School Context Assignment

       When I came into Summer Session 08 at Rhode Island College, I was very much expecting a cake walk experience. After coming off a year and a half of almost all hard sciences, I looked at the prospect of a two hour a day education course as something that would be laid back and very easy. The first day however, things got a bit flipped upside down. Unbenknownst to me, this class entailed being placed in an inner city school tutoring children. Oh crap.

       

       I am a white guy, who works, studies and socializes for the most part with other white guys. When I got my assignment I was secretly nervous. The selected school had to be for the most part either black or hispanic, and a portion of the students had to be eligible for free or reduced lunch. Immediately scenes from "Stand and Deliver" flashed into my head. How was an oblivious white guy like myself going to enter an enviornment which I was sure would be chaos. 

       So the first day came. I put on my shirt and tie. This day called for the top button to be done up, a feat not always easy for the large jowled men of my family. I wanted to be somewhat uncomfortable, it made me feel like I was putting on a costume. I believed I would have to be maintaining an act of bravery while secretly scared for my life. Leaving an hour early, google saying it was only 15 minutes but wanting to be safe, I made my way towards what would no doubt be a zoo of a first day.

       As I approached "J. Bailey Elementary", I was looking out my rolled up windows trying to spot the graffiti and bullet holes. Nothing. For sure the area must suddenly switch from suburbia to slum. It never happened though. As a parked my car I wondered if I was at the right place. The neighborhood was quiet, tucked away from a somewhat main road. While the skyline of Providence could be seen in the distance, this school seemed anything but deep in the ghettos of the inner city. My interest was peaked.

       The school itself was a large brick building, encircled by a moat of black top playgrounds and bordered with a tall chain link fence. When I arrived children were loudly being children during recess. There were no grass fields or jungle gyms, but the surrounding neighborhoods were full of trees. Despite the chaos of recess, the place seemed somewhat quiet and peaceful. I didn't notice any art, banners or even hop scotch courts. The main door was securely closed, and I had to buzz myself in. A "peanut free zone" sign greeted me as I headed to the main office.

      After signing in an being assigned to my classroom, I began to take notice of how J.Bailey Elementary functioned. The room I would be working in was quite large, and quite messy. The students sat in pods, while the teacher held court at the front corner opposite the door. Everything seemed to be a mess. Art projects half done, papers on the floor, velcro calendars with days missing from it. It just seemed like chaos. In the following days I would visit, it seemed students often switched spots and moved desks. 

       The teacher to who's room I was assigned was named "Ms. Krath". She was a "fourth" grade teacher and her pedagogy was immediately clear. Ms. K never broke her barking tone. She shouted her lessons and peppered in similar sounding corrections. It seems she kind of ruled with a respectable fear. Before I was in her classroom I was told she was a "diva". I think that is  nice way of saying she is a shouter. 

       As I was working with two small groups of children, I was unable to pick up on Ms. K's curriculum, thought several interupting shouts could still be heard. Instead I focused on the material I was teaching the students I was working. It was composed of fluency excercises. Some practiced simple reading, others inflection, and other poetry comprehension. The kid's seemed to like them them, but after several days I could see they were becoming bored. As a reward, at the end of our lessons, we would play reading Candy Land. The words didn't seem to challenge the students though, so I could see even the novelty of that was wearing out. 

       The informal interacton amongst students was different than I expected. I noticed they were often polite and sharing. The all seemed blind to one anothers ethnicity and gender, all sharing markers and laughing together. The teachers seemed to participate in a culture of exhaustion and bitterness. One even told me audibly in front of the children "You're in the wrong feild, get out while you can." I found this very unprofessional, especially within the earshot of students. It really seemed that most of the teachers were worn out, and really not enjoying themselves. This jadedness seemed to lead to snapping at children. It was kind of rough to watch.

       The demographic of J.Bailey breaks down as follows. 35% of students qualify for a subsidized lunch program, while 65% do not. Ethnically, 35% of students are white, 31% hispanic, 29% black, 4% asian, and 1% native american. This seemed accurate in the classroom I was working in. However, it did not seem that the classroom space or the school in general was a representation of this diversity. There didn't seem to be any maps, or indications of cultural differences in the halls. Everyone kind of did the same thing. From what little I saw of the library, it didn't offer an ethnic titles. However, the library did read a book about diplomacy and democracy set in a world populated by Bubble People.

       In a way J.Bailey seemed a partial success when measured against Lisa Delpit's views. The children all follow the same codes of conduct. I saw that the idea of Respect was continually represented on posters and in the actions of the students. They lined up military style, and listened when given instruction. However, the students seemed to be treated solely as students as opposed to little unique people.

       All in all, I was a little disheartened by what I saw at J.Bailey. It seemed like there were those who cared about the student's well being, but for the most part the staff just seemed so worn out and frustrated. It was almost as if they wanted to just get through the day. Ms. K never left her chair, and was quite snappy. A visiting art teacher grumbled and slouched in a chair with her eyes closed and hand on her forehead, exasperated. She crankily asked the students "How many days left?". It makes me worry that teachers enter their field with enthusiasm and a positive attitude, but eventually give up when they realize they can't change an oppressive standardized system.