the way external stimuli can affect the ever growing and shaping neurological pathways in our own minds. Because of how cool I found the subject of Neurochemistry I got the opportunity to do my high school chemistry final on the effects of THC on the brain and because of how much I enjoyed doing that project I even decided to pursue a degree in Neuroscience. This is to show you that when you are able to relate to a teacher and when they have a genuine interest in you and your passions, education can be taken from something one dreads to something to be loved and passionate about to no end. Education has the potential to change the lives of children and be something that they will treasure forever, but that depends on how much the teacher and the student are able to work together. It also may depend on how much the teacher is able to inspire that student. Even now in college, I am still able to connect with my teachers about different parts of the subject they teach that I find interesting. In general, I have found that they really appreciate it because it shows passion about the subject they teach and they too enjoy relating to their students. Cameron is a freshman at Connecticut College where he is a TED-Ed club leader. Connect with him on Twitter @Cameronaaron4. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong High School Student Hispanic Male Will be the first in his family to go to college Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: To me, there are still a lot of things we don't know about our teachers. As students, we go through a lot. We experience things that are either good or bad. We have teachers and our school staff that talk to us, who tell us that everything is gonna be alright and let us know that they are there for us. It is only at the time of disbelief and grief where we share that connection. Most of them may be white and there may be more female than male teachers, but that doesn't matter to me. The connection that I have to my teachers is something else. I also see it with other students as well. We are a small community where we all go to learn, to laugh, to share, and to express ourselves. Teachers are really there to help us no matter how troubled we are, whether we're stuck on a problem or we're going through some troubling times, they are there for us. They laugh and even share some stuff that you never even knew you had in common with. I've also seen some teachers experience the same things that we do too. I see them talk about their personal lives, hear them make jokes. I've also seen some of my teachers at their lowest point. We as a society treat our teachers as machines. We go in, sit down, learn, and move on to the next. But that is not true. We don't truly see what our teachers are. I am truly grateful for the community that I am a part of. Teachers' experiences and knowing the things that we have or may not have in common has helped me do things that I may never have thought I was capable of. Like expressing myself and be able to share my story. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I know that it may be hard for others to express themselves and I understand. But all I want for people to understand is that there a lot of things we don't know about our teachers, and it is difficult to make a connection with someone you may not know a lot about. To me, it does matter that students and teachers have something in common. It builds that personal connection. And even though you may or may not have something in common with your teachers, it builds that sense of communication and trust. No matter who we or they are. No matter what race, gender, sexual orientation, or even who you are truly. Having that connection turns a school into a community and makes our teachers and students into a family, no matter if you have something in common or not. Connect with Alexis on Twitter @ASVideoGamer. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong High School Student Hispanic Straight Male Will be the first in his family to graduate from high school Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I think I do have stuff in common with some of my teachers because they tell us their life experiences and I can relate to them. But then there's some teachers that I can't relate to because of their race or their gender because I'm going through different things in life than what they went through. They try helping out, but it's a better help if the person that is trying to help knows what you're going through and knows how you're feeling because they were there at one point. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I think it does matter if you and your teachers have things in common. If students and teachers had things in common if you need someone to talk to they are there for you, they know what's going on with you, you have more trust in them, and you can feel like you can open up with them and share your feelings. Gustavo hopes to attend Seattle Pacific University or Washington State University after he graduates. He's interested in studying automotive technology, video production, and photography. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong High School Student Hispanic Straight Male Will be the first in his family to graduate from college Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: Growing up, I never had anything in common with my teachers. Being a Mexican-American is tough, especially because a lot of us come from families who immigrated to the U.S. We always had to do the extra set of work and help our parents at their work, and it was that struggle that your teachers didn't understand. It wasn’t until I reached high school, for the first time I had a teacher who was Mexican. As soon as he introduced himself to me I knew we were going to get along. Then we began to share the common problems that Mexican children have, the foods that we liked and we even shared the same taste in music, and that's what made me trust him and rely on him whenever I had a question or a problem and that’s when I realized that when you share something in common with someone, especially share the same race, you don’t feel alone, you don't feel outnumbered, you feel relieved that someone finally understands you and your struggles. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: When sharing a common interest, especially cultural background, it makes you trust that person, so when students and teachers share the same struggle or same taste in music it helps create a connection and that connection turns into trust and trust turns into a friendship. That said, I believe it's beautiful that teachers and students share common interests, but does it matter? No, because although there's no commonality, there is that respect that makes you interact with that person. Roberto plans to study science and engineering in college and start his own software company that will help make sure all children have access to computers. To hear more about Roberto's journey, watch this video of Kristin Leong's opening talk for Town Hall Seattle's #EducationSoWhite event. 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 High School Student Somali Straight Male Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: As an African and a Muslim, I don't have anything in common with my teachers. Even though we might not have anything in common, we still respect each other and not let that divide us. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, it does matter that students have things in common with their teachers because they can relate to their teachers and open up with them more. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Middle School Student White Half-Canadian Male Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: Teachers have always been socially and emotionally distant from us, the students. Especially in my earlier days in school. Now I can find more things in common with my teachers. One main example of this was when I was in fifth grade. Throughout all my years in elementary school, everybody looked forward to fifth grade. The teachers were nice and relatable to the kids. They wanted to make school fun instead of just get their job done. The first thing is that there were only two fifth grade teachers at my elementary school, making it more personal. Also, not only were those two teachers very close friends, but they also ran a blog about their classes, both as an educational tool and for fun. One of the teachers published vlogs each day. Looking back, the main reason I liked them so much is because we shared common interests. They shared memes in class and whenever there was a new tend one of the teachers would bring it to our class and make a vlog about it, like lip sinking lyrics to popular songs, or having a March Madness basketball game. Because they were so relatable, they were fun. But that was just one year. Every other year in my school career all of my teachers have been female. I feel that these teachers weren’t relatable, not because of their gender, but because of their personalities. They wanted to get stuff done the right way, and that is not a bad thing, but they just didn't make it fun along the way. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Well at first, I would say no. We should not go out of our way to find a teacher that is the same gender or race as the students. Yes, it may be helpful, but unless there is a language gap, it seems inconvenient to choose teachers based on gender or race. You should not discriminate, but you should not chose a teacher only for those aspects. However, a good teacher should be emotionally relatable. Not just a figure of power forcing their students to do boring things, they should be like a close friend. Keeping them on track academically but not being afraid to have fun. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Middle School Student White Male Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: I unsurprisingly don’t have much in common with my current teachers. I mean, obviously everyone has some things in common with their teachers--we're all human, right? However, things like being human, and being alive, those really broad and abstract things really do not matter. For nearly all of my teachers I have not been able to connect on a personal level to find out things we may have in common. I am male and I have only had three non-substitute teachers who were male. I am also white and nearly all of my teachers have been white from grades K-6. I cant quite grasp how much that interferes with the education of my friends of color. So the two teachers I think Identify with the most would be my 4th and 5th grade teachers. Both of them are male and Caucasian, like me, but there are other things that connect me to those teachers too. One of the best memories I have that bonds me to my 4th grade teacher was when everybody was sharing what they had done over a three-day weekend and once the people who wanted to share had finished, my teacher said, “Who spent the whole weekend playing Halo the Master Chief Collection?” He raised his hand and obviously expected nobody else to raise their hand. And nobody did. Not one single hand was in the air out of the 48 hands in our class, except my teacher's, and of course mine. This small memory seems kind of small and unimportant, but this has meant a lot to me because at that moment I just felt so connected to my teacher and it really helped me pay attention and just realize class is actually worthwhile. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I personally think that having things In common with your teachers in absolutely critical. Words cannot explain how important I think this is. I definitely believe that the teachers who have things in common with their students are the ones who have the biggest impact on students' education and, just as importantly, who the students turn out to be. I also think that it is way easier to teach somebody who you are able to identify with them. One thing that I think is the reason that having things in common with your teachers enhances your education (and basically your life) is that having things in common with somebody helps you humanize them. Instead of seeing them as just another random person you see them as an actual human. Instead of seeing your teacher as just another person trying to tell you stuff, you see them as a human with human qualities and an interesting personality. If you are able to see the humanity in your teachers it will help you understand them so much more. There is so much to say about this but it’s hard to put it into words. As somebody who has had many teachers I have not related to, I really think this needs to change. There are a LOT of students who have their education and life limited by the fact that their teachers/mentors don’t seem even that human. High School Student African-American Male Q: What do you have in common with your teachers? A: My teachers and I definitely do NOT have a lot in common. The only thing really connecting us is that it's their job to teach me and I have to go to class. In my opinion, the biggest divider between my teachers and I are race, gender, and economic background. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes. It definitely does make a difference in the relationships that I have with staff at my school. For example, I don't see any of my teachers or staff members as people that I could truly open up to. Honestly, how could they understand me? They're all white women and I am a black male. In my perspective, I have grown up in a different world than my teachers. It's a world that they never had to experience and they never will. The only teachers/adults that would truly understand me and my past experiences would be a person of color but I don't think I've ever had a teacher or color and that's really a shame. Dante is getting ready for college where he plans to study business. He is currently interning with a youth organization where he works with kids to record music and organize performances. He hopes to become a music producer. |
ROLL CALLHumanizing the gaps separating teachers and students. Archives
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