Assumptions snoitpmussA

Throughout my life I have seen and heard many stereotypes about urban schools and students on television, radio, and discussions. Sadly, they have been more negative than positive. The only positive element that came out from these mediums was the notion that these students can be turned into successful students with a little bit of help from an outsider. In Robert C. Bulman’s piece, Teachers in the Hood: Hollywood’s Middle-Class Fantasy, describes the classroom as being “filled with socially troubled and low-achieving students” (p. 254). The only way their lives can be improved is “by the singular efforts of a new teacher or principal” (p.254).
Over and over again this particular film genre has helped snow-balled these generalizations into factual beliefs about the urban school. It is this medium that has piloted discussions and assumptions about these students. The discussions I have had with other teachers have only affirmed these negative qualities about these schools. At first I didn’t want to buy into the hype that these students are seen as “beasts” of the concrete jungle, but at some point I found myself believing what I was seeing and hearing (p.259).
What I bought into was at an unconscious level. Meaning that I never really thought why I didn’t want to teach inner-city students. I just felt that it was something that I didn’t want to do or see myself doing. I rather just teacher suburban kids… they would be easier. If the situation would come across where I had to teach in an urban area I was mentally prepared to whip these kids into shape. After all, I have been preparing for this situation my whole life with the help of the unbiased portrayals of the urban youth on the silver screen. I am only able to express these feelings because I have become more aware of why I was thinking the way I was. My actions have been affected by the negative depiction of these inner-city schools from the movies I have watched… and of course this was at a subconscious level. What this means is that many teachers today will also be biased at some level. Not all, but some will.
The conscious awaking I have been experiencing for the urban youth has made me really question the inner-city schools and the beliefs that many people have about them. The reality is that many of these schools have larger issues besides the common misconceptions about their character as an ideal student. One of these issues is the work environment. Most of these schools have a lack of resources which would make fostering the student’s education an arduous task to achieve. I feel that this would definitely change my teaching and learning styles. I would have to become more resourceful and think of alternative ways to do best with what I have or am lacking within the classroom.
Most people might see this as a step backwards, but I would have to argue with that belief. Imagine yourself in a school where you have the utopia of all classroom environments. How would this benefit your pedagogy? The ideal view might be counterintuitive for someone who wants to become a professional teacher. There will never be any room for growth. Yes, you will be able to become more creative with your assignments in an ideal classroom by using all the various technology and tools at your disposal, but that doesn’t mean that you will become a better teacher intrinsically. I would have to say in an urban school it would help me as a future teacher become more creative with the little that I would have in a classroom because I would really have to become creative with myself as a teacher because I would not have the luxury to be creative by using technology.
What I hope to become is a teacher that is constantly improving my teaching and knowledge about my students. I think that is the central quality that a professional teacher should live by. To remain constant shows no growth or change. A teacher should go through various developments of the self and learn to learn from the students and not so much believe that you are only the giver of knowledge in the classroom. Still, the only question I have left about the inner-city common belief is… is there any truth in what we see on television? I know these are all stark generalization about this particular youth. Still, I have always believed that there are always truths in lies. They might not necessarily be whole truths, but definitely there has to be some truth to that we see. If that is the case, how can we change are already formed schema about these children and focus at the bigger picture… to actually teach and not worry so much about instilling our beliefs of what a ideal student should act, think, and say. After all, in certain schools deviant behavior is fostered into what people call creative or expressionism. In inner-city schools the same deviant behavior is just deviant and needs to be regulated and changed. How can we change this ideology that most people have?