Reflections.

I came into this course as a tabula rasa. I was a nervous blank slate that didn’t know what to expect. I have never received any formal instruction on urban education, nor have I really been immersed in the urban education environment. I suppose that some of my own social and cultural naivety came into play with this very reluctance. I was, however, very excited to learn something new. I am generally always interested in making the unfamiliar… less unfamiliar. I wasn’t sure whether to expect anything different than what I have experienced so far in my other teaching courses; I frankly hadn’t considered how urban education could be any different.

Before this class, I didn’t know if methodology and curriculum were treated any differently than in rural/suburban schools, nor did I know whether or not students behaved any differently. I was anticipating the Hollywood stereotypes of urban education to somehow be proven correct. They weren’t. I was anticipating my car getting broken into after a miserable trek into Newark. It didn’t. I was anticipating my own worst fears coming true. They didn’t. Name any white suburbanite apprehensions- I had them all and they were all proven wrong.

I suppose that in large part, I learned about my own fears and anxieties towards urban education- the "assumptions" and "culture collage" projects helped me grapple with them. I learned how these negativities can not possibly contribute to the teaching field in a positive manner, and how acting upon these inferior impulses cripples me before I can even teach. I learned that there were some different aspects of the urban environment contributing to urban education that you would never really find in suburbia- how you have to roll with the punches at times when the resources aren't provided.

I am no longer scared to teach in Newark; I am no longer scared of being scared. I went into this class thinking I would never want to teach in an urban setting, and by the end of only four weeks I am seriously considering it. These children are students, just like any child anywhere else. They need to be perceived as talented learners with limitless potential, just like any child anywhere else. I need to be the teacher that provides for them, just like I would provide for any other child anywhere else.

The Urban Educator’s Institute was an incredible experience. Interacting with the students, faculty and administration of the schools we visited shed a lot of light on the potential of Newark students. It also proved how worthy teacher collaboration is- it seemed as if in order to make things happen at times, teachers absolutely had to band together to achieve their objectives. This is certainly an ethos I need to solidify in my communicative-professional life. It was truly an invaluable experience in Newark- a place-based educational experience.

The course, although shortened and intensified, was extremely informative. Our professor was extremely real and relatable- she seemed to be a bastion of knowledge and yet completely open to learn from her students. I particularly enjoyed the articles offered, most notably Bulman’s piece and The Annenberg Promise. I found the course material itself to be flexible, because I was able to apply other readings from previous courses into my blogs as well. The readings were identifiable, and I will surely reference them in the future. Incorporating blogs and websites into the mix provided a unique way to approach the material being presented to us. The website was also extremely efficient in provoking collaborative learning. I also found that publishing our work via the Internet allowed us to uniquely synthesize and dig deeper into the material. Honestly, I didn’t have any qualms with this course. I found it extremely rewarding because it was transformational- it allowed me to carry away with me a different mind-set than I had arrived with.