To what degree does race impact my life? I knew for me and African Americans it was a very high percentage. I said about 80%. The reason I say 80% is because of my faith in God whom I believe is ultimately in charge of my life. So man’s power is limited. What I learned is that race impacts every aspect of all races 100% of the time. I felt White people’s lives were not impacted by race at all. The book brought out a very interesting point. “If you are White, race plays an impact in your personal relationships, opportunities and sense of security in your community. You are racially secure in this society and benefit greatly from a schooling system that was geared to serve primarily White children". I have always heard my relatives say that white people will move out of a community simply because a black family moved in. It is true that race impacts 100% of our life experiences. Another point I thought was interesting is that educators often develop an undertaking of the fact that black and brown students are not meeting standards by naming family, community, poverty, language, and mobility. Current research indicates these common mentioned factors can affect a student’s learning but data show that none of these excuses can prevent any group of students from achieving at high levels. The book states that it is educators’ own personal racial perspectives attitudes and behaviors will impact how and what a student effectively learns and is able to do. Wow!! How it relates to my school This was a very interesting year at JN Ervin Elementary.
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The prior year we had one white teacher. Our school scores were very low. Which I heard this was the second year in a row scores where low. Many teachers were let go and many chose to leave. This was the year that it had to change. When I returned this school year there were at least 20 new white teachers. Three of them did not make it to September and 2 left during Christmas break. At the end of the year the scores still did not meet standard in the upper grades. I wonder if the hiring committee thought that white teachers would bring better test results. Did they think that the students (98% black) would respond better to white teachers? I will never know. I know that if I were to ask them they would probably say “we didn’t notice the race we just hired who was qualified”. Their classroom management was a disaster. Now we had a race issue with the students that we never had before. One of the white teachers who worked closely with me in kindergarten was told by a parent “my child will never respect you because you are white”. Students would make comments like “why do we have all these white people in our building”. There were more fights in the classroom, talking back to the teachers, talking over the teacher while they were instructing. Many of the white teachers blamed the student’s family, the community, poverty, language, and mobility. I wonder if they ever thought maybe it’s the educators’ own personal racial perspectives attitudes and behaviors that impact how and what a student effectively learns and is able to do. What changes would I make at my school based on this information and timeline? If I wanted my staff to be multicultural,
The prior year we had one white teacher. Our school scores were very low. Which I heard this was the second year in a row scores where low. Many teachers were let go and many chose to leave. This was the year that it had to change. When I returned this school year there were at least 20 new white teachers. Three of them did not make it to September and 2 left during Christmas break. At the end of the year the scores still did not meet standard in the upper grades. I wonder if the hiring committee thought that white teachers would bring better test results. Did they think that the students (98% black) would respond better to white teachers? I will never know. I know that if I were to ask them they would probably say “we didn’t notice the race we just hired who was qualified”. Their classroom management was a disaster. Now we had a race issue with the students that we never had before. One of the white teachers who worked closely with me in kindergarten was told by a parent “my child will never respect you because you are white”. Students would make comments like “why do we have all these white people in our building”. There were more fights in the classroom, talking back to the teachers, talking over the teacher while they were instructing. Many of the white teachers blamed the student’s family, the community, poverty, language, and mobility. I wonder if they ever thought maybe it’s the educators’ own personal racial perspectives attitudes and behaviors that impact how and what a student effectively learns and is able to do. What changes would I make at my school based on this information and timeline? If I wanted my staff to be multicultural,