Archive for October, 2009
#26) What Will Your Legacy Be?
Recently, a member of my dissertation committee made his transition from life. Dr. Joseph Pollack was an educator extraordinaire, having touched numerous lives as a teacher, administrator, mentor, superintendent and higher education professional. I found it both inspiring and an honor to have him serve on my dissertation committee. While grieving the loss of Dr. Pollack, I couldn’t help but ponder not just his legacy, but also the legacy potential available to all educators.
Dr. Benjamin Mays
Dr. Benjamin Mays is one of the most brilliant minds in American history. His contributions to academia, historically Black colleges, numerous pupils and others are too vast to properly acknowledge within the confines of a blog. Yet, one facet of his legacy is his role as mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I do not believe it is far-fetched to believe that the Dr. King we came to know would not have been without the influence of Dr. Mays.
Personally, I am the benefactor of the personal influence of Dr. Freddye Davy. My career as educator, achievements and future accomplishments will all serve as extensions of and a testimony to Dr. Davy’s legacy.
It is far too soon for me to begin to attempt to convey what my legacy will be. However, it is not too soon to do the necessary work in developing a legacy. I choose education as vehicle to impact, to influence and improve the lives of others. Although I never personally met Dr. Mays, his is a legacy I hope to emulate. Because in doing so, I would have directly cultivated some of the greatest minds of this generation.
That is just a small snapshot of what I hope my legacy would eventually be. When your track record as educator is reviewed … what will your legacy be?
Dr. Mays informs us:
It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. It lies in having no goal to reach. It is not a calamity to die with dreams unfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace not to have any stars to reach. Not failure, but low aim, is the real sin.
With that in mind, again … what will your legacy be?
#25) Are You Jayla’s Dad?
Jayla enrolled at our school weeks after the school year began. As principal, I went out of my way to greet her, hug her and make her feel welcome. Despite the fact that she had a happy disposition and was very articulate, it seems this adorable second grader had a problem making new friends. Perhaps it was because she was new and most of the other kids had been friends since kindergarten. Or maybe it was because that she was a tad shy. Yet, any adult could see that Jayla wanted to be friends; she wanted to engage with the other students.
So finally, Jayla came up with a strategy.
Whichever school I am placed in, I experience a natural gravitational pull toward the lower elementary students. Adolescents are cool and ‘tweeners … well, they require a special understanding. But the second graders and younger … I love them! So it was not unusual for me to serenade them in my rendition of the old woman who swallowed a fly. It became predictable that on Dr. Seuss’ birthday, I would be in makeup and a full body Cat in Hat costume.
My love for lower elementary and my actions made me a magnet for hugs, high fives and more. It also made me a father … sort of.
Jayla’s strategy for acceptance was to tell her classmates that I was her father. She explained how I had to work late so that is why her mom picked her up. When the children inquired, I saw beyond their attention and focused on Jayla’s expression. It was a combination of “I hope I’m not in trouble” and something else. Although I was stunned by the inquiry, Jayla’s expression prompted me to respond, “Maybe or maybe not, we sure do kind of look alike. You should check with Jayla because she could tell you better than I can.” Well, the kids burst into a happy laughter. It became somewhat of our own inside joke. I shared the story with Jayla’s mom, who was more surprised than I was. I told her how the kids inquire to Jayla about what am I like at home and what did we do during the weekend; I imagine that Jayla put together some quite convincing stories. More than once a second grader asked how I enjoyed a particular movie and other things that I knew nothing about. I played along with the game, not to deceive children, but because it meant so much to one child. The hope in those brown eyes, the tight grip she would put onto my arms and the charming way she would say “bye daddy” during dismissal – all those things worked together to help me maintain my role in Jayla’s story.
I don’t know what Jayla’s relationship was with her dad. But it meant so much to her that we had that fantasy bond that I hated to step on it. I know how important it is to my own daughters when I visit their school or pick up all of their daycare classmates and twirl them around. My daughters like to show me off. Moreover, once they have shown me off, they like to publicly display their version of “this is my daddy.” It is quite a spectacle, but it fills all of us with joy.
Joy that in someway I hope I brought to Jayla’s second grade experience. She eventually became quite a social butterfly as well as a high achiever in her class. Her classmates teased that she’s just like her dad …well … maybe she was.
#24) Bad kids … our fault or theirs?
There are no bad students.
That bears repeating – there are no bad students.
I am not an idealist. Nor am I an overzealous optimist. I am someone who feverously believes in the power of educators. Moreover, I know the key to having a classroom without bad kids is determined by an educator’s willingness to grow outside of their comfort zone.
Indeed, there are students who bring emotional, behavioral and other challenges to school. Their home or lack of contributes heavily to the raw material that shows up at our classroom doors. As educators we have the knowledge and ability to shape that raw material into a more developed, better prepared student.
However, in many circumstances it comes down to a choice:
a) Will we choose to adjust our instructional techniques, adapt some new strategies and be willing to demonstrate the patience needed for those things to show results; or
b) Will we spread blame, admonish the child for not adjusting to our rigid practices and give up on this opportunity to grow personally and professionally?
I once supervised a teacher who took great pride in the organization of her classroom and the performance of her students. While she did work hard in cultivating that learning environment, one important factor should be noted – her class was assigned the top 25 achievers from the previous year.
We had a special needs student who was doing poorly in another class. He had even once extended a visit to the bathroom as an opportunity to leave the building. When we transferred him into the high achievers class, it was with the expectation that the structure of the room would be to his benefit.
Amazingly, it was.
He responded well to the structure of her class. He looked forward to coming to school. Although he had needs that impaired his performance, his effort skyrocketed and began to have a positive impact on his work.
The tragedy was that the teacher hated it. Maybe she hated me for the transfer, I cannot say. I can say her perception prevented her from seeing the strides that the student was making. She complained about him not sitting in his seat. I visited the class several times and staying seated was not his preference. He stood at his desk in the rear of the class and attempted to do the assignment. During each of my visits he was on task, sans the comfort of his seat.
My perspective was that this student had disliked school and was a proven risk to leave the grounds. Now he is on task, excited to come to class and needs redirection to sit in his seat. I saw it as significant progress.
Progress that was aborted when upon returning from the resource room a scenario ensued during which the teacher made a comment about the child having been retained. He had been retained in kindergarten but really had no perception that he had failed. Her callous comment in front of the class sent a wrecking ball through his progress.
Did the student present challenges? Yes. Did he require the teacher to change her instruction? Not really, his IEP required his instruction to come in the resource room where he spent over half of his day. Did he require her to change her perception? Yes and that is where she failed. Her stubborn position snuffed out the joy of learning for that child. His parents and future teachers must repair the damage. While we are left to ponder how often does situation such as this play out in our schools and how have we contributed to hurting a child’s potential?
#23) An Advocate for Art Education
Kristen Hayes is an artist and art teacher in Washington DC. Measurable Advancement had the opportunity to interview Ms. Hayes and gain further insight into her passion for art education, how it could be better utilized and much more. So put on your thinking caps, because after this interview, you will never view art education the same!
Measurable Advancement: Generally speaking, there seems to be a low priority placed up art education in this era of high-stakes testing, how do you feel about that?
Kristen Hayes: With regards to testing, the kids are definitely overly tested and not given enough time for personal exploration. Art education fuels the self-expression that comes from personal exploration. Self-expression that guarantees a more confident, analytical, cognitive-thinking student; which contributes to a more developed and intelligent young person. We can all agree that the core subjects are vital to a child’s academic development, but the use of art education as a tool in this area, is being neglected in most school systems. However, things are changing. According to the International Society for Education Through the Arts:
It is important to respect artistic values and deepen understanding in arts and culture by expressing oneself and actually see and feel a wide variety of arts and culture also in the sense of the creation of children’s own arts and culture. We need to reconsider the significant effects of children’s imagination on the development of their cognitive abilities and redesign the learning environment that is more flexible and full of creativity.
So, around the world, people are realizing the need for a shift from traditional perspectives.
MA: You are an artist / painter as well as an art teacher – how is teaching an extension of your creativity?
KH: Learning how to teach art is still very much a process for me. For every new project, every new group of students, I am inspired and required to investigate the content on a deeper level. It’s my job to do so, if I want to transfer the information to my students in a meaningful and exciting way. So I take this level of understanding home with me and translate it to my own work. As I am teaching the students, I am remembering and retraining myself of the foundations of art that I sometimes overlook or forget were important elements and principles that should be considered for a successful work of art.
Also, my teaching is literally becoming a part of my work in a recent group of work, entitled “Sunlight Kids”, where I am creating a collage of images of students in their uniforms and placing them amidst my abstract environments. The focus is not only the abstract forms, but also the students’ very striking gestures. Within these gestures is seen such power and resilience; two traits that are often ignored and not supported enough with African-American children. I want to encourage this attitude of self-confidence and joy in life with this current series of work. My students are helping me to achieve that goal.
MA: If you had a your own “Art Education Stimulus Package” – in what ways would you change/ enhance art education?
KH: Wow, I would definitely start with the District of Columbia’s Public School System obtaining real art supplies for every art classroom, equipped with sinks, storage rooms, and proper seating and desks. How can you teach if you don’t have the means with which to do so? And I’m sure other major cities face shortages in supplies when it comes to art classrooms.
Secondly, I would make more scholarships available to college students who want to pursue Art and Art Education. Since art education is such a vital component to a child’s personal and academic development, such incentives should be available and promoted for those who might otherwise not consider art education as a career choice.
MA: Have you had experience “reaching” otherwise underperforming students? Tell us about it …
KH: There is a sixth grader that comes to mind when I think about a student who is bright, but slow at applying their knowledge in the classroom. I’ve come to understand that with this child, there is a lot of insecurity about decision-making. With the mandalas, which is a spiritual tool based in the Hindu religion that we are currently working on now, I found this student, who is usually more stubborn and unresponsive, to be quite informed about the use of the microscopes that we used to examine our natural specimens, and joined others in explaining their proper usage. Once we got to the part of personally designing our mandalas, this same student became frustrated over his work, thinking that it was not successful and incorrect. This was definitely a teaching moment for me, because now I had his attention and the opportunity to pinpoint exactly where his insecurity lay, and boost his confidence by enforcing the idea of self-expression. There is no right or wrong answer in artistic expression! Apparently, this child did not have enough chances where his opinion and choice in matters was seriously considered or desired. As soon as he realized that he was indeed on the right track, I couldn’t get him out of the classroom! All of a sudden, the light came on for a student who was stuck in the mud of self-doubt, and now he wanted to see his project through to the end because he now knew how great it would be.
MA: When did you know this was your calling?
KH: Teaching art is part of my sacred work, my spiritual contribution to the universe. I have always been the type to mentor and care for children, but thought because of my shyness and lack of experience in education that I could not be an affective instructor. And I still think years of life’s experience aids in being a more influential teacher, but as I grew more confident in my own work and with the prompting of several artist-friends who teach also, I took a chance and tried it out, beginning with just one class a week. But I’ve always been interested in the arts, and come from a family of very creative people. By my sophomore year in undergraduate school, I realized that life is too short not to pursue an area that is such a part of who I am as a person. Being an artist is not just something one does, it is a way of life. There are so many people in the world who are artists, just by the way they present themselves and interact in life’s situations. There’s freedom in creative thinking and living.
MA: We absolutely agree. Do you have a philosophy when it comes to Art Education?
KH: In my class, I stress the utilization of having a positive attitude towards your peers, as well as yourself and your personal work. Because I view the process of creating art as a healing mechanism, there is no room for negativity. In this way, the positive energy allows for more personal freedom in the artwork and less feelings of intimidation and doubt. Research informs us of how students in earlier grades “…could produce such convincing effects with small pictorial resources because they would venture to try anything that came to mind…” (Logan) In contrast, those of whom were at the beginning of adolescence displayed feelings of insecurity as to what one should draw. It is my goal to foster this same sense of freedom, from early childhood and hopefully beyond adolescence, and believe the classroom environment and overall school’s spirit plays a vital role in this becoming a reality. I am an Abstract artist who focuses on the healing aspect of art through positive energy. Therefore, I would naturally extend this belief system into my classroom. Color, symbolism, light, all contribute to my expression of spiritual connectivity, which is the ultimate source of positivity. Color relationship is significant in my work, due to the very real vibrations felt with certain color combinations. In quilting, the colors are referred to as “hitting” when they simply just work. I stress my enthusiasm for color theory and hope to have it shared and experienced by the students.
To remain an individual within a group setting is an idea supported by the existential philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, and one that I have adopted as part of my personal agenda as an art instructor. Through his observations, he found that most teachers and parents “hammer even into children that what matters is something quite different: the salvation of the soul, the service of the state, the advancement of the science…while the requirements of the individual…are to be regarded as something contemptible or a matter of indifference.” To create art is allowing for an opportunity to be alone with one’s thoughts, something a lot of younger students take for granted when being constantly bombarded by popular society (i.e., video games, television, music videos, advertisements on the streets, etc.) Visually, urban areas of the country are overwhelmed by “art trash”—several thousands of different visual ideas being thrust into one’s psyche, whether consciously or unconsciously. The process of creating your own personal expressions of thought gives you a setting in which to digest all that you have been forced to consume. Herein lies the evidence of critical thinking and analysis that presumably only occurs in the general education classrooms.
Ms. Hayes & students
To preview some of Ms. Hayes’ works of art, link onto this gallery.