making power will significantly change the landscape of schools and how we think about ad-
olescence. We will come to accept as commonplace the view that adolescents can act re-
sponsibly, learn, and make significant contributions to society.
***JOIN THE CONVERSATION—HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Judy Kaufman’s beliefs about education are rooted in her ideas about child and adoles-
cent development. They are summarized here.- Humans are born with almost infinite potentials.
- Children who do not have privilege based on their skin color or class membership, or
who have experiences that are at variance with the middle-class expectations of public
schools, often find school a devastating experience. - If teachers want to help children explore possibilities for being and acting in the world
that far exceed the limits of particular boxes, they must strive to learn about the lives of
the students they are going to be teaching. - Most problems associated with adolescence arise because teenagers are trapped in a
world where they are no longer allowed to act like children but are not permitted to be
adults. - Adolescence is not a natural phenomenon or developmental stage, but rather a mod-
ern social construction. Adolescence is a phenomenon of the U.S. capitalist economy
that began with the Industrial Revolution. It functions to keep teenagers out of the per-
manent labor force. - The problems facing adolescents are not their raging hormones, but the contradictory
messages and limited information they receive about appropriate sexual behavior. - Schools should be organized to create experiences for children and adolescents that
reflect who they are in the world and that make it possible for them to both acquire
and critique the values of the adult community.
Questions to Consider:
Which of these statements by Judy Kaufman do you agree with? Which do you disagree
with? Why?
SECTION B: BECOMING A TEACHER 6:
WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT DO TEENAGERS NEED?
In this section, members of the Hofstra New Teachers Network who had to overcome adver-
sity as teenagers in order to receive an education, start a career, understand themselves, or
even to survive discuss their personal experiences. As teenagers, these teachers struggled
with difficult issues such as coming to terms with sexual identity, eating disorders, migration
to a new country, juvenile delinquency, poverty, and gang violence. They explain what life
was like for them as teenagers, the support they received from teachers and other adults,
the kind of support that would have been helpful to them, and the way their personal experi-
ence influences the way they respond to their students.
Nobody Ever Told Me I Was Special
By Lauren Rosenberg
I worked with Lauren Rosenberg when she was a student teacher and observed her classroom
while she was still a beginner. Lauren is a fabulous teacher who lights up her classroom with her
smile. However, in teacher education classes, she tended to be very quiet. Lauren says she is the
232 CHAPTER 9