my educational journey: supporting and connecting with marginalized students

Connecting With and Supporting Diverse Students

As a white privilege male educator, I aspire to work in Toronto. My goal is to work within the Jane and Finch area at schools like Westview Centennial, Brookview, and Yorkwoods public school. Many students in this area are marginalized black youth. Despite the stigmatization of the Jane and Finch community, it is my personal goal as an educator to connect with these marginalized youths and help them achieve their goals, dreams, and academic potential.

HEROS: Connecting With Diverse Students Through Community Engagement

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Through my unique community placement I was able to connect with and empower marginalized youth from the Jane and Finch Community. These students were from Yorkwoods and Brookview middle school. My community placement was called the Hockey Education Reaching Out Society (HEROS). In this volunteer experience I utilized the game of ice hockey to connect with diverse students as I taught them life-skills and helped to raise their self-confidence. I was responsible for providing a safe and stable environment for young people to succeed and connect on and off the ice. As a volunteer I facilitated mentor relationships with youth as I focused on the four fundamental HERO behaviors: listening, respect, discipline, and having fun. I have been working hard to apply these four values to my practicum classroom. This valuable life experience has changed the ways in which I care for, approach , interact with, and support marginalized students (and students in general). This experience has taught me the importance of going beyond the curriculum to connect with students and guide them in becoming constructive citizens and future community leaders. I also learned that teaching and the learning process stretches far beyond the classroom. Ongoing support from educators and the surrounding community can lead to positive outcomes in youth development (James, 2012).

https://heroshockey.com/

Connecting With Diverse Students Through Rejection of Deficit Thinking

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As a future educator within the Jane and Finch area, I strive to make a positive impact. I will not let privilege and bias affect my perceptions and professional judgement as such bias can end up blinding me from the inequalities that take place within my school community (Solomon, Manoukian, & Clarke, 2007). Privilege and bias will only trap me within "deficit thinking" (Portelli, Shields, & Vibert, 2007, p. 3), and prevent me from truly understanding the lived experiences of my marginalized students.

Connecting with Diverse Students

As an educator I will not approach my classroom solely through my own personal lens. As stated by Solomon, Manoukian, & Clarke (2007), when working with diverse multicultural populations it is important to engage in educational practices that foster teaching for equity and social justice. Within my practicum and future teaching career it is important that I am aware of cultural differences and inclusive in my teaching methods so that I can better connect with and support my students (OME, 2013). Incorporating only my own lived experiences into my teaching practice instead of incorporating the lived experiences of my students will cause a disconnect in the classroom. In order to foster a sense of community within the classroom students need to be able to relate to their teacher and see themselves in their learning (Ontario's Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy, 2009).

Connecting with Diverse Students Through the Integration of Culturally Inclusive Inquiry Based Instruction

As a white privileged educator it is important that my instructional strategies reflect my students lived experiences so that marginalized youth can critically engage and see themselves in the learning process. Culturally inclusive inquiry based instructional strategies are ones that involve students in their own learning and assessment (Stiggins & Chappuis, 2006). It is critical that my instructional strategies are inclusively cognizant of the social and cultural context of my students (OME, 2013). As an educator it is imperative that I integrate inquiry based instructional strategies into my teaching practice. Furthermore, I encourage diverse students to assess, track, and set goals for their own learning (Bennett & Rolheiser, 2008).

Connecting with Students Through Reality Pedagogy and Hip-Hop Education

In order to connect with and support marginalized students I will ensure to involve reality pedagogy in my teaching practice. As articulated by Emdin (2016), my approach to teaching will focus on the reality of youth experiences, as I will use this as a foundation for my teaching practice. I believe that it is important to integrate youth experiences into the classroom by means of culture and community. I will follow in the footsteps of Christopher Emdin by creating an outlet for students to express themselves by integrating hip-hop into my classroom. I believe that hip-hop can be a great way for me to connect with my students, allowing them to achieve academic success, and connect their lived experiences to the classroom setting. Hip-hop education can allow diverse students to find their voice in the classroom and build resiliency to oppression. I believe that hip-hop education can help to bring out the cultural knowledge, skills, and abilities of diverse students. As an educator I will work hard to support my students by being cognizant of the ways that I approach my teaching practice and ensure that I am incorporating the lived experiences of all my students into my classroom.

Connecting With Students Through Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

In order to connect with and support students, I need to take into consideration the community in which the school is located and the students come from. I will need to ensure that I am taking into account student experiences when conducting my lessons. I will also need to involve culturally responsive pedagogy into my teaching practice. As stated by James (2012), “reducing community members and, in particular, students’ experiences to a single narrative would mean failing to give attention to the complex, interwoven intricacies and enduring factors of what it means to live and attend school within a particular community” (p. 122). As an educator I can be a catalyst for social change by building positive relationships with all of my students, regardless of their ethnicity or class background. I can also be a catalyst for social change by standing up to discrimination and by being a consistently positive role model for my students. As educators we can unpack our biases and assumptions of different communities by opening ourselves up to diverse experiences, incorporating differing perspectives (including student experiences) into our teaching practice, and by taking on teaching jobs within inner city schools so that we are able to step out of our comfort zone and better understand those that come from disadvantaged communities. As an educator I will make an effort to learn about students’ cultures and ethnicities, and ensure that I am using language and learning materials that are culturally relevant to students. This will allow for students to be fully engaged when seeing themselves in their learning, thus facilitating their success.

Supporting Diverse Students Through Inclusive Teaching Strategies

As a teacher in the Jane and Finch community, I can further connect with and support diverse students by utilizing concepts like differentiated instruction, UDL, inquiry-based learning, and the growth mindset. Incorporating these approaches into my pedagogical practice can support the success of all students (Ladson-Billings, 2006). As an inclusive educator, I need to adapt my teaching strategies to the needs of my students and ensure that the lived experiences of marginalized students are reflected in my lessons and in my classroom culture (Shah, 2016). As an educator, I believe it is important to affirm the life experiences of students that I meet in my classroom so that all members of the school community feel accepted. I intend to create an inclusive, safe, and equitable environment in which all students feel valued, and are encouraged and inspired to learn.

Avoiding the Single Narrative Mentality can Allow for Authentic Connection With my Students

If I truly want to connect with and support my students it is vital that I steer clear of the single narrative mentality. Involving myself in this mindset will result in the oppression of the racialized minority students in my classroom. As mentioned in the TED talk: The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Adichie (2009), it is important to not fall into the trap of stratifying groups of individuals based on a single story. The single story with regards to all marginalized African-Canadian youth being deviant and dangerous can prevent me from authentically connecting with my students as individuals. As a result, my students will become disengaged from their learning. As a teacher that comes from a white privilege background, I firmly believe in taking on teaching jobs within inner city urban areas. Doing so will expose me to the unique lived experiences of each student and allow me to truly understand the dangers of a single story.

Broadening my Privileged Perceptions: Connecting With Diverse Students by Seeking out their Perspectives

Each student has their own unique story and lived experience that is different from the stereotypes depicted within the dominant discourse of society (Adichie, 2009). By immersing myself in diverse school communities (like the schools within the Jane and Finch area) I can begin to seek out diverse perspectives from my students (on their lived experiences) and therefore broaden my privileged perceptions. By broadening my perceptions I can begin to unpack my privilege and better connect with my students. As an educator I want to teach my students that they do not have to fit into the single story of a marginalized African-Canadian (as an example). I want my students to know that just because you have economic disadvantages does not mean that you will automatically grow to be unsuccessful in life. These are just some barriers that can be overcome. In order to overcome these barriers, I will relentlessly encourage my students to be resilient and believe in themselves.

A White Privileged Educator Working with Diverse Students

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In order to truly connect with diverse students as a white privileged educator I need to admit that I don’t know it all. Each class presents new challenges to learn from my students, and demands that as an educator I am a good researcher and a good listener. These days the demographic reality of schooling makes it likely that as a white teacher I will enter classrooms filled with children of color. As articulated by Au (2007) when I am teaching children who are different from me, I must call upon parents in a collaborative fashion if I am to learn who my students really are. I must also call upon the cultural diversity of my teacher colleagues and on community resources for insights into the Jane and Finch community that I seek to serve.

Supporting Diverse Students Through High Expectations: The Development of Resiliency Skills

I want to “assist youth in building resiliency” skills (Toronto Youth Equity Strategy, 2019, p. 15). As articulated by TYES (2019), I need to support all my students in developing their own resiliency. By teaching my students the importance of being resilient in all situations, this can help them achieve a high level of physical, emotional, intellectual, psychological, and social well-being (TYPES, 2019). As articulated by the TYES (2019), it is also important that as an educator working within under-served communities I support and connect with marginalized students by placing high expectations on them instead of writing them off as a failure. Doing so may allow my students to build individual resiliency when faced with marginalization, and economic barriers. Even with the odds stacked against them, helping marginalized youths build up their individual resiliency and placing high expectations on them goes a long way. By placing high expectations on my students and helping them to build resiliency skills, I can connect with them at a deeper level and support them psychologically in a way that family members in their troubled home life may not be able to.

Connect with Students by Becoming an Advocate for Their Success

Another way that I can connect with marginalized students is by not placing labels on them as being stupid, a lost cause, at risk, or high risk. Instead, I want to become the number one supporter and advocate of their success (TYES, 2019). This labeling of marginalized youth can lead to streaming them into dead-end programs with stunted curricula, which can then lead them to insecure, low-paid employment (San Vicente, 2016). In a way, I can relate to students that get labeled and streamed into lower level programs. When I was entering high school I was placed in all applied level courses in grade nine (as throughout elementary school I was a student with an IEP). As an IEP’d student enrolled in all applied level courses, I felt stigmatized and marginalized upon entry into high school.

Support Diverse Students by Setting Them up for Success and Never Giving up on Them

I had to work hard to move up the education system and prove that I was worthy of academic level courses. I had to take an extra year of high school to prove myself and get into a University. I had to learn how to be resilient and stay positive throughout the entire process. I wouldn’t of been able to make it through this process if it wasn’t for a few amazing teachers that I connected with along the way. These educators believed in me, never gave up, and encouraged me to try my best (so that I could move into academic level courses). Although many of my future students may be streamlined into applied level courses for different reasons than me (some for discriminatorily racist reasons), the outcome of their academic careers can still be successful (like mine). I can really connect with youth as an educator because in some ways I know how it feels to be stigmatized and isolated. To feel like there is no hope for your academic future and to have to deal with people’s perception of you as less capable on a daily basis.

A Successful Mindset: Connect with Diverse Students by Building Positive Interpersonal Relationships

As an educator, I will mentor my students in the same ways that I was, in order to help them reach their full potential. My experiences have helped shape who I am today, and have allowed me to build valuable skills in the areas of leadership, understanding, resiliency, and communication. I would like to dedicate my career to building positive interpersonal relationships with marginalized students so that I can connect with them on a deeper level and teach them how to become resilient. I want to help young minds develop the critical thinking skills and ideas to influence positive change in their own lives and communities (James, 2012).

Supporting and Connecting with Diverse Students Through Reciprocal Relationships

When working within under-served communities it is important that I “foster reciprocal relationships with students by including them in co-creating learning opportunities, co-designing the learning space, and co-constructing assessment” (OME, 2013, p. 4). These reciprocal relationships are ways in which I can include student voice and allow marginalized students to demonstrate their ideas and share their thinking. Working within these reciprocal relationships can be a great way for me to continually connect, support, and motivate students. It is also important that I provide my students with “responsive guidance rather than engaging in teaching without attending to listening” (OME, 2013, p. 4). As articulated by OME (2013), it is important that I listen to student voices and ensure that the classroom is a safe space for marginalized students to express their opinions and perspectives. By listening to my student’s voices and using their voices to co-create the learning environment, diverse students will feel more engaged and feel like an important part of the learning community (OME, 2013). As a white privileged educator working within the Jane and Finch community, it is important that I am responsive to student interest as their interests need to be incorporated into the learning experience. By using student voice to co-create the learning environment I am empowering students to take responsibility for their own learning (OME, 2013). Involving myself in reciprocal student-teacher partnerships is key to creating a responsive learning environment where students have a voice in their own learning. As a white privileged educator, it is important that I develop a pedagogy of listening so that I can build rapport with diverse students, and improve student engagement and success.

References

Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi – TED Talk. (July 2009). The Danger of a Single Story [Videofile]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language

Au, Wayne. (2007). Teaching for Equity and Justice. Rethinking Our Classrooms. A rethinking school’s publication, volume 2. Retrieved from https://www.rethinkingschools.org/static/publication/roc2/ROC2_Introduction.pdf

Bennett B. & Rolheiser C., (2008) Beyond Monet: The Artful Science of Instructional Integration. Retrieved from https://moodle.yorku.ca/moodle/pluginfile.php/5086729/mod_resource/content/3/Beyond%20Monet%20Instructional%20Strategies.pdf

Emdin, Christoper. (2016). For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality pedagogy. Boston: Beacon Press. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/what-white-folks-who-teach-in-the-hood-get- wrong-about-education

James, Carl E., (2012). Chapter 6 Beyond the Intersection: Toward a Community- Centered Approach to Schooling. Life at the Intersection Community, Black Point, NS: Fernwood Publishing. pp. 116 – 128.

References

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12. Retrieved from https://ed618.pbworks.com/f/From%20Achievement%20Gap%20to%20Education%20Debt.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education (2013). Learning for All: A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students Kindergarten to Grade 12. p. 2-71. Retrieved from https://moodle.yorku.ca/moodle/pluginfile.php/5115458/mod_resource/content/3/LearningforAll2013.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Student Voice: Transforming Relationships. Capacity Building Series. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/a%20catapano/Downloads/CBS_StudentVoice.pdf

Ontario’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy (2009). Ministry of Education, 18 (4), 5 - 31. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/equity.pdf

Portelli, J., Shields, C., & Vibert A. (2007). Toward an equitable education: Poverty, diversity and students at risk. Chapter 1 only. Pages 6-17. Retrieved from: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/cld/UserFiles/File/Toward_an_Equitable_Education.pdf

San Vicente, A. (2016). Marginal at Best: A narrative on streaming in public education. Our Schools, Our Selves. Retrieved from https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Of fice/2016/04/osos123_MarginalAtBest.pdf

Shah, Vidya. (2016). Urban District Reform for Equity: The case of the Model Schools for Inner Cities Program in the Toronto District School Board. (Doctoral thesis, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, ON). Retrieved from: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/73170

References

Solomon, P., Manoukian R., Clarke J., (2007). From an Ethic of Altruism to Possibilities of Transformation in Teacher Candidates’ Community Involvement. Contributions of situated and participatory approaches to education innovation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 171 – 190.

Stiggins, R. & Chappuis J., (2006). What a Difference a Word Make: Assessment FOR Learning Rather than Assessment OF Learning Helps Students Succeed. National Staff Development Council, Vol. 27. Retrieved from https://moodle.yorku.ca/moodle/pluginfile.php/5115469/mod_resource/content/2/Assessment_for_Learning_Siggins_Chappuis.pdf

Toronto Youth Equity Strategy. (2019). City of Toronto. Retrieved from https://www.toronto.ca/citygovernment/accountability-operations-customer-service/long- term-vision-plans-and-strategies/toronto-youth-equity-strategy/