I didn’t realize it at the time but Turner Middle School ( the first school at which I worked as a full time teacher ) was designated as a “Needs Improvement” school by the Georgia Department of Education under the guidelines of the then newly passed federal No Child Left Behind act. This meant that the school hadn’t made Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP for at least 2 consecutive school years. Turner had the distinction of not having made AYP for 7 years at the time I was hired. As such, a state employed monitor whose job it was to ensure that we were teaching to the “standards” and that our academic programs were “rigorous and relevant” was assigned to our school. I do not recall her name. However, I do recall that I took offense at her analysis of our students, our teaching practices, and I let her know as much during a meeting.
In a prior life I was known to tell my higher ups what I thought no matter the consequence. I’m sure my willingness to point out matters of concern contributed to my eventual dismissal from employment on more than one occasion, but I digress. During this particular meeting our state monitor explained to us that she felt that our instructional practices were low level and emphasized rote memorization of facts rather than application of concepts. I explained to the state monitor that many of our students had trouble reading and had that some rote memorization was necessary to solidify their tenuous knowledge of basic skills. If a child cannot add fractions, how then is he or she supposed to solve complex equations involving fractions ? She did not see my point. I was furious and let her know as much. I told her that I felt that she disrespected the work of the teachers, students, and other staff at Turner Middle School and left the meeting. She was not pleased.
She later told my Principal that no one had ever spoken to her like that in her 30+ year career. Dr. Clark defended me explaining that I was just very passionate and took up for my students and co workers at any cost. Behind closed doors, however, Dr. Clark congratulated me for saying what I said as did other co workers who felt that the woman was simply not being realistic about what was best for the students.
That encounter taught me that the so-called experts are often wonks and talking heads and that the most knowledgeable person in the room is usually the classroom teacher. I never let anyone second guess my decisions in the classroom again. My encounter with the state monitor also began to solidify my reputation as a hot head and a leader. I didn’t and don’t mind being characterized as either.
P.S.
We made AYP during my first year and the state monitor found another faculty to pester 
I met my first Principal, Dr. Joyce Clark, at a banquet for new teachers. To say her reputation preceded her would be an understatement. Those with whom she worked described her as hard nosed, no-nonsense, and downright scary. Prior to meeting her I couldn’t help but wonder “who is this devil woman and what did life do to her to make her so awful?” I carried my false consummations of others’ perspectives of her into our first meeting and the ideas of other did indeed color my perceptions of her for a time. We ( the other new teachers ) and I sat with Dr. Clark as the teacher of the year received his award. I cannot recall much about the recipient except that he had dread locks and spoke into the microphone using lots of slang. His appearance and speech patterns annoyed Dr. Clark and she made no efforts to hide her displeasure with the man as she rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth as he spoke. Aside from her demeanor she seemed very elegant. She was fair skinned ( I later came to find that she was from New Orleans so I assume she was Creole ), walked everywhere with a sashay, and had no tolerance for stupidity, laziness, or disloyalty. She was quick witted and (I came to eventually discover) kind hearted. However, at first meeting I was terrified of her. I wonder if she ever knew.
I had emailed Dr. Clark prior to meeting her because I was eager to get into the building and start preparing my classroom for the upcoming school year. She never replied. I mentioned this to her during the banquet and she brushed me off as some would a fly, replying “I don’t have time to worry about that right now Mr. Miles. There will be time for all of that later.” I didn’t have much to say to her after that and neither did any of the other new teachers. I only recall that we all referred to her as “ma’am” more often than her title. There was always something authoritative and motherly about Dr. Clark. Many southern Black women seem to posses similar qualities.
Some time later all of the new teachers were able to make our way to the school to begin working in our classrooms. Dr. Clark supplied all of her first year teachers with lots of supplies and unsolicited, although useful, advice. I came to her office near the end of my first day of working in my classroom. I was dressed in blue jeans, sneakers, and a Georgia State University t-shirt. I tried to ask her something but before I could finish my statement she said about me to no one in particular “Isn’t he just the cutest thing?!” If I were a white man I’m sure I would have blushed. It was unexpected and definitely unprofessional but I welcomed the compliment all the same. I didn’t realize it at the time but Dr. Clark was taking me under her wing, chastising me when I was wrong, praising me when I was right, calming me down when I was furious ( I would be furious on many occasions over my two years working under her ), and supporting my growth as a professional every step of the way.
The constituent components of capitalism have changed vastly over time. Today’s definition may be the unfettered, unregulated, and unbridled pursuit of profit at any cost. Capitalism, by any definition, is amoral and the pursuit of profit is often promoted as the ultimate American ideal, even when such an ideal infringes upon the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of others. Ironically, or not, capitalism at its zenith can be completely anti-democratic and anti-American. Regrettably, public and private primary and secondary schools have been co-opted by corporate elites in efforts to mold America’s most impressionable citizens into conspicuous consumers and rabid capitalists who uncritically go through life without ever questioning the social, environmental, or ethical implications of the widespread acceptance of an amoral profit-at-all-costs culture.
One reason for the possible assault on public and private primary and secondary schools ( not to mention colleges and universities ) is the fallacious assumption by most Americans that democracy and capitalism are not mutually exclusive. True democracy and American capitalism are actually strange bedfellows as American capitalism tends to reduce everything to a commodity that can be bought and sold including political office, the votes of the citizenry, and popular opinion. No one can deny that modern political campaigns increasingly resemble ad campaigns whose simple slogans and catch phrases turn a particular candidate into a product to be consumed rather than a public servant to be held accountable for his or her actions. The candidates sole purpose becomes reelection for the maximum number of terms rather than service to his or her constituents. Today’s political arena is no different than the Coke vs. Pepsi wars of the 1980′s with your favorite political party/candidate selling his or her party platform every election season.
American schools (as an extension of our government), being beholden to corporate elites, do students and teachers a social disservice by treating teachers and students as inputs and outputs whose outcomes can be predicted and standardized if only each has the right training. The implications for our culture are already manifesting as test scores are being used to place value on certain schools, teachers, and students. Capitalist thought, theory, and practice, having infiltrated the schools, has reduced people to mere outcomes. Individual worth of students, teachers, and schools is now tied to what each is able to “produce” on so-called objective standardized tests ( which are often created by for-profit testing companies and textbook publishers ). The reduction of people to products is anti-ethical and immoral.
So, what is the solution? The influence of American capitalism must be removed from the American democracy or our entire culture will be reduced to so many commodities to be bought, sold and traded and the best place to begin the removal process is in our schools. Return the authority and autonomy for educating students to trained professionals and keep the marketing gurus out of the school house.
I’m on a natural high right now from my triumphant return to teaching. I’m back like I left something! I didn’t take an extended hiatus or change careers…I just took the standard summer vacation during which time I learned to live a lot, enjoy my life, be more honest with myself, and face a lot of my personal fears and demons. Initially, I wasn’t at all enthused about returning to work because I thought the time I spend “living” would be interrupted by the time I spend “working.”After today I realized that couldn’t be further from the truth. My students gave me energy today. I fed off of it, I craved it, and I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was deprived of that energy over the summer. I feel like I did when I first got into this career…excited, nervous, ambitious, and focused on being the best classroom teacher I can be.
I’m really looking forward to all that this year has to offer. I’m off to an awesome start and can’t wait to see what’s next.
After the Atlanta Plus summer program concluded I had roughly a week to myself and then attended new teacher orientation. I was shocked and amazed at the vast number of teachers joining the profession at once. Of course I saw my fellow Atlanta Plus cohort members and I also ran into former high school classmates, people I had met in college, and hundreds more people I had never seen before in my life.
Orientation was held at a recently remodeled middle school if I recall correctly. The school was composed of several wings and the library, gymnasium, and instructional facilities were house in separate buildings. I had never seen a school like this before. I was hooked.
I don’t remember much about new teacher orientation. I’m sure we attended several workshops, had inspirational guest speakers prepare us for the rigors of teaching in an the inner city, and other such time sucks. However, what I do recall most is the down-time. The down-time was significant because people exchanged their stories, expectations, fears, and insecurities. The down-time was also significant because I made a friend who I later found out was to be my teammate in the fall. His name was Chris Gifford, I would later call him “Giff.”
Giff was a White man from South Carolina who had previously taught in inner city Macon, Georgia. Up until I met Giif I had no idea Macon had an inner city…but I digress. Giff came from old money. I think I remember him telling me the town his family comes from is named after them…like I said…Giff came from OLD money. He had on glasses, a white oxford shirt, a bowtie, seersucker pants, and boat shoes. He looked nervous as hell in the sea of young Black professionals but he tried not to give it away. Needless to say I liked Giff immediately. I can’t recall how we began talking or what we began talking about but somehow we did. We became fast friends that day. We managed to find each other every day during orientation after our initial meeting.
I met other members who would also be joining me at my new school in the fall. They were all female. There was Ms. Ewing, who I would later find out was barely out of her teens when she started teaching. There was also Ms. Davis a young special education teacher from Michigan. I liked them both. It seemed like our school was either trying to make a significant change by hiring all of these young teachers or was suffering from high turnover. I later found out that neither was true. Simple chance brought us all together and I was grateful for it.
I didn’t know it at the time but my appreciation for the differences in my co-workers is the thing that makes the business of education work. No two students are the same, and God forbid if they were. As such, no two teachers are the same, nor should we be. Our personalities, quirks, hang ups, prejudices, and life experiences are what makes us good. Everyone has something to bring to the table and I loved that about the profession then…and I still love it now.
Words lie down as lovers
Like a surface without bound
Each full of promise
My thoughts one day after the Peachtree road race.
I’ve created a survey to try to capture some data for this project. If you would be so kind as to please complete it.
The survey is targeted to Black males living in the United States. If you don’t fall into that group then this survey isn’t intended for you.
If you know of others who fit my description and are interested in participating please forward them to this post.
Thanks!
I’ve decided to start doing some research to figure out how and why Black Males adopt certain limited identities in America. The project has both personal and professional significance for me. I’m not sure where this project will take me or if I will even find answers to my questions but I’m sure I’ll learn a lot about myself and other people along the way.
Identity is something with which I struggle on a fairly regular basis. I am 29. I am male. I am Black. I am 6 feet tall. I am 220 pounds. I have brown eyes and black hair. These are the technical qualities of who I am. However, the more nuanced, ethereal, and “soft” qualities which make me who I am are more difficult to define…for myself.
I am of the opinion that Black men, more than any other minority group in America, have the unfair burden of being forced to live up to pre-defined archetypes within our communities. We are often expected to be thugs, jocks, alpha males, or fall into some other pre-defined label which is, more or less, a combination of the aforementioned labels.
I have seen this “limiting of identity choice” all too often in the schools in which I have worked…even as early as kindergarten. This being the case, I am wary of admitting that these labels are self chosen or even self created, but rather, are often imposed upon us by our families, churches, media, and other external influences.
This imposition of role or identity has far reaching and long lasting implications for Black manhood in America. The educational research regarding the oppositional nature of Black male identity and traditional school culture is numerous and easy to find. However, what is often overlooked as a direct consequence of the limited identity choices of Black males is the impact on the Black family. Marriage is down, divorce ( for those couples who entered into a marriage in the first place ) is up, homosexuality is hidden because it is deemed unacceptable by the Black community ( it doesn’t fit as one of the archetypes ) so sexual health in the Black community as harmed. The problems are too numerous to mention.
I do not have a solution to this problem because, quite frankly, I am constantly fighting to forge my own identity in the midst of all of the roles/identities being forced upon me…but teachers and families need to be aware of the unintentional limits you (we) place on Black boys. They (we) should be allowed to be who we choose, rather than who you say.
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