readings for January 24th

The articles we read this week touch on incredibly important topics in education in our current times. However, they frusterated me. I have never felt so generalized or stigmatized in my life. The Fleming and Delpit articles discuss incredibly important issues, but have generalized 'white' and 'black' teachers as a whole which seems to me slightly inappropriate. I recognize that these articles have been written with great research and careful study, but I can't help but feel they generalize and leave out the findings that might go against their argument. As a white teacher who has aspirations of teaching in a Title 1, urban school, I feel that I am most interested in hearing the thoughts and ideas of anyone who is willing to help me become a better suited teacher for students in these schools. While I do have a strong educational background provided to me by the institution I chose to attend, I would consider myself ignorant if I felt I was given all the necessary information to be completely successful in my future career as a teacher. I am part of an ever changing era, and the ideologies and methodologies of teaching are ever changing as well.

In the Fleming article they discuss the discontinuity between the teacher preparation program and the real-life situations teachers face. It is mentioned that beginning teachers in urban schools do not feel adequately prepared for the real-world contexts of teaching. I have never been told during my education that I will graduate with a completed handbook on how to handle every classroom environment I might face. I have been told, however, that the preparation I have been receiving is a building block to aid and assist in as many ways possible in my future classrooms. I feel like this article could be written from the perspective of beginning teachers who were prepared extensively for urban schools, but who are not teaching in a suburban, middle to upper class school. There will never be a program that prepares you for everything, and beginning teachers need to utilize their resources to add to the preparation they received in college. I would like to note that my experiences have been varied throughout my education, and I am not aware of how every other preparation program works therefore I am biased in my opinions!