In my last blog I talked about the teachers that tend to stay in the inner city, I started there, rather than this topic because if inner city schools are to improve, there has to be teachers willing to teach here. I noted that neither money nor other incentives are as likely to keep good teachers as are mentors. I also believe that some teachers come here not realizing what they’re getting into and thus are set up for failure.
But I cannot continue to talk about my experiences here without talking about the conditions in inner city schools. They are as much a part of the problem as anything else. I also need to add a disclaimer and say that in order to talk about these things I have to make generalized statements. The danger in making generalized statements is that on exception, they’re not true. I fully recognize that it may be different somewhere else or for someone else. But these statements and problems are very real and true for the numerous schools I’ve been in while working here in the inner city.
Overcrowded Schools
What do you think of when you think over crowded? Do you think of a class with 30 kids? Do you think of a cafeteria hall where there aren’t quite enough seats? Or do you think of a classroom where you can barely move?
How about thinking about students in the hallways? At one public school I know, there are so many students that they have to put some classes out in the hall ways. I also know of a classroom that has to do group work for every subject? Why? Because there are not enough seats in the classroom for everyone to sit at the same time. So they rotate the kids to the “reading area” and group work.
The Language Barrier
In a class of 30 kids, only 4 speak English as their native language. For those other 26 kids, more than half aren’t proficient in English. What makes it harder is trying to communicate with parents. If you’re bilingual–great! You have maybe one third of the problem solved because in the inner city, you most often are not talking about simply one language other than English but several.
While communicating with the students is one problem, getting them to take standardized tests in English is another. Add to that that you perhaps are unable to make regular contact with the parents and you have serious issues brewing with some of your students.
Culture and Education
A good education is often an ideal for an industrialized nation. It is necessary for a well paying job. However, a good education is not an ideal for everybody. There are plenty of people who are happy to graduate from 8th grade, never think of going to high school and most certainly never consider college. It’s one thing when this is the student’s attitude, but combating this attitude when it comes from the parents is something else. Some parents simply don’t see the need for their child to succeed in school. There are, in their eyes more important things.
Drugs, Violence & Gangs
Gangs are an incredibly powerful force in the inner city. They scout children as young as 8 or 9 to do “errands” and once you’re in, you’re in. It is impossible not to address this issue when the signs are all around. When we first came to this neighborhood, the sidewalks were lined with literally dozens of crack viles as well as used condoms. This is no longer the case in part due to increased police activity but in part because crack cocaine is no longer the drug of choice.
It affects the kids that we teach because it is their life. Every week someone knows someone who was shot, or mugged, or got arrested etc. To not recognize the profound influence that living here has on the kids is impossible. Teachers must address, at the most basic level, their student’s need to feel safe. They also must address, and very early on, the consequences of certain lifestyles. They also need to address it often. It is as important to teach kids to have pride in their surroundings as it is to teach them the 3 R’s. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Teen Motherhood
I realize that this is a hot button issue. I know there are many, many moms who get pregnant as teenagers and keeping and having the baby turns their life around. I am sad to say though that for every young (and by young I mean teen under 18) mother I know who really takes to heart her responsibility as a mother, I know about five who choose to keep their babies and continue behaving in ways that are both detrimental to them and their babies. So why exactly is this a problem?
Out of ten years that I’ve been here and been working, MOST of the children that I teach have mothers who were about sixteen when they were born. These moms don’t have support, they often don’t have help, and the results are a whole generation of children who are being subtly neglected by the immaturity of their parents.
White Flight
White Flight, in case you’re not familiar with the idea, it is not meant to be racist. When families finally get enough money to buy a house outside the city, they do. In the 60’s and 70’s these were mostly the “white” families who had been living here and so the concept is known as “white flight”. While “white flight” is no longer just the “white people”, there still is the pervasive idea that if at all possible, you want to get out of the inner city. If all of the productive members of society leave the city for the suburbs, it leaves only those who are in poverty, are on drugs, etc.
The idea that you have to get out of the city if you can, communicates to kids that there is nothing in the inner city to be proud of. Rather than taking pride in their surroundings, they begin to disdain them and believe me the attitude starts early.
In an Ideal World
You obviously can’t solve all of the world’s evils in a classroom. Some would even argue that you shouldn’t address them but simply stick to the academics and let parents do their job. The problem is when the outside factors are so oppressive, it inhibits learning in the classroom.
In an ideal world, private organizations, businesses and faith based organizations will take on the educational world and work in partnership with the public schools. Programs need to address the conditions on the block, in the neighborhood, in the home as well as at school.
In addition, schools need resources in place that work with parents, even younger teens. Parents who lack good parenting skills, education to better themselves, or even job skills (like speaking English) need to be able to get services via the public school.
Tomorrow, you can look for another blog about teacher certification in the inner city!
Related articles:
What Teachers Need Parents to Do for School Success
A Day in the Life of a Last Chance School
Why Schools are Teaching Social Skills