As department head I was invited by the principal to attend junior commencement. The event took place on Wednesday afternoon in the gym. I arranged to have my classes covered through our "on call" system where teachers who cannot be in class get a colleague to cover their class in the cafeteria area designated as the study hall. This is arranged through the office and is common practice.
Five of my students were being honoured with awards that afternoon. The rest of my group was in study hall doing seat work under the supervision of the designated on call teacher. As I sat on stage, after having presented the award for my subject area, I began to feel strangely uncomfortable. Though I was pleased to be present to honour the five top acheivers of my class, what about the rest of my students who are not as successful and who are not receiving the benefit of meaningful teaching as they sit in the study hall?
I felt compelled to discreetly exit the stage (as other colleagues had done) so I could spend the time with the students who most needed assistance with their learning, but finally decided it would not be fair not to be fully present and engaged in the ceremony (the principal was on the stage a few chairs away from my seat).
Did I make the right decision?
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I think that this is a hard case - how do you make the students who achieved an award feel supported, encouraged, and honoured, as they well deserve, while not making the silent statement that this is somehow better than every student who didn't get an award? How do you communicate that the students not being honoured are just as supported, encouraged as the others? How does a teacher avoid the silent statement? Actions are said to speak louder than words, and in this case it may seem that "if you earn an award you are better than those who don't." Although awards may recognise students who earn the highest marks academically, or those who achieve high athletic success, it does not recognise those who work every day after school to help pay for their families rent, or those who live through abusive situations and still come to school everyday. It doesn't recognise those who have severe learning disabilities but who have overcome major obstacles. It doesn't recognize students who have improved their English, and have started to teach their parents English at home.
ReplyDeleteI think that in this case, it is not wrong per say, to support the high academic achievers, by attending the assembly. Yet there needs to be an effort made to support and encourage those who are being successful in other areas of life - such as their success of changing groups of friends to avoid involvement in drugs, or success in overcoming the bullying that happens everyday in the hall, or success in overcoming the hardships of being the eldest brother on the farm and the high expectations to stay home and work the land instead of going to school everyday.
Perhaps next time, giving students an activity in study hall that gets them to think about how they have been successful, and celebrating this success. The students could write a story of success in their own lives, and connect it to the subject being taught… This could be discussed as bellwork the next class, or be the starting point of a larger discussion about social justice.
So - did you do the right thing? I think the fact that it made you uncomfortable is a sign that your attitude is in the right place, it indicates that you don't believe that academic success is the only and most important success. Making sure you follow up with that discomfort by making an effort with those who weren't at the assembly.
Interestingly, in my placement, they recently had an assembly where they honored students in each class for "helpfulness" and "courage". Rather than choosing "top achievers" my teacher chose two students who definitely qualified for these awards but they were in no way "top achieving" students, and I felt that this was a great thing, and all the students in the class got up and cheered for them at the assembly. I felt that this was a very different experience from what I had in school. We never really recognized students for qualities but rather for high scores. I think it was right for you to feel uncomfortable in only acknowledging your "five top achievers" because this belittles the other students. It perhaps makes them feel excluded, and not as good or not as special, because they did not receive an award. And most detrimental of all is the fact that if they label themselves this way, it may impede their future efforts in learning to their full potential. And at the same time, just because someone is a "top achiever" doesn't necessarily mean they worked any harder. There could be a student who is absolutely struggling to get by with a level 3 and they are putting in way more effort. In my placement, they chose awards that are of a non-academic nature because I think they realize that if someone doesn't win the "courage" award, they will not internalize that. Courage isn't a mark on your report card... So these students don't feel secluded in any way. But when "top achieving" students receive awards for top marks and the lower ones don't, that's just an unhappy reminder of the what their mark is. And I think in this scenario, they feel like their marks represent who they are as students, because of the emphasis placed on marks from teachers, society, the school board and especially some parents.
ReplyDeleteWe are inoculated with the hidden curriculum from the moment we enter school. We are taught to compete for the teacher’s attention, for marks and for medals in athletic events. We learn early on how to be successful functioning individuals. This is socialized through rewards and punishment for following rules, meeting deadlines and conforming to authority. We teach our students to develop the kinds of traits needed to survive in an individualistic and capitalistic free market. Advancement is based on merit and those who show promise are streamed (advanced placement classes for example). Unfortunately, if rewards are given to everyone regardless of merit, it ceases to be a reward or motivator. I saw some of this even in our class. In our gym class it seems everyone was a 90% student, the 90% then didn’t hold the same value for the students. I heard many say, “oh, I think everyone got a 90% in that class. I think I should have received a 95%”.
ReplyDeleteNow, our explicit views of education honor each child for their strengths as well as their needs. This view focuses more on the need for differentiated instruction and taking into account the many diverse needs of our students.
Clearly, there is a disconnect between our implicit and explicit curriculum. I think this is part of the reason one may be left with feelings of guilt.
However, I think the choice you made to stay was the right choice. Students who are meeting or excelling still have needs and expectations of their teacher. Many times, students who are meeting or exceeding curriculum expectations are not given particular attention because it seems they are doing just fine and the time could be better used to assist those who are falling behind. However, these students also need support and recognition. They may be strong academically but these students may still need your social and emotional support.
I think Emily’s point is an imporant one. The success of the other students should be celebrated in some way like writing about their own success stories.
I think you made the right choice to exit the stage. You did your part in participating in the award ceremony to those high achievers in your class. The rest of the students in the study hall need your guidance as well, they would not receive the same attention from a teacher who is mainly suppose to supervise.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting situation that you've presented, because if it had been me sitting on stage, the other students wouldn't have crossed my mind. However, after reading your blog I think that it is quite apparent that I should have been thinking of the other students. I think it is a tough situation though because on the one hand there is nothing wrong with honouring students for the work that they've done, but on the other hand you don't want to be neglecting other students in the process. Another thing to consider is that the students who were being honoured might have been doing their very best work, or they might have been only half-hartedly trying and still had the natural abilities to put them at the top of the class. So that means that there very well could be some students sitting in study hall who try their hardest every day, and that hard effort is never recognized because they may never surpass some of their fellow students. So, I think you did the right thing by staying in the ceremony because things like this don't change over night, but it is something to look into in the future. Maybe other students could be honoured in different ways for different things so that students realize that their efforts in all areas of school (even if they are never at the top of their class) are recognized and appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI believe you did make the right decision. Although the students sitting in the study hall could definitely benefit from your presence and and teaching, the students who have achieved also want to see that their achievements are worth your time. You wrote that you felt that it would not be "fair not to be fully present and engaged in the ceremony"; this is very true, it is very important to students to see a teacher fully committed to something they have set out to do. Although the students need your presence and help, even they are benefitting from seeing that you have faithfully been present in the achievement of their peers. Seeing their peers succeed and seeing that you support them is a subtle reminder that they too can achieve and be praised. There are many opportunities in the classroom to work with those students who most need your help and praise them for their hard work. In those instances you can show your full commitment to being fully present in the classroom and fully present for your students as you have done for those praised in the awards ceremony. I think you made a wise (if tough) choice in staying; you showed your commitment to all students through that gesture for the small group of students.
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