Is the Opposition to Phasing Out Gifted Classes Based on Research or Implied Bias?
You wake up in the middle of the night, sweating, a nightmare and you realize; only a few weeks before school opens. No matter how long you’ve been teaching as the first day approaches you get nervous; everything has to be perfect, you increasingly think about new lessons, you worry: How will I involve the parents? How can I address the needs of all the kids? Will the principal let me do what I know is “right” for my kids?
The Tuesday after Labor Day in my school the staff filed into the lobby, a few right off the plane from trekking across Europe, or, after teaching summer school and a few weeks off, still exhausted. A pile of still warm bagels and an urn of steaming coffee, the principal knew how to buy us off.
In the auditorium, the principal began that Day One speech: introduces the new teachers, who appear to get younger every year. The principal lays out the latest ukases from the overlords; and, if the principal is experienced, after his/her words of wisdom, turns the meeting over the union leadership, and leaves.
Schools have their own cultures and the “new thing” from whomever is leading the school system rarely resonates in schools and classrooms,
This is Year Two of the tenure of Richard Carranza, a tenure dominated by announcements about equity issues. Maybe you’ve spent a few hours in an anti-baas training workshop, or discussion about choosing literature by more diverse CONTINUE READING: Is the Opposition to Phasing Out Gifted Classes Based on Research or Implied Bias? | Ed In The Apple