Through my course readings, I have begun to reflect on my own teaching practices from the past as well as look towards the future. One reading that particularly interested me was from Cynthia Ballenger's Teaching Other People's Children. Below is my reflection...
During my four years of undergraduate student-teaching, I was placed in three different types of schools—private and wealthy, public and wealthy, and public and economically poor. My first two schools were comprised of students and environments that were culturally similar to what I am accustomed to—white and middle-class. In these settings, I felt completely comfortable, respected, organized, and was able to successfully administer the practices that I was learning in my own classes with my students. I understood where the students were coming from and what their family/home life was like. Since these were my first experiences as a teacher in a classroom, I had assumed that all classrooms must be like this. However, reality quickly set in when I began my full-time student teaching at an inner-city Boston public school where my cultural background greatly differed from that of many of my students’.
In Teaching Other People’s Children, Cynthia Ballenger states “I had been trained to handle behavior in certain ways, but this training was based on deep cultural assumptions” (Ballenger, 1999, pg. 40). This quotation was in reference to her experience as an American woman teaching in a predominantly Haitian classroom. Teaching practices that she was taught and settings that were once familiar to her became subjects of question when her students were not responding as she thought they would. Ballenger’s determination to question her own cultural background in order to get through to her students is the same feeling that I had in my fifth-grade classroom that was mostly comprised of African American and Hispanic fifth-grade students in Boston. It was a disparaging feeling that I have since carried with me and continually try to learn from and investigate.
I vividly remember walking into this classroom for the first time and immediately feeling the cultural differences between myself and my students. Why were these students dressed in baggy clothing with un-tucked shirts, not speaking in full-sentences, using slang when writing papers, singing to rap music the hallways with friends, and why didn’t they listen to me when I asked them to stop doing something or to pay attention? I was attempting to use all of my standard practices to no avail and realized that like Ballenger’s experience, I had a huge problem on my hands and was constantly questioning the best way to deal with managing cultural differences to improve myself.
I found Ballenger’s different approaches to closing this cultural gap to be successful, inspiring, and beneficial. Through taking the time to speak with the Haitian teachers and parents in her school, observing their interactions with the students, and self-reflecting on her own teaching style she managed to examine and alter her cultural assumptions. Looking back on my experience in the Boston Public School, I can see how applying these methods would have benefited me and my class. Going forward, I realize that customs that I am familiar with can be changed depending on different situations. Most importantly, it is my job to learn as much as possible about where my students come from and not assume anything.
There was, however, one concern that jumped out at me with Ballenger’s approach. There are many different cultures, especially in New York City, which students may come from—Hispanic, African American, Asian, Haitian, etc. With so many differing backgrounds, how is it possible as a teacher to gain an overarching knowledge of all of them in order to establish a successful teaching environment? Since Ballenger’s students were primarily Haitian, she was able to concentrate on just that one culture and seemingly over a long period of time, she began to see positive results with the way her students began to respond to her. It is hard for me to conceptualize being able to put my own cultural assumptions aside and learn about and observe so many others in a period of time that would take many years and much practice as it did for Ballenger.
Ballenger’s account of her cultural experience with Haitian students is one that I can relate to, learn from, and grow upon. I realize that many teachers must go through this process of putting his or her own cultural assumptions aside for a moment and attempt to learn why students from a different background may act the way they do. Self-investigation is a key to successful teaching and although I do question the best way to examine many different cultures at once, I do believe that I must begin to look at my own values and practices as Ballenger did.
In Teaching Other People’s Children, Cynthia Ballenger states “I had been trained to handle behavior in certain ways, but this training was based on deep cultural assumptions” (Ballenger, 1999, pg. 40). This quotation was in reference to her experience as an American woman teaching in a predominantly Haitian classroom. Teaching practices that she was taught and settings that were once familiar to her became subjects of question when her students were not responding as she thought they would. Ballenger’s determination to question her own cultural background in order to get through to her students is the same feeling that I had in my fifth-grade classroom that was mostly comprised of African American and Hispanic fifth-grade students in Boston. It was a disparaging feeling that I have since carried with me and continually try to learn from and investigate.
I vividly remember walking into this classroom for the first time and immediately feeling the cultural differences between myself and my students. Why were these students dressed in baggy clothing with un-tucked shirts, not speaking in full-sentences, using slang when writing papers, singing to rap music the hallways with friends, and why didn’t they listen to me when I asked them to stop doing something or to pay attention? I was attempting to use all of my standard practices to no avail and realized that like Ballenger’s experience, I had a huge problem on my hands and was constantly questioning the best way to deal with managing cultural differences to improve myself.
I found Ballenger’s different approaches to closing this cultural gap to be successful, inspiring, and beneficial. Through taking the time to speak with the Haitian teachers and parents in her school, observing their interactions with the students, and self-reflecting on her own teaching style she managed to examine and alter her cultural assumptions. Looking back on my experience in the Boston Public School, I can see how applying these methods would have benefited me and my class. Going forward, I realize that customs that I am familiar with can be changed depending on different situations. Most importantly, it is my job to learn as much as possible about where my students come from and not assume anything.
There was, however, one concern that jumped out at me with Ballenger’s approach. There are many different cultures, especially in New York City, which students may come from—Hispanic, African American, Asian, Haitian, etc. With so many differing backgrounds, how is it possible as a teacher to gain an overarching knowledge of all of them in order to establish a successful teaching environment? Since Ballenger’s students were primarily Haitian, she was able to concentrate on just that one culture and seemingly over a long period of time, she began to see positive results with the way her students began to respond to her. It is hard for me to conceptualize being able to put my own cultural assumptions aside and learn about and observe so many others in a period of time that would take many years and much practice as it did for Ballenger.
Ballenger’s account of her cultural experience with Haitian students is one that I can relate to, learn from, and grow upon. I realize that many teachers must go through this process of putting his or her own cultural assumptions aside for a moment and attempt to learn why students from a different background may act the way they do. Self-investigation is a key to successful teaching and although I do question the best way to examine many different cultures at once, I do believe that I must begin to look at my own values and practices as Ballenger did.
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