JOIN THE CONVERSATION—ADDRESSING TRAGEDYQuestion to Consider:
Should teachers give students an opportunity to voice their concerns and fears about
tragic events such as the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City or the
1995 Oklahoma City bombing of a federal office building? Explain.SECTION F: WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT DO TEACHERS NEED?
Teachers Need Support, Too: The New Teachers
Networks’ Response to the Amadou Diallo Case
By S. Maxwell Hines, Maureen Murphy,
Alan Singer, and Sandra Stacki
Many of the essays in this book are biographical sketches by young teachers who are members of
the Hofstra University New Teachers Network. The network is a School of Education alumni group
that builds on trusting relationships developed between teachers and between teachers and uni-
versity faculty during preservice teacher education programs. These relationships are maintained
through faculty visits to secondary school classrooms; participation by new teachers in School of
Education classes; and as hosts for participant-observers from the preservice teacher education
program, peer mentoring by more experienced classroom teachers, regular support meetings, net-
work-sponsored conferences, e-mail contact, and involvement in professional activities. The net-
work offers new teachers the opportunity to be part of a supportive community where they are val-
ued as resources and partners rather than employees, clients or students. S. Maxwell Hines,
Maureen Murphy, Alan Singer, and Sandra Stacki are the Hofstra University New Teachers Net-
work faculty advisors. A version of this section was published in the December 2002 issue of Phi
Delta Kappan magazine.—Alan Singer
On Friday, February 25, 2000, four White New York City police officers charged with the
wrongful death of an African immigrant to the city were acquitted of all charges at a widely
followed trial. That evening, three participants in the Hofstra University New Teachers Net-
work circulated, via the network’s 100-member e-mail list, a proposal for responding to racial
violence and the jury verdict in their classrooms.
By Monday night, 13 teachers had replied with ideas for proceeding. One teacher submit-
ted a lesson plan downloaded fromThe New York TimesWeb page. Another copied, pasted,
and sent out news releases and editorials to use to open class discussion. Many New
Teachers Network members expressed their own hopes or frustrations as they collectively
tried to grapple with the difficult issues of racism, injustices in the judicial system, and po-
lice brutality.
One White woman teaching at a suburban ethnic minority middle school wrote:
I had my kids write journals today about their reaction to the verdict. My problem and/or ques-
tion is: Many students were taking sides based on race and not the facts of the case and were
VERY influenced by reactions at home. Some students did not want to discuss it at all because
(and this is my own guess) they are getting opinions at home that may not be appropriate for
school discussion. Whatever people say, RACE is a REAL issue for my students where the black
vs. white line is VERY much there. How do I deal with this?248 CHAPTER 9