Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach

ple can experience and describe the same high school in such different ways. Part of the rea-
son for different memories is that people filter what they see through all of the other things
that are going on their lives; part of the reason is because our experiences and our perspec-
tives are just not the same. Memories are so complex because our lives are different and
complicated.
Many people decide they want to become teachers because they liked school, a teacher,
or a particular subject and really would like to return. Often they are unaware that not ev-
eryone shared their experiences and that, at least at the beginning of their careers, they will
probably be teaching students who are not doing well and do not want to be there. When I
interview prospective applicants to the secondary education program at Hofstra I often ask
them, “What subject in high school did you like the least? How could you have reached ‘you’
in that class?” That is because most of their students will feel about the applicant’s favorite
subject the way they felt in the class where they did not understand what was going on, and
they were sure that the teacher did not care if they learned or even attended.
As you read these stories about teachers in the New Teachers Network, consider your
own background—your own story. Ask yourself: How can your experience help you become
a successful teacher?

JOIN THE CONVERSATION—LISTENING TO THE DIVERSE VOICES

OF URBAN AND SUBURBAN MINORITY SCHOOL DISTRICT EDUCATORS

Maureen Murphy, Judith Singer, and I wrote a research study (Educators for Urban Minor-

ities, 1(1) Fall, 1999, pp. 9–17) based on discussions with teachers working in urban and

suburban minority schools. We found that among successful teachers, a consistent theme

was their ability to draw on personal experiences that made it possible for them to empa-

thize with people whose lives were often very different from their own. Sometimes their

memories were very personal. They acknowledged having them, but were not comfortable

discussing them with others. Significantly, they all had important personal memories.

Question to Consider:

Explain what has happened in your life that enhances your ability to empathize with others.

A Student Who Did Just Enough to Get Byby Stacey Cotten

Stacey Cotten is an African American young woman who earned her teaching certification as an
undergraduate and later returned to Hofstra University for her master’s degree. She was born and
raised in a working-class, largely minority, suburb of New York City. When she was interviewed
for this chapter at the end of her first year as a teacher, Stacey said she believed her decision to
become a teacher was a good decision, but she still had reservations.—Alan Singer
My mother is a housekeeper who works at a local hotel. I do not know my father. In the
schools I attended as a child, the students were mostly Black like me. Some of the kids were
Caribbean. Some were Latino.
In high school, I was the kind of student who did just enough to get by. It may seem funny,
but that helps me now as a teacher. Most of the kids I work with are just like I was. They do
just enough to get by, getting 75 or 80. They know how to work the system. They do not do
every homework assignment but maybe every other assignment. They talk with their friends

42 CHAPTER 2