Carl
Email Dorinda
Try to write some kind of something that can be used in mission statement
Kunal
Tie all the diploma plus, ces, and cer stuff together.
Email roxbury Prep
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Saturday, February 3, 2007
The travails of the two cultures
I find my high school comparable to many of the ones in the bronx. It is weird because My high school was one of the best in the state every year in both student achievement and school funding, but I struggle to find real, tangible, differences that point to why all of the alumni went to college vs. why most will not make it from my school. (Aside from our ability at standardized tests). In talking with Kunal this weekend I came to thing is a big reason is the idea of school culture.
The school I went to had a culture that was clearly connected to success in the outside world. It was a given that students that graduated went to college and if not they were already enrolled in a trade school so they left school as a dental assistant or something similar. This stemmed from the culture in the classroom where students all knew how to do well on tests, write solid essays, finish large stacks of homework problems everynight, and do whatever else the teachers demand. These students were ready for this because they were being prepared throughout middle school, and few were really surprised once they arrived in highschool. In fact as middle schoolers all viewed high school as an opportunity to do great things, and even if they weren't able to be quarterback of the football team they were still able to carve out an existence in the high school that matched their self images at that moment.
The school I teach at has two very distinct and largely opposed cultures that live within the school. The school has an academic side that is very similar to the culture of the school that I went to high school. This one culture has some differences; it can only guarantee college education for those that do EXTREMELY well, and it is hampered by the students coming from middle school with very different kinds of preparation, or a lack of preparation altogether. The other culture is the culture of the streets which provides the students with a tangible alternative to the world of the school, a world which is in direct competition with the school. This is the world where its members make money going against the majority culture, and since the school is everyones first experience with the majority culture, appearing as any part the student shows a dangerous resistance to the outside world. This is the world marketed by the stop snitchin' t-shirts. Since snitches get stiches, students pay a hard price for choosing to participate in this culture, let alone choose to put all their faith in school and thus implicitly oppose this other culture. There are schools that put this expectation on students, catholic schools, high demanding charter schools, district magnet schools, and all of these students can get jumped once they get back into their neighborhood simply because of where they go to school. For students without the money, connections, or test scores to get into these schools, they are sent to schools like the one I teach in, where they are forced to progress in their academics, and in their allegiance to this culture.
Before high school however, students don't really start getting pulled in two directions by their school's two cultures. They are all encouraged to go to school as middle schoolers by pastors and gang members alike. Likewise, they are able to get away with all but the most egregious of crimes in middle school (the janitors have told me some crazy stories) without being treated like hardened criminals and threatened with hard core punishments. Middle school is a very clear point of growth for students, a definite end of child hood and a time for choices for students. Students have middle school proms with limousines and tuxedos, followed by middle school graduations with caps, gowns, and crying mothers. The pomp and circumstance around entering high school reflects the fact that once a student is on a ninth grade roster they are subject to a new world of pressures.
For a high school opening in this climate, they must learn to take into account these two worlds and create a place where students can at the least learn to navigate both worlds successfully. For a school to act as though the other world doesn't exist is like a doctors office to assume that none of their patients smoke. The school needs to instead use their resources to make the new students deal with this other world that they have to live in as well as be successful in the school world. Things that we could do to help advisory, small groups where students with one teacher are able to talk freely with the world around. We could also have the students see other people from similar circumstances who are successfully doing other things now adays. We could also have the students go on field trips to other places where they can get out of that whole mindset, along with their advisory group. Most importantly, the culture of the school will be such that studens will be able to be themselves. We will create a space so the students doesnot feel pressure in no direction good or bad, be the best person they could be.
The school I went to had a culture that was clearly connected to success in the outside world. It was a given that students that graduated went to college and if not they were already enrolled in a trade school so they left school as a dental assistant or something similar. This stemmed from the culture in the classroom where students all knew how to do well on tests, write solid essays, finish large stacks of homework problems everynight, and do whatever else the teachers demand. These students were ready for this because they were being prepared throughout middle school, and few were really surprised once they arrived in highschool. In fact as middle schoolers all viewed high school as an opportunity to do great things, and even if they weren't able to be quarterback of the football team they were still able to carve out an existence in the high school that matched their self images at that moment.
The school I teach at has two very distinct and largely opposed cultures that live within the school. The school has an academic side that is very similar to the culture of the school that I went to high school. This one culture has some differences; it can only guarantee college education for those that do EXTREMELY well, and it is hampered by the students coming from middle school with very different kinds of preparation, or a lack of preparation altogether. The other culture is the culture of the streets which provides the students with a tangible alternative to the world of the school, a world which is in direct competition with the school. This is the world where its members make money going against the majority culture, and since the school is everyones first experience with the majority culture, appearing as any part the student shows a dangerous resistance to the outside world. This is the world marketed by the stop snitchin' t-shirts. Since snitches get stiches, students pay a hard price for choosing to participate in this culture, let alone choose to put all their faith in school and thus implicitly oppose this other culture. There are schools that put this expectation on students, catholic schools, high demanding charter schools, district magnet schools, and all of these students can get jumped once they get back into their neighborhood simply because of where they go to school. For students without the money, connections, or test scores to get into these schools, they are sent to schools like the one I teach in, where they are forced to progress in their academics, and in their allegiance to this culture.
Before high school however, students don't really start getting pulled in two directions by their school's two cultures. They are all encouraged to go to school as middle schoolers by pastors and gang members alike. Likewise, they are able to get away with all but the most egregious of crimes in middle school (the janitors have told me some crazy stories) without being treated like hardened criminals and threatened with hard core punishments. Middle school is a very clear point of growth for students, a definite end of child hood and a time for choices for students. Students have middle school proms with limousines and tuxedos, followed by middle school graduations with caps, gowns, and crying mothers. The pomp and circumstance around entering high school reflects the fact that once a student is on a ninth grade roster they are subject to a new world of pressures.
For a high school opening in this climate, they must learn to take into account these two worlds and create a place where students can at the least learn to navigate both worlds successfully. For a school to act as though the other world doesn't exist is like a doctors office to assume that none of their patients smoke. The school needs to instead use their resources to make the new students deal with this other world that they have to live in as well as be successful in the school world. Things that we could do to help advisory, small groups where students with one teacher are able to talk freely with the world around. We could also have the students see other people from similar circumstances who are successfully doing other things now adays. We could also have the students go on field trips to other places where they can get out of that whole mindset, along with their advisory group. Most importantly, the culture of the school will be such that studens will be able to be themselves. We will create a space so the students doesnot feel pressure in no direction good or bad, be the best person they could be.
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