Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Creating a Sense of Community at School
The more we visit District C this semester, the more I recognize the sense of community within a sea of diversity in their school setting. It seems like there is a cohesive system of communication between the teachers, the administration, the parents, and of course the students. We've discussed with Vice Principal S the means the administration takes to ensure positive relationships with parents, even if he/they have to visit reluctant parents at home to make sure they are in the loop. Ms. C, a teacher at District C brought beef stew to a parent who was incapacitated with an illness whose child was suffering as a result. Last week, Ms. G, a former student and resident of District C, and current teacher at District C illustrated how she goes about developing a sense of community within her classroom and the school as a whole. It really seemed like she went above and beyond, and the example she spoke of in which she encountered a student who had literally never finished a book in his life, and subsequently was able to engage him in reading by developing a caring relationship with him was eye-opening and inspiring. If teachers and administrators everywhere saw their students and parents as compassionately and as lovingly as Ms. G saw hers, more schools would have a really positive and diverse academic community.
So, the element I've taken away from that sense of community and cohesiveness that District C displayed is that beyond just supplying excellent and nuanced lessons for my students, I need to develop positive relationships with them and their families. As the principal of District C said, teachers need to be empathetic of their students, not sympathetic. I thought that was a profound statement in that once teachers cross the line into feeling bad for their students, their performance suffers. The best thing we can do for our students is not to show pity, but to make excellent lessons and develop supportive and constructive relationships with students and parents.
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Yes, classroom community is super important to facilitate student learning. And if you think about it, a small city like Central Falls has a tight knit community and most of the students in the high school have probably known each other their entire lives. I saw an example this past week where one student was trying to remember when he got hit by a car, and a student all the way across the room mentioned how it was a couple summers ago and was the week after someone's birthday party. But that is beside the fact. As teachers, especially new teachers,when we start at new schools we will be alien to the community that they already have set up. I think this means that not only do we need to set up our friendly classroom community, but we need to be accepted into the community that the city already has or that students personally have. I am a believer that teachers need to do their homework on what students like outside of school because a classroom community cannot be created around a teacher's expectations, but should include student expectations as well.
ReplyDeleteThe subject of "Empathy vs Sympathy" has been mentioned more than once this semester. I believe it was during one of our post-observation meetings, when Dr. G mentioned that one of the reasons for the 2010 crisis at District C was the fact that too many of the teachers and staff had become sympathetic, making excuses for their students. While knowing what your students are going through, both inside and outside of school, is essential in being an effective educator; becoming sympathetic creates an environment where students are not receiving the education they need and deserve. As teachers we must have high expectations of our students. We must challenge them to push themselves academically while creating a comfortable and accepting educational environment within our classroom, where errors and wrong answers are seen as learning experiences, NOT as failures.
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