A good teacher must be compassionate and have passion. When I come into this building
I never say to myself, “Oh my God, I have to go to work.” I love coming into this building. I
love being a teacher. Hopefully, I will not leave here until the day that I retire.
***A Moral Obligation to Care About Others
By Gayle Meinkes-Lumia
Gayle Meinkes-Lumia grew up in a middle-class, predominately White neighborhood of New York
City, but attended a public high school where the students were overwhelmingly Latino, African
American, and Caribbean American. Among the students in her high school, she was one of a tiny
fraction who were Jews. Gayle was a student in my high school class. We met again when she be-
gan her teacher education program. She teaches English in a suburban middle school with stu-
dents who are primarily Latino. She is convinced that “the transformation of society must begin in
our schools. Teachers have to motivate, encourage, coddle, and connect. Our own lives were
touched by people who cared; it is our obligation to care about others.”—Alan Singer
My decision to teach in a predominately minority school stems from my experience attend-
ing an underprivileged high school. It helps me empathize with the urban/inner-city plight.
At this school, I was influenced by having friends from families with lower socioeconomic
status and by teachers who inspired me. I was also lucky to have parents who instilled confi-
dence in me.
Minority students in urban environments are victimized. They are subject to a system
that discriminates against them and caters to the affluent. As a result, their self-esteem and
confidence disappears and their school performance suffers. As educators, it is essential to
motivate minority students and provide them with some sense of direction in their lives.
They must be able to visualize alternatives.
As a graduate student in the School of Education, I was impressed by the writing of Paulo
Freire and Maxine Greene and I try to incorporate their ideas in my educational philosophy.
I especially admire Freire’s work with illiterate farmers and Greene’s idea that democracy
cannot exist without freedom fighters. I love literature and introduce students to authors
like Frederick Douglass, Alice Walker, Henry James, and Maxine Hong Kingston, so they can
understand that freedom is something that must be struggled for.
Although the middle school I teach in is physically located in the suburbs, it reminds me
of urban schools because students are mainly from low-income/single-parent households.
Many of my students have a parent who works two or three jobs simply to meet the family’s
basic needs. My work with these students is a continuous challenge. It is extremely difficult
to accomplish educational goals when a student’s concerns are elsewhere.
I find that my students need to be motivated and empowered in different ways than their
wealthier, white, counterparts. My eighth-grade “low-reading-level” class is readingFahren-
heit 451. The characters’ minds have turned into mush because books are banned and
burned. In discussions in class we centered on the consequences of eliminating choices and
alternatives, and my students wrote beautiful essays dealing with aspects of their own lives
that are censored or suppressed.
I am proud of the emotional support I gave one student after he attempted suicide. The
boy wrote a wonderful journal entry that expressed his desire to communicate with people.
We sat for hours and discussed everything, from goals to gardening. At the end, I felt rejuve-
nated. I believe that teachers receive as much as they give.
GOALS 21