Conclusion

            Throughout the last couple of weeks I have learned a lot in regards to teachers in multicultural schools. I have learned that although we as White educators may want to change the way students from other cultures see us, we can’t. We as White educators cannot change how we are seen, despite how desperately we want to change the negative views of us. What we can do is work with students from other cultures to start the healing process. Something I found interesting is that the healing process correlates with my Christian worldview on many different aspects. For instance Howard says that four methods to contribute towards the healing process are honesty, empathy, advocacy, and action. In a Christian worldview we know that we have to be honest, even one of the Ten Commandments is not to lie. We should be advocates of those who are down trotted, isn’t that what Jesus did, and although we know that we will never come close to being like Jesus; our goal is to strive to be like Him? Being empathetic is part of being a good Christian and a good person in general, being able to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes in order to see how you can help them is somewhat like being a servant, and we are all servants for Christ. And do onto others as we would like others to do on to us is something we have been told since we were little and that’s what action is. When you take action and do to your multicultural students what you would like to have done to you when you were a child. The fact that God created us in His own image is another aspect of it. As White teachers we have to treat every student as an individual and celebrate where they come from. We have to give them the same education as any other child no matter their culture or heritage. Something this has shown me is that this is just another way I can be a good Christian in my school no matter if it’s public or private.

            The biggest tension I still wrestle with is the teachers who don’t want to treat multicultural students the way they treat others. Or in the last chapter of the book, the ones who don’t want to permanently live in La Tierra Transformativa. How do we deal with those educators? How do we work next to someone who doesn’t see every student as gifted, or doesn’t want to teach them? My biggest struggle is that those people hold the future of multicultural students in their hands, and if we have to work with them, and they are trying to undue all of the progress we make, then what do we do?

            The next step for me in my professional growth is to talk to teachers who are advocates of multicultural students, and the students themselves who come from different walks of life. I have some friends that I made when I was in Africa who have been adopted by an American woman and now go to school in the United States. They know firsthand what it’s like to go to school where they are the only students who aren’t white. I obviously talked to them a lot about what it was like to go to school in Africa when they were younger but I really want to dive into their school experience with their teachers here in America and ask them what I could do in order to make that progress towards healing. This approach is very meaningful because since they are my friends they will be more open and honest with me about what I can do, which means I will get the best possible advice, coming straight from people who have dealt with this firsthand. That way I can be the best teacher I can possibly be.

Chapter 8

            The final chapter of Howard’s book is broken into 3 parts. The first 2 parts sum up what we have read thus far. He makes some really good connecting points, such as we cannot travel this road alone. It is extremely important that to keep in mind that we may try and fight this battle by ourselves but ultimately we cannot. He says that someone in our lives has been given to us in order to help bridge this gap and it is a blessing for us. Another point he made clear was that Whiteness is multidimensional; therefore it is confusing and always changing which makes it that much harder to overcome. There are so many different aspects to it that we can’t simply defeat it. He does say that working towards the goal is the reward, knowing that we are trying to overturn what incredible wrongs have been done, which I feel is true.

            The third part of the final chapter he talks about a place called “La Tierra Transformativa”, a place where vision, positive change, and healing all come together. He describes us as all border dwellers, people who are not willing to make the full time “move” if you will, to La Tierra Transformativa. The ultimate goal is to make that move, and then you will be a transformationist teacher. He warns us that not all of our colleagues will want to move there, or even be border dwellers, but he brings up the point that some of the biggest movements are spearheaded by small groups of people. So we shouldn’t be afraid to stand up to the people unwilling to make the move. In the U.S. we have yet to achieve the equity, justice, opportunity, and unity. But hopefully we can.

            Again I find myself coming back to Genesis 1:27 “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” If we were created in God’s image why is any one person better than the other? They aren’t. Every child and person should be treated equally and not one student should get a better education just because of where they come from, what their culture is, or what their skin color is. We learned the song in Sunday school

Jesus loves the little children

ALL the children of the world

Red and yellow black and white

We are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

            I know this is a Sunday school song, but if that’s what we grew up learning, where did it go wrong? We should all be living in “La Tierra Transformativa”, especially if you say that your worldview is a Christian one.

            In my novice placement I see more of the acceptance between the students than I do between the teachers and students. I hear teachers make remarks about students based off of their culture all the time. I know I’m not perfect in my mindset of multicultural schools but I try my best to bridge the gap and I can’t say the same about the teachers there. Don’t get me wrong they are wonderful teachers and deeply care about the students, but they don’t stop looking at the negatives of the culture they come from. That is something that I wish was different not only about the school I’m at, but any school, or any person for that matter.

“The reward for transformative White educators is that we have a vision worthy of a lifetime of work.” (pg 139)

Chapters 6-7

            In chapter 6 Howard recognizes three distinct White identity orientations; fundamentalist, integrationist, and transformationist White identity. Each orientation is then described by 9 indicators which are then grouped into 3 modalities of growth, thinking, feeling, and acting. Thinking in relativity to this is how we as white teachers think relative to the constructs of truth, Whiteness, and dominance. The way we feel when talking about a culturally competent teacher refers to the relativity of self-awareness, racial differences, and discussions of racism. As awkward as they may be discussions of racism may come up between you and students, but our ability to talk about from an educational standpoint is crucial. Then there is act, or what we do about it relative to teaching, management, and cross-cultural interactions. The thinking is that through this process we as white educators will be able to grow in our abilities to teach in a multicultural classroom. He then goes into the rhetoric of being white. What is important to know about this is that we cannot undo being white, we cannot choose to change our skin color, nor can we undue the injustices white people have done in the past. What we can do as white teachers is make the choice to right those wrongs and choose to conquer social healing and justice.

            Then in chapter 7 Howard bridges the gap between our mindset and what we can do with it. One of the keys is that those of us who have benefitted from white dominance, which is all of us in one way or another, do not have to pass it on to the next generation. There is an achievement gap between races, and some of what Howard talks about is how this has happened because of social dominance. One thing that has contributed to this is the assumption of rightness. Or assuming we are right with our assumptions of other races. “Rigid, unexamined, and unchallenged assumptions about children of color on the part of White educators are one of the important factors contributing to the overrepresentation of Black, Hispanic, and Native American children in segregated special education classrooms in our nation’s schools” (pg 119). The last two parts of this is the luxury of ignorance and the legacy of privilege. Now what can we do about this?  We have to know that race matters, both our race and our student’s race do matter and acknowledging that is the first step. Change begins with us, as teachers we have to be leaders and make the change rather than waiting for it to happen. Beliefs determine outcomes, we have to believe that a change is necessary and through that belief it starts. Teaching is a calling not just a job, this is something I have always thought and personally believe any educator should. You should teach only if you feel called, not just as a job. As a teacher you hold the future of the students in your hands and if you aren’t truly passionate then you should frankly do something else. That is the mindset we have to start with. Now what do we physically have to do? Howard connects what we should know with what we should do through an achievement triangle. The first corner of this triangle is rigor. Rigor means being relentless in our belief in our students’ capacity to learn, which again, is something as educators we should have anyways. Another aspect is being equally vigilant in improving our capacity to teach, it means caring deeply about our students and about our practice, it means having a passion for equity and social justice, all things you should have as a teacher anyways. A relationship with your students is the second point of the triangle, a good professional relationship. A professional relationship is one that consists of things like knowing their name and how to pronounce it correctly. This may seem like a minor thing but to the multicultural students it is an important thing to them. I know that in my novice placement right now there are names that are unique to their cultures, and when you pronounce them right it means a lot to them. The third point on this intersection is responsiveness, where the teacher actually connects with the process and learning experiences of the students.

            This is something I have seen a little bit in my novice placement. Like for instance with the pronunciations of the students names. This is just something small I can do in order to facilitate the gap between me and multicultural students but it’s something that I was proud of. In my placement I actually don’t have any students whose races have been enslaved by White people in the past, however I am always conscious not to make it seem that just because they don’t speak English, I think little of them. I always try and am an advocate of the students’ when situations arise between teachers. For instance making sure I say that they are intelligent and do understand the material if you give it to the students in the right way. That it’s not a question of understanding the material but the language. These are just some things I make sure I do in my novice placement to bridge the gap between White teachers and multicultural students.

Chapters 4-5

            Howard starts chapter 4 with a story. His son’s best friend was killed in the gorge of the Rio Grande River, the next summer his son got a job as a white river raft tour guide. He then relates being a teacher to being a river guide, “a guide must be familiar with the nature and location of these holes and respect their power. On the river of diversity; the holes are a metaphor for the dynamics of White dominance” (pg 70). We can contribute towards the healing process in many different ways; Howard discusses these four; honesty, empathy, advocacy, and action.

            Honesty is a big part of facing any problem, especially racism. We have to start learning to question our previous assumptions, and realize that we are limited because we have culturally conditioned perceptions of truth. “Empathy is a healing response because it allows us as Whites to step outside of dominance, to see our social position in a new light, and connect with the experience of others who see the river of diversity from a different perspective” (pg 77). Relating it back to the river rafting analogy, he says that we can’t really understand what it’s like to be another race, nor can they really understand what it’s like to be white, however we can go on parts of the journey together, we can share a boat, and through that we can see parts of the river through each other’s eyes. As teachers we have to be advocates of our students regardless of what race they are, however particularly students of other races. Howard says that as leaders in the White community we have to take up the responsibility of undoing White ignorance instead of waiting for other racial groups to do it. I feel like this is extremely true, especially considering that as Whites we have been the cause of so much racism, we should be the first ones to try and right the wrongs, which also falls under action. Action is possibly the most important thing in trying to undue all of the racism that has happened over the years. We can talk about trying to change things or being advocates but unless we actually do something about it, it means absolutely nothing. It’s not our fault that we were born White, however this means that we are responsible for how we react to racism and dominance throughout our schools and communities.

            The next chapter is about going from social dominance to social justice. Howard says “In spite of the past, however, it is my conviction that White dominance is neither inevitable nor invincible” (pg 86). White dominance isn’t permanent, it can be changed, we can do something about it, and it doesn't have to be that way. Especially when we do the four things he suggested in the previous chapter. First things first though, we have to look inside ourselves, we can’t dismantle the “legacy” of white dominance without looking into our own personal role in perpetuating justice.

            This for me came as no real surprise, I just had never really thought about it this way. As a Christian I believe we should do all of those things anyways. I believe that God created all children equally and should be treated as such. As a Christian we should be honest, empathetic, advocates, and take action for all the children who need it anyways. That’s what God wants for us to do in order to be good Christians. I always knew he wanted us to do those things, I just never thought about them in the context of children of different races in schools so it was good for me to see it in that light.

            I see this take place in my novice placement quite often. It is a classroom with multiple children from different backgrounds. A majority of their parents don’t speak English to communication with them is somewhat difficult, especially when there is communication between the teacher, the student, and the parent because most of the students don’t speak English very well either. Therefore there are many communication gaps and we as teachers sometimes get frustrated that the students or parents can’t understand. As the teacher we have realize that it’s not our fault they don’t speak English fluently and maybe it’s our fault that we haven’t tried to communicate in more efficient ways. We have to be advocates of the students when this happens because they may have tried to communicate with their parents but they just didn’t understand, and we can’t take it out on the kids. These are just some of the many ways I see this played out in my novice placement.

Chapters 1-3

            In what I’ve read so far there has been a significant theme: white dominance is a “highly selective poison that continually steals the lifeblood from those people who have not been marked with the genetic code of whiteness” (19). Racism is perpetuated through ignorance, dominance, and privilege, and because of those things whether we realize it or not, being white has given us opportunities that we have taken advantage of that other people haven’t had just because of skin color. Being white is like carrying around an invisible knapsack of things we can cash in every day. These things range from big social injustices to small things as well, like when getting band-aids not having to worry about them matching our skin color. This also comes down to how students are affected educationally. At one point Howard talks about a kindergarten teacher who couldn’t understand why some racial students fall behind because they all come with the same “equipment”. However that’s not the case, all students may have the same physical equipment but white children don’t have to deal with the discrimination of society. They are at a huge advantage that has come because they are white. For instance, Native American children were removed from their families, placed in boarding schools, given western haircuts, and punished for anything they did that was traditional. “An attempt to ‘bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human civility’” (pg. 46) was how their treatment was described. Later Howard says “The stated intention of the policy was to ‘kill the Indian…and save the man” (pg. 46). White kids don’t have to deal with any of that discrimination, or anything close for that matter. So how do we as white educators, get past the students’ mentality that we, as white people, are the cause of their disadvantage? Unfortunately the answer is we can’t. As white people we can’t rightly ask them to let go of all the discrimination that we have put them through and expect them to just let it go.

            Even though we have a history of discriminating and obliterating other cultures and minority groups we cannot simply face these issues and move past them. If we do that we will be plagued with guilt and only be left feeling worse about the situation. “If we do not face dominance, we may be predisposed to perpetuate it” (pg. 30).The solution is that as educators we can no longer ignore the cycle of racism that’s taking place. We can no longer feel uncomfortable facing these issues in light of the fact that we may be the only white person among our students. To be a good educator you not only have to face the bias, strive for change, realize privilege, and move on from it but you also need to accept that as a white person you have a culture and it too, is important to you and who you are much like it will be for your students.

            In my aiding placement I have many students who are first or second generation immigrants, whose culture is extremely different from mine. I don’t try to ignore what’s happened in the past; however it’s not as if I celebrate it either. If something ever comes up in a lesson or in a question, I address it as a teaching opportunity. That’s one of the things I love about history, it gives us a guide of “do’s” and “do not’s” from our past. Just today I mentioned something about slavery and how African American’s culture thrived in the south. They clung to their culture because while being enslaved it was something they had during a time where they barely had anything. It was something that couldn’t be taken away by their white slave masters. No I’m not proud that white people enslaved other races, but it happened, we learned from it, and now we can teach about it from an educational standpoint and address it.

Introduction

              Malcolm X once said, “we can’t teach what we don’t know, and we can’t lead where we won’t go.” That is where the title of my book comes from. I am reading Gary Howard’s book We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know, which is about Howard breaking down barriers and going to places that are culturally diverse from his own, in order to lead us as we go through them ourselves.

           

              In his introduction he quotes Pedro Noguera who says, “Does American society truly value all of its children?” The fact that someone has to even ask that question is sad to me as a future educator and simply as an American. I chose to read this book because going into the education field today is a lot different than it used to be. America is heading in a direction where our nation, and therefore our schools, are going to be made up of such a rich mix of different cultures, and so many white educators are unprepared in how to teach them. As a future educator I believe we need to know how to embrace these students for who they are as individuals and be able to successfully teach those who are culturally different than us. I’m hoping this book can further my understanding of diversity in the classroom and how to better educate these students. We are all God’s children and all have the right to get a quality education, and my hope is that this book will give me a better opportunity to do that.

Here is the APA citation for the book.
Howard, Gary. We can't teach what we don't know: White teachers, multiracial schools.