Educational Foundations. Alan S. Canestrari

them succeed in all kinds of ways inspires kids to do the same. Diversity is not often thought about as a core motivation to teach.

      While the core of why I want to teach is firmly rooted in my belief that children need stories to expand their minds and spark their passions, I also strongly identify with the goal of the Call Me MISTER program to bring diversity into the classroom. I joined the program to become part of a community that shares my aspirations about teaching and emphasizes the importance of diversifying the teaching force. I didn’t have a male classroom teacher until the sixth grade; I never had a Hispanic male teacher. I had, and have, a wonderfully supportive family that taught me how important education is, how valuable teachers are. But I wonder how different the experience is for children who look like me but do not have the supports I had growing up.

      I joined the MISTERS not only to build relationships with others like me but because I now realize the impact I can have on children to see someone who looks like them in the classroom. As numerous studies continue to demonstrate, white children—and perhaps more distressingly, even children of color—associate lighter skin tones with positive traits and negative traits with darker skin. It broke my heart to hear one little girl, no more than six or maybe seven years of age, declare on an Anderson Cooper special (CNN, 2012) in no uncertain terms that her dark skin was “nasty.” I have come to see how incorporating diversity in my classroom—just by my presence—is an integral part of educating students. But if nothing else, I want to make certain I never hear one of my students say they or anyone else is anything less than unique and valued; I want them to understand the power, importance, and contributions of the stories they have to tell, not in spite of their skin tone and situations but because of them.

      In the end, the central question that must be grappled with, the one I think is most important when one considers entering this field is this: Why teach? No teacher, no system can ever be perfect, can ever meet the goals the question elicits. And I understand how and why our education system is the way that it is, how it often does not appear to have our students’ best interests in mind. But I am not writing here to argue about politics. This is more personal, and it requires personal commitments. You must be able to understand and articulate why you want to teach. That answer helps to guide you and can be an anchor in the storms life will bring.

      Teaching is, in many ways, a sacred duty. Choosing to teach means that you must be willing to assume the responsibility for your students’ well-being and how their stories will unfold. And you must keep in mind too that as many stories as have been told, many remain untold or, worse, have been squelched because of the color of a student’s skin or the background he or she brings with them to the classroom.

      I want to teach because I love stories and I want to become a positive influence on the stories my students will tell, stories that will feature their unique and wonderful contributions, stories that represent people who look like me.

      For Further Exploration

      Barnett, K. (2013). The spark. New York, NY: Random House.

      Jones, R., & Jenkins, A. (2012). Call me mister: The re-emergence of African American male teachers in South Carolina. Charleston, SC: Advantage.

      Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2018). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education. New York, NY: Pearson.

      Wolk, R. A. (2011). Wasting minds: Why our education system is failing and what we can do about it. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

      Reference

       CNN. (2012, April 2). Black or white: Kids on race. Anderson Cooper 360°.

      Part II Who Are Today’s Students?

      It was the end of August, and Ashley Murphy was headed back to Horace Mann Elementary School for the first time since finishing the fifth grade more than 10 years ago. She was thrilled to be returning as a teacher to the very school where she had so many fond memories as a student. To think that she would be shoulder to shoulder with some of her former teachers and that now they would be her colleagues!

      Driving up to the old brick building brought back a flood of memories: the smell of chalk dust; the neat rows of desks; Steven Parker teasing her in the third grade about her braces; and the stern and aloof principal, Mr. Dabrowski, walking into the cafeteria and immediately causing a hush to fall over the crowd of excited children’s voices. Ashley couldn’t wait to reunite with her old teachers, the women whose guidance and inspiration were instrumental in her decision to teach. They will be so proud of me, she thought, to see how I have changed, how I have matured.

      Ashley was excited too about sharing what she had learned in her teacher education program. And even though the principal had called this end-of-summer orientation meeting simply to introduce the new staff and to acquaint everyone with some new districtwide policies, Ashley came prepared with reams of beautifully prepared lessons and activities she would use to kick off the first few weeks of the year with her class of second graders. She couldn’t wait to show her new colleagues what she had brought with her.

      Imagine Ashley’s despair then when Nancy Rush, her former second-grade teacher, asked Ashley how she knew her carefully prepared lessons would be appropriate for the students who would soon stream into her classroom.

      “But I don’t understand,” Ashley said. “I’ve worked very hard on these lessons, and each of them reflects what my professors told us about the importance of inquiry learning and engaging students in hands-on activities.”

      “Well,” Nancy began, “how can you plan a series of lessons when you have not considered the most important question: Who are your students? Do you think they will look and act like your friends and you did when you were in second grade? Will they come from backgrounds similar to your own? Will they all speak English as a first language? Might they have disabilities or other challenges that affect their learning? Who are your students?”

      Why is this such an important question? How do race, ethnicity, special needs, and sexuality, for example, affect the teaching and learning cycle?