Assumptions: What do I know???

Johannah Buissereth
Dr. Rebecca Goldstein
May 28, 2008
CURR 423
Assumption Paper
Imagine yourself as teacher, who has been teaching in a suburban school for a while. Then, you are asked to be relocated in an urban school setting. Now, you are feeling nervous and scared because society and media have viewed urban schools with negative stereotypes. How do you overcome the negative assumptions of the urban schools?
Growing up in a suburban setting, I have heard the negative assumptions of the urban schools, but never paid attention. I have watch movies such as “Lean on Me,” “Dangerous Minds,” and other movies that dealt with the urban school settings, and I have not develop any negative assumptions. Similar to the urban schools settings, I have experience the negativity assumptions in my high school, such as low standardized testing scores, going through metal detectors, and teachers who had low tolerance for behavior.
My father teaches at Brooklyn Academy Science Environment (Base High School), formally known as Prospect Heights High School in Brooklyn, New York and most students are viewed as “troublemakers.” At BASE High School, I have seen students passed through metal detectors, disrespect teachers, and students are viewed as “having no future.” As I have watched this being taken place, I have some of the teachers do not have hope for their own students.
The question a teacher should ask themselves is, “Am I ready for this challenge?” In the media, middle class teachers, who lived in the suburban area, are viewed as “superheroes in the classroom.” In the school settings, teachers are placed in a hierarchy role. Teachers are supposed to make a difference in their students’ lives, but it’s the student who has to be willing to accept the change. Most of the time, teachers are blamed by the parents of the child. Teachers are blamed because of what the media portrays them to be, especially in the urban setting. In my opinion, comparing teachers in the urban and suburban school settings, most teachers in the urban school setting are willing to help their students succeed. The reason is the teacher probably attended an urban school setting, knew what it felt to have horrible teachers, and wanted to make a difference.
Another negative assumption is the description of an urban school. For example, the movie “Lean on Me,” the movie was based on a true story; however the description of the school in the movie was graffiti on the school walls, chains on the door locked, and preventing the drug dealers from entering the schools. Most schools in the urban setting may have graffiti, but not locked chains on the door. It is a fire hazard and it is placing the students’ lives in danger. When most people see graffiti on the walls on the schools, especially in the urban setting, the school is viewed as a horrible school. Now think about it: What if there is graffiti writing on a suburban or rural school, how does society view that school? In my high school, we had graffiti written on the wall, but since we were in the suburbs it was viewed as nothing.
Finally, students who come from an urban setting have faced negative assumptions. People without an open mind have viewed students who lived in an urban setting or urban school settings have “troubled lives.” Once again, it’s the media that portrays the negativity of how students are viewed in the urban school setting. The students are portrayed as Black or Hispanic who have come from a single- parent home, or drug dealers trying to survive in the “hood.” I have friends who live in the urban setting, and their parents wanted the best for their children.
The media exaggerates the lives of students who lived in the urban setting. I lived in the suburbs and the students who lived in the suburbs go through the similar struggles as the students who come from an urban school setting. Sometimes, it is worst in the suburban school setting. Society is very close-minded because most people think the most negativity happens only in the urban setting. For example, look at the incident in Columbine High School or Virginia Tech. No one had expected these two incidents to happen.
As a future teacher to be, I have seen the best of both worlds, but experience living the life in the suburbs. It is a challenge in which I will have to face in both urban and suburban school settings. I cannot develop a close minded mind, just like the media and most of the people in our society, but develop an open my mind to new challenges and experiences. In my classrooms, students will have the opportunity to express themselves through their talent and hopefully this will help them make a difference for themselves. It may not be easy, but this will show your students that I am apart of them.
Now to reiterate the question: How do you overcome the negative assumptions of the urban schools? The solution is to develop an open mind and always prepare your self for a new challenge. Also, develop your own strategies in helping your students to retain what they are being taught. Now, it is time to open the mind of those who have negative assumptions of the urban schools settings. Lets’ make a Difference!