The power of a myth
Ashley Lamb-Sinclair is the 2016 Kentucky Teacher of the Year and she teaches high school English and creative writing. Lamb-Sinclair, who authors the www.beautifuljunkyard.comwebsite, took a sabbatical during the 2015-16 school year and worked with the Kentucky Department of Education. She is also the founder and chief executive officer of Curio Learning, an educational technology company launching a platform for teacher professional development. And she has written several posts for this blog, including this one, titled, “Why white students need black teachers — by a white teacher.”
In this reflective piece, she looks at the mythologies that people carry with them — and why teachers have to help students change their negative myths to positive ones that build self-worth. She notes that schools sometimes create and perpetuate the negative myths about some students that damages their self-image, and it is the responsibility of teachers to help students create positive stories about themselves as learners.
By Ashley Lamb-Sinclair
My mom was barely 20 years old when I was born, and not in the best health. She is a smoker since early adolescence and smoked throughout her pregnancy with me (it was the 1980s, after all), so her labor was not a smooth one. In fact, it was an emergency. Her health quickly deteriorated, both of our heartbeats dropped dangerously low, and the nurses and doctors prepped my mom for a cesarean. My mom was young and had made some mistakes that haunted her throughout her pregnancy with me, so in the midst of the panic in the room, she lost herself in fear and regret. She was convinced that because of her mistakes, I would surely die. The logic was skewed, but anyone who is a parent knows the illogical trails our minds will walk when it comes to worrying about our kids.
While struggling with her own crashing health and her fear of what would happen to me, the room suddenly went silent. My mom told me it was like a silent movie; the nurses and doctors were running around, obviously yelling and panicking, but she heard nothing. Through the silence, she heard a voice that to this day she believes was the voice of God, which said to her, “I know you worry I will take her because of what you did, but I won’t. She is blessed and she will The power of a myth - The Washington Post:
