Sabrina Hodges said...

You know your questions completely resonate with me, and my opinions can waver daily. However, it always comes back to the Delpit argument for me. I think it’s ironic how this conversation about democracy is occurring through written language, as much progressive discourse is. I truly became a teacher because I believed that education is the most important civil rights issues of our times. The written, spoken, and read word have been essential tools in our predominate “democracy” AND the dissent against it. That is exactly why Malcolm read the Oxford dictionary from cover to cover while incarcerated.

I am a bit simple these days. I don’t ponder creating a school or even leading one (not much at least), I mostly stay focused on one area of activism, and that is teaching kids to read and write. And this is exactly what their parents want me to d; what they want their neighborhood school to do. They are empowered parents that believe that their kids should be on the same playing field with their privileged counter parts. I think democracy is them having this choice, and parents have the right to make choices regarding their student’s education and the student has the right to exercise choice as they grow and mature. This is why educators and communities have rallied for school choice.

I work in an “uncommon” middle school and recently toured 3 similar middle schools in Boston. My analysis is that the model works well for strengthening academic skills- and although I can’t speak for other schools, just my own, there is a perception that struggling learners are pushed out and our school does’t serve all students. These perceptions are rumors (made mostly by people that have never stepped a foot inside of the front door or spoken deeply with staff, students, or families) in that I can say with complete integrity that the 4 schools in my network are working tirelessly to serve all students, and the leadership feels passionately about allocating resources and trying interventions to help all students be successful. If schools that fill this niche, the niche that Delpit calls for, righteously and fairly, then our students will have the opportunity to engage in this discourse of democracy and change their own lives. I think this can start in high school. We have a high school developer, a Chicano/Native man from East Denver- he is currently developing our high school that will open in Fall 2012, where he will be principal. He speaks to the staff about the importance of academic skill and rigor as an issue of equity and social justice, but also about the importance of finding the balance between this and critical pedagogy. As this develops, I know where my voice will stand. Our students are the most fantastically respectful, hard working, and skilled middle schoolers I know. They impress me every day. I am joyed that they are developing a skill set that is similar to mine, so that they can engage in the conversation about democracy and other issues that are important to them. This is my greatest hope and my greatest push.