Student demographics and teaching

As a white male coming into a job with exposure to a diverse population in my undergraduate career at University of California, Berkeley, as a student and as a tutor, I expected Oakland to be much of the same. Although Berkeley has a predominantly white and Asian population, I loved being exposed to more than the largely biracial community that I grew up in (white and Latino). Growing out of my comfort zone and “bubble” as a kid was a great entrance into the adult world. 

Walking into the assembly room to greet all of the students on Day 1 of this teaching program, I could not see a single white student. And out of maybe 20 staff, there were only two other white teachers. The vast majority of the population was Latino/a. At that point, I wondered if this would be a different experience than I was mentally preparing for.

Then when I walked into my classroom, I found that only about 4 of the students were boys.

But you know what? Despite the observation that I was the only white person (and one of a handful of males) in the classroom, I felt at home with the kids. Aside from the fact that I really need to become fluent in Spanish—three years of it in high school can only get me so far—I have appreciated and loved the opportunity to have such a new experience. And I felt like my colleagues in the classroom (co-teacher and tutor) were friends. One observer said today after spending time in our classroom that it felt like a comfortable/warm environment.

One of the white staff members did not feel the same way as I did. This person said something to the effect of he/she felt it necessary to walk on egg shells with minority students because they did not want to cross any boundaries. I said, “wait, really? I don’t think that’s true at all.” At this point, I had taught maybe a week but he/she had been teaching for years. I continued: kids are kids. As long as we provide them all the equal opportunity and respect and show that we care, why treat people that look different from you differently...especially in the classroom? Wasn’t that the root of the problem in the beginning anyway?

I did graduate on the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.

My main point was this: come down hard on anybody who needs it. As long as they know that it’s out of love, they should respect and take your comments to heart. I’ve found that philosophy has treated me well so far…but there will be a moment of truth tomorrow to see if the students that I came down on today come through. 

I believe that they will.