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Friday, March 30, 2012

An Urban Teacher's Education: A Teacher's Role

An Urban Teacher's Education: A Teacher's Role:


A Teacher's Role

An individual's education is made up of much more than just the time they spend in school. Indeed, class time makes up only a very small portion of any person's education. The understanding one gains of the world and how to interact with it is shaped (in small or large part) by nearly every experience s/he has. The classroom is merely one of the places where society is deliberate about creating experiences designed to enhance desired understandings. School is, however, often the place where learning is most inauthentic, and subsequently boring. This is partly because the learning can often seem forced, but also because the classroom operates in a system that has a tendency to strangle individuality.

Two weeks ago during my staff's professional collaboration time, our principal asked the literacy team to consider an article in an ASCD publication on student similarities and differences. While I can't remember the title or author, I do remember the pages were laden with pictures of butterflies. The images were meant to remind