Annie Hunt

EDL 318 A
March 28, 2016
Midterm Paper Part 2
Findings:
After working in field for the last two weeks, I was able to grasp a
much better understanding of how my classroom works and the
different prejudices that may exist. I was able to further understand my
question of how my own prejudices and prior experiences play into
how I interact with the children in the class. Unveiling that was the
emphasis of my observations throughout the two weeks. I also
considered how the differences in diversity were evident among the
students and how they interact with one another during the school day.
Most of the information that I received on these topics was mostly
based off of observations I collected. On top of that, I spoke to our hose
teacher about her view of diversity in the classroom given that there
is only one Caucasian student in their third grade. Through
observations and by getting my teachers insight, I was able to wrap
my head slightly more around the diversity in the class.
Going into the two field weeks, I had somewhat told myself that I
didnt see any prior prejudices that were affecting my teaching. But as
soon as I opened my eyes to the possibilities of there being some, a
few problems were made very clear. One day, I was talking with a
student in the hallway that had been kicked out of class, and was a

frequent troublemaker. We were chatting about why he had been

kicked out, how he could improve, what his favorite part of school was,
etc. Then I proceeded to ask him, How can I help you enjoy school
more? to which he responded, I do like school! At first, I was
surprised, because I wondered how anyone could like school so much
when they keep getting in trouble. I dont know if this prejudice was
based on his race, his poor home life, the fact that he was a difficult
student, or a combination of the three. But I do know that I jumped
right to conclusions about his feelings toward school, which ended up
being an incorrect assumption.
Other times that I noticed my prejudices coming into play were
when I know if a students home life is extremely rough or if they are
living in real poverty. If I know that students have a difficult home life
or past, I tend to give them a little bit more grace in the classroom.
Although I know that this is just a part of teaching, but when I am
giving that grace or leeway, I need to make sure its not coming across
as having favorite students. I have noticed that it is easier for me to
get frustrated with students that are acting out when they have good
home lives, which is definitely unfair to them. I have to remind myself
that they are just children and no matter what their home life may
appear as, there are complications in any family structure.
I spoke to our host teacher about her thoughts on race in the
classroom, us as white teachers, and if anything ever came up about

the fact that there is one Caucasian boy in the class. She said that
every once in a while, the other students would call him white boy or
mention something in regards to his race. She said for the most part,
they try to shut that down as a school, because that is inappropriate
for any race to experience. Our host teacher said that a couple times,
she has slipped up and said something along the lines of, Thats
pretty good for a white guy! to a passing teacher in the hallway. She
then said she would laugh it off while apologizing to her students and
saying that it was inappropriate. I do think that it is good that she
apologizes to her Caucasian student, but it still has some sort of
impact on the kids. They are learning that there are different standards
for white vs. black people, and that you can call them according to
their race. Teaching students this is implicit instruction in the school
that may seem like no big deal, but is actually having a large impact on
their upbringing.

Discussion:
What I found in the classroom during the two weeks of field
generally did not surprise me. I was expecting to find at least a few
examples of how my prior experiences caused prejudice when
interacting with the students. Although I may not want to think that I
have prejudices, I do, and so it is crucial to explore those while I still
have an opportunity to make an impact on these kids lives.

Something that I do still have trouble with is how to interact with

our one Caucasian student. In my literature review, I discussed how
there was a study that recognized that teachers are proven to have
higher and lower expectations based on the race of their students. Our
Caucasian student, though, is probably one of the highest achieving
ones in the class. He always sits quietly, raises his hand to answer a
question, and is typically able to answer stretch questions more
frequently than the other students. I dont want this to come across as
playing favorites or that he is smarter due to the fact that he is white.
But, when I am pulling for an answer and I need someone to answer
correctly, I can typically count on this little boy to get it correct. I dont
want to put higher expectations on him, but at some point, I have to
because I need to challenge him in his studies.
Although I did find a few prejudices in my actions, I think they are
quite harmless for the most part. It is good to be aware of them, but it
is hard to see those prejudices come out when the whole school is
primarily black. If I do have prejudices towards black children or
families, they are generally masked if those are the only families that I
have communication with in the school setting. I would be intrigued to
learn about how my prejudices come into play in a school or classroom
that is not predominantly black and had a variety of races, ethnicities,
and socio-economic statuses represented. It is difficult to be biased or
prejudiced in a community that is filled with just one for the most

part race and socio-economic status. I think that if I were to be in a

more diverse setting, prejudices may come out more visibly.
I believe that there may be some teachers that have stronger
prejudices than others, solely based on their prior experiences as
either a teacher or just a citizen of their community. If I have prejudices
towards certain types of people, I think they are for the most part
implicit in the classroom. It is quite sad to consider the possibility of
other teachers being explicit in their prejudices of their students and
their students families. These teachers need to be educated on the
idea of multicultural education, and other topics of the like. Most
prejudices stem from the ignorance of people just not knowing any
other way. If all teachers were educated like Miami pre-service teachers
are about multicultural education, I dont doubt that a lot of explicit
expectations and biases would vanish.
Along with teacher education, I believe that there should be
much more explicit instruction about cultures in the classroom. I did
not see any sort of discussion occur around this topic that does not
mean that it is not happening, but it does mean that it is not
happening frequently enough. I fully trust that students comments
about race in the classroom would diminish if race and culture were
actually discussed in the class. What the students are saying is mostly
from what they hear from their parents, community, and the media,
which are not valid and unbiased sources of information. If schools

were to take risks more often and teach about important cultural
identities, the students, teachers, and school communities would
exponentially improve.
I believe that my background with attending an extremely
diverse high school has only played in my favor while teaching at this
elementary school. I am comfortable with being around many people of
different cultures and races than I have, which can only help me to be
less prejudiced towards the students. I was able to see them for who
they are, because I tend to not view other races as any different than
myself. Although I am able to relate more to my students, my diverse
background could inhibit my teaching if I were to allow it to do so. I
have a few negative viewpoints of low-income black students that I
went to high school with. Our hallways were loud, fast-paced, and the
lack of respect that some of them had for authority figures was almost
baffling to me. If I were to expect this kind of behavior from all of my
students that are of that race or culture, that could be dangerous for
my teaching career and the positive impact that I want to have on all
of my students. I do just need to be consciously aware of my thoughts
and expectations towards my students in field and beyond in order
to be the best teacher that I can be. Luckily, this is only the beginning
of the life-long discussion I will have about race, culture, and the
prejudices that go along with those in the classroom atmosphere.