Education

Teachers are Human

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

It’s been 7 weeks since my husband died suddenly and unexpectedly on what had been both my birthday and a perfect day together. Needless to say, my world and life has been turned upside down.  We have two amazing children (13 and 11) who need me now more than ever.

I also have 103 teenagers who depend on me.

This post on Twitter really got me:
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This is where I see broken pieces of our public education system.  I was given 4 days bereavement from my principal.  Two of those days were “free” days as negotiated by our union.  In the public education system, I am a number. I am a cog in the wheel. I am not a person.  I am not seen as an individual human.  My principal doesn’t have the right to allow me as much time as I need to heal.  I cannot afford to take time off w/out pay or benefits.  I am now the financial security for my family.

There are no concessions granted.  Lesson plans late–I am notified.  Observations–continue on even though I might not be at my best.  No exceptions.  We are all the same.  We are not humans; we are teachers  And somehow, our personal lives don’t matter and are expected to be pushed aside.  Yes, my students deserve my best everyday–but sometimes my best is not possible. But I can’t take a day–because I only get 1 per month. More than that and I get docked a full days pay.  I can’t afford that.  So what other choice do I have?

This might not be so obvious to me if I didn’t have something else to compare it to, but I do–I taught in a private school for almost 6 years.  I know that my private school would have given me as much time off (with pay) as I needed to be whole again. To mourn. To take care of my kids. To take care of this new life.  I could take any random day I might need w/out worry of being able to feed my kids or to have it taken into account at contract time.

But our public education system doesn’t take time to treat teachers or students as human. We are inputs and outputs.  We are bodies in rooms. We are cogs in wheels.  We are expected to check off boxes and get results. We are expected attend meetings that could be emails–because we need to meet or we don’t trust you’ll read out emails.

We are expected to do hours of online training, craft lesson plans, call and email home, and teach and get all of this done in our contracted hours.  I am trying hard to not work during my non-contracted time–because I need to heal and I need to take care of my own children.

We are expected to attend PD that doesn’t apply to us and to sign in and be present. We are expected to tow the line and do what the district wants instead of what is good for kids.

I know there are plenty of functioning public school districts, but even those don’t always value teachers as human.

I just want to be valued as a professional (I’m pretty sure that is why your hire someone with almost 20 years of k-12 and college teaching experience, two content area degrees, and a Ph.D.). I also want to be seen as a human who has a life outside of school.

Teachers just want to be seen. I want to be seen.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

I  defend my dissertation on July 12th.  The culmination of nearly 8 years of work (some of that time was spend processing how research will do what it wants).  Eight years of thinking about my work.  Eight years of writing.  Eight years of missing time with my kids and family.  Eight years of wishing I had more time to focus on my academic work.  Eight  years of wishing I could do it all, so much more quickly.  Eight years.

But now it comes to an end.  As I work my way through some final revisions, I can see the light at the end.

I know the time was worth every moment of guilt, frustration, and discovery.  I have changed and I look forward to what this next phase brings.  But Dawn Finley, Ph.D.  sounds pretty good right now.

Moving Past the Single Story

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

cross-posted here

I have been thinking about this powerful talk for almost a week now. It has made me even more critical of how we as a society perpetuate the “single-story.” It makes me notice when a story presented doesn’t mesh with the “single-story” that has been developed and accepted as the norm in our society.

http://embed.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

This idea has me beginning to understand how important it is that we see and develop diverging stories of each other.  This video sums up the incubation of racism and long-held (mostly harmful) stereotypes.  These single-stories allow us to believe that we know someone based on the stories we have of them.  I can see the problem right there.  The assumptions that the “stories” we have of a generalized group of people, make up the parts of each individual.  That is not the case.

I began developing a simplistic view of this as we brought our Ethiopian born children home and I my black students were confused as to how my children would lean to be black.  Even my black students had begun to develop a single-story of their own about “blackness.”  This was a not a single-story they developed on their own, but one they began internalizing at an early age based not on their own experiences, but on the narrative the media and society had developed (100s of years in the making).

This video illustrates how single-stories perpetuate

As Adichie so eloquently states, we must engage with as many stories as possible, before we can begin to develop an understanding that groups/people cannot be defined by a single story.  It makes me think back to the uproar over the Cherrios commercial with the bi-racial family.  If we really dig down deep, people were upset because the narrative of the commercial doesn’t support the single-story they had developed of family, black men, white women, etc.

So many of the issues that people have with “others” are that the stories they hold of them are singular and they often lack exposure to real examples.  Look at GOP members (who had a history of opposing gay marriage or being gay in general) change their view once they were able to develop a deep story of a group of people–this often happened when someone close to them was revealed as gay.  Exposure can allow our the stories we have of others to develop and change.  This only happens when the exposure doesn’t support the single-story.

We must be willing to seek out new stories and to challenge the single-stories that often make us comfortable.  As a teacher of literature (or of any subject), I have the power to expose my students (who live relatively isolated lives) to the stories of those who are different.  To stories that engage my students in new ways and to ask new questions about our preconceived notions.

As a parent, I must do the same.  I must teach my children that there are may stories of the people in Ethiopia (their birth country) and beyond.  We have to start exposing ourselves to those who are different to ensure that we move past the “single-story” mentality.  It is so important for our future.  It is so important if we every want to begin having real conversations about racism.

The Reality of Teaching

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

Now that teacher appreciation week has come and gone and I’m wrapping up my first year back in the high school classroom, I have to be honest about what I do as a teacher.

I parent all day. I thought I gave that up when my kids went to school and I went to work. And I guess I did give up day parenting when I had an office job. But as a classroom teacher, I parent. I spend a great deal of time helping the 15/16-year-old boys navigate the world. I hold their hands as they try to think outside of the box.

I push them to do the work and not take short cuts (But sparknotes is so much easier to read Mrs. Finley). I reprimand them for constantly touching, kicking, talking, farting, etc. I reinforce the idea that they need to respect their education and the desire of others to learn.

The majority of my job is not teaching, but guiding them. And often it is like guiding a donkey. They are stubborn and want to take the easy way out as often as possible. I challenge them to do more than the bare minimum. I remind them to tuck in their shirts and to pick up their trash.

I also get to teach them how to revise their thoughts. I teach them that nothing is perfect (or good for that matter) on the first go round. I give them feedback and push them to revise and redo. I teach them that there are no free rides, but that there are opportunities to fix mistakes.

I teach them how to be men and adults. I teach them how to think and share their thoughts. I also teach them English–but that seems to be the least important thing I teach.

Teachers do more than teach. Sometimes teaching is the last thing we do. My job is exhausting and I work 12-14 hour days on average. I sacrifice much of my own outside of school time to ensure that I am ready for my students (who often aren’t prepared). I grade papers, give feedback, and read all that I assign.

Teaching is a thankless job. Very rarely do we see the fruits of our labor. But we do it anyway. We do it because we know that we make a difference even if our students and their parents don’t.

So, thank a teacher. Chances are age has sacrificed more than you came imagine to educate your child beyond the subjects they teach.

Privilege, Education, Stereotypes, and Systemic Racism

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

I don’t know where these people live who claim we live in a “post-racial” society.  My guess would be they live in all white, gated communities, there kids go to private, somewhat diverse schools, and  where they run into brown people at the grocery store and think “isn’t that great.”  I know they don’t live in an urban center where a deep seeded, dirty, history of segregation and bigotry that still lurk just below the surface as along as everyone stays where they belong.

Where I live (and so many other people), there is nothing that resembles anything closet to “post-racial” at a systemic level.  There are plenty of day to day examples that might lull people into thinking we have moved beyond race being a factor.  I love my city but I will admit that when it comes to issues of race–it is often lost and the racist ideals the surface still piss me off and make me fear for my two brown children.  My city isn’t alone in this.  One only has to look at the trial of Trayvon Martin and question why no one is talking about Trayvon’s right to defend himself against someone following him in the dark of night with a gun.  There has been a lot of discussion about George Zimmerman’s right to defend himself.  But as the facts have illustrated, if he had just stayed in his car and not pursued Trayvon all would have been fine.  This isn’t a post about Trayvon, but I use this lack of discussion around Trayvon’s rights as an example of the privilege and systemic racism that continues to erode our society as well as working to keep the status quo.

Currently, my city is dealing with a very public clash that clearly exposes privilege and systemic racism.  We still have a pretty segregated school system.  Our city schools (which actually aren’t the focus of this) are about 85% minority and there is a very definite line that separates north (county and city) from south (county and city).  The north/south line represents a blurry color line as there is a constant ebb and flow over the line during our daily activities.  What this line really represents is the segregation that is inherent within society and is based on both socioeconomic status and race.  This line is easy to forget as we live our lives without giving much thought to the many nuances of our city.  Then something happens and the coded racism that is so prevalent in our society becomes less coded.

Our state supreme court came to the decision that students in unaccredited school districts had the right to transfer to accredited school districts in the same county and/or adjoining county with the unaccredited school district paying the tuition bill.  The law is very ambiguous and this has been litigated for years.  The legislature failed to find a “fix” to this legislative provision (or band-aid, or passing the buck, or not really addressing the issue).  I have been avoiding comments on newspaper articles that discuss this as we all know who comes out to comment in the anonymity of cyberspace.  There have been some voices of reason, by students and sadly most of the response from adults has been appalling (like the parent who demanded metal detectors).

This is when Facebook becomes the place where one realizes someone’s true character.  One of the people with whom I am friends on Faeebook (we haven’t seen each other since high school) wrote the following post.

These crappy schools up north dumping their problems on good county schools will accomplish nothing. If you have student’s that give no effort and parent’s that do nothing, it won’t matter where they go. Its like watching the NFL draft. “And Riverview Gardens selects…..Mehlville School District” what a joke.  –facebook post

I had to respond.  I HAD TO.  I know these kids.  I have taught in their districts.  I have visited their homes.  I have been apart of their community.

_____I taught in Riverview for years–this is not about kids who don’t want an education or parents that don’t care–it’s about the systemic failure of adults to do what is right for kids. The kids in Riverview and Normandy deserve very opportunity to get a great education. I don’t think transfers is how we fix it– but these kids and parents didn’t cause this problem–that is too simple a view.

Of course more of this person’s “friends” had something to say.

Ummm….I’m going to agree with _____ on this one. I will agree about the systemic failure. No argument here. But if you have a student in a school with a problematic administration, that should not stop that child from trying to excel. Thats a proven fact. The core of the problem lies at home with the parent/parents motivating their children to do better than they did. Riverview Gardens and Normandy was mentioned. I’m going out on a limb and I’m being generous here. I bet 5% of the class of 2013 strived to be a good student, hope for scholar ships and stay away from the other BS and actually graduated meeting their own goals. My point. These children are products of their environment. But only a very small percentage has what it takes to see past that and realize what an education means to their future. The solution starts at home. My .02$

Another (stereotypical) response from my “friend”

I think it has a lot to do with the parent’s. I see it all the time. Kids running around at 10 pm on school nights, no parent’s sitting down helping their children with homework etc. That answer is typical of todays society. What or who can I blame my problems on instead of taking responsibility for your own actions and the actions of your kids. If your going spit them out then do everything possible to raise them right, educate them and teach them they are responsible for their own actions.

Then there was this response….

True _____. Shitty parents make shitty kids. Product of their environment. Strong patents that give a shit show them the right path and do whatever it takes to keep them on it……interesting debate. Could go on all night.

I had so many things I wanted to say to this person.  But I didn’t.  Because it was very clear that this person would not have heard anything I said.  Then one of the school districts that will be receiving students from one of the unaccredited districts had a town hall meeting and over 2500 people turned out.  There were some horrible things said.

 “a man at the mic rebutted that the outcry isn’t about race. But shrouded by the anonymity of the crowd, another man yelled out “No, it’s about trash.” –-St. Louis Public Radio.

Again the only voice of reason from the (nearly all white and republican) school district came from a student.  The students are the only ones who give me any hope.

“We haven’t seen a lot of students here today,” one of the seniors said. “But we would be happy to have these new students at our school. It would be a great opportunity for these kids. There have been a lot of assumptions, but I don’t think we can assume that these Normandy kids are going to cause a lot of problems.”--St. Louis Public Radio.

While I have conflicting views on this whole idea of transferring large amounts for students out of a district to the cost of the district, I do know that everyone one of those children, ALL CHILDREN, deserve a quality education.  I don’t believe that the only way for that to happen is to buss students over 20 miles away to another district that may or may not have room to effectively educate the children.  But the choice of districts that are over 20 miles away are suspect for other reasons.  The unaccredited districts claim test scores and tuition as deciding factors in their decisions.  I believe part of it is the idea that families will not want to sent their kids that far way; therefore, more students will remain in the district.

It is so easy for those of us with privilege to protest and want to “protect” what we see as ours.  It is so easy for those of us with privilege to turn a blind eye to the systemic racism and bigotry that has allowed for these districts to fail as they have.  I don’t have the answers, but I do know that until we start to have honest conversations about race, equity and money, we aren’t going to solve anything.  Until we start talking about not just what we perceive our rights to be but the rights of all humans, we will continue to jail bury black teenage boys before their time (and without a second thought) and sanction the un-education of our poor youth.

Until we admit that we still carry around prejudices that takes away the humanity of others, we can’t move forward.  We can’t begin having conversations about solutions until we confront the problems.  Until we admit that we have bought into the racial stereotypes that have been part of the rhetoric of our country for years.  While the current situation in my city is ugly–at least it exposes the ugliness so that there isn’t any ambiguity around how people view black youth and black families as a whole.  I use to believe that if we exposed the disease we could treat it.

In the early 1980’s when we had a voluntary desegregation program that bussed students in from the city to our county schools–the same ugliness was exposed.  I remember the outrage in my own district–I was in high school at the time.  It saddens me to see the same ugliness again but people of my generation.

How do we move forward?  How do we get people to realize that one’s skin color isn’t a predictor of academic success?  How do we convince others that skin color is no more of a factor that hair color?  Yet it is because we have made it so.  We have socially constructed skin color to matter (all the way back to slavery we go).  At some point we made the decision that dark/brown skin color make someone less of a person.  How do we undo that?

I don’t know and it makes me so sad and angry.