One of the first observations I made about Susan Eaton's book, The Children in Room E4, was that its title has a student-centered focus. The title of Eaton's book does not mention the Sheff v. O'Neill legal case or the decay of Hartford's poverty-stricken North-End ghetto. The title mentions the students in Ms. Luddy's classroom, students whom Eaton describes as individuals with unique and defining character attributes.
Though Hartford's North End has imposed some culture upon the lives of Ms. Luddy’s students and their families, Eaton's book does not convey poverty and socioeconomic status as a definitive character trait of any individual student. As teachers, we must see through to the core of our students' beings, identifying their individual strengths and weaknesses. It has become a more common practice for empathetic professionals in the field of special education to perceive and speak about their students with disabilities rather than disabled students. It is important first to consider the psychological implications inherent in the syntax of these two phrases.
The idea behind this variation in word order is that the latter example emphasizes the word disability rather than student, conveying the negative message that a student is limited and ultimately defined by his or her disability. The former example places emphasis on the word students as it precedes disabilities, conveying the message that students, holistically, are more important than and not limited in character by any disability with which they may grapple. Teachers need to validate students by understanding them as capable individuals with unique attributes and perspectives to offer in the process of learning; who are not characterized foremost by labels of specific conditions or disabilities such as autism, various syndromes, or socioeconomic status labels. In this manner, teachers can achieve a higher level of both empathy and objectivity, increasing the chances of engaging students in lesson content. Eaton describes Keesha, a student in Ms Luddy's third grade classroom, as “heavy, happy, quiet and shy, with sympathetic eyes;” who loves “swings and swinging high to make the wind hit my face” and “the idea of horses;” who dreams of someday being a college educator or pediatrician (¶ 7, pg. 42) In the same classroom, Martin, “artistic, dreamy, and poetic,” has an interest in studying insects and dreams of working someday “in a rainforest that [he] saw in a book Ms. Luddy gave [him]. There are people who get paid,” he told Eaton, “to find butterflies and to maybe draw pictures of butterflies. That's for me, that job right there” (¶8, pp. 42-43). T.J. is “dead serious, deeply proud, and reliably high-achieving” with the aspiration to become a police officer or lawyer (¶5, pg. 42). Rashida is “wiry, boisterous, sassy, rebellious” with the aspiration of becoming a lawyer who helps people who have been arrested unfairly (Eaton, ¶6, pg. 42). Patrick is “sensitive, broad-shouldered...as chubby as Jeremy...[and has] the most elegant manners of any child I've seen, right along with a fierce volatility that scared off adults. But Ms. Luddy had peered beyond Patrick's anger. He was trouble in the early months of third grade—muttering angrily to himself, refusing to do his work. He'd thrown a chair clear across the room. By early spring he was her hardest worker, respectful, and appreciative” (¶2, pg. 42).
Teachers who allow students the freedom to express their own individual personalities, unrestrained and unconfined by labels that denote socioeconomic conditions into which they were born and other such labels, promote diversity on the whole. I had an interview for an internship position at Darien High School in Connecticut where the principal described the student population as largely upper middle class to affluent white. Within such populations where ethnic cultural diversity is limited, other forms of diversity, as described above, most definitely exist. Teachers must not take such situations for granted as limited. Diversity exists in many forms and is something I perceive as an asset to any learning environment. Is it fair that in Darien, too, there is some form of existing segregation that regulates almost unconsciously racial and cultural boundaries in our public schools? In my opinion, no. The ideal situation would provide more balance. But teachers are forced to work with what they have and make the best of a given situation. Hartford's North End is one example. Darien is perhaps another.
Reference:
Eaton, Susan. (2007). The children in room E4: American education on trial. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: Chapel
Hill, North Carolina.
Though Hartford's North End has imposed some culture upon the lives of Ms. Luddy’s students and their families, Eaton's book does not convey poverty and socioeconomic status as a definitive character trait of any individual student. As teachers, we must see through to the core of our students' beings, identifying their individual strengths and weaknesses. It has become a more common practice for empathetic professionals in the field of special education to perceive and speak about their students with disabilities rather than disabled students. It is important first to consider the psychological implications inherent in the syntax of these two phrases.
The idea behind this variation in word order is that the latter example emphasizes the word disability rather than student, conveying the negative message that a student is limited and ultimately defined by his or her disability. The former example places emphasis on the word students as it precedes disabilities, conveying the message that students, holistically, are more important than and not limited in character by any disability with which they may grapple. Teachers need to validate students by understanding them as capable individuals with unique attributes and perspectives to offer in the process of learning; who are not characterized foremost by labels of specific conditions or disabilities such as autism, various syndromes, or socioeconomic status labels. In this manner, teachers can achieve a higher level of both empathy and objectivity, increasing the chances of engaging students in lesson content. Eaton describes Keesha, a student in Ms Luddy's third grade classroom, as “heavy, happy, quiet and shy, with sympathetic eyes;” who loves “swings and swinging high to make the wind hit my face” and “the idea of horses;” who dreams of someday being a college educator or pediatrician (¶ 7, pg. 42) In the same classroom, Martin, “artistic, dreamy, and poetic,” has an interest in studying insects and dreams of working someday “in a rainforest that [he] saw in a book Ms. Luddy gave [him]. There are people who get paid,” he told Eaton, “to find butterflies and to maybe draw pictures of butterflies. That's for me, that job right there” (¶8, pp. 42-43). T.J. is “dead serious, deeply proud, and reliably high-achieving” with the aspiration to become a police officer or lawyer (¶5, pg. 42). Rashida is “wiry, boisterous, sassy, rebellious” with the aspiration of becoming a lawyer who helps people who have been arrested unfairly (Eaton, ¶6, pg. 42). Patrick is “sensitive, broad-shouldered...as chubby as Jeremy...[and has] the most elegant manners of any child I've seen, right along with a fierce volatility that scared off adults. But Ms. Luddy had peered beyond Patrick's anger. He was trouble in the early months of third grade—muttering angrily to himself, refusing to do his work. He'd thrown a chair clear across the room. By early spring he was her hardest worker, respectful, and appreciative” (¶2, pg. 42).
Teachers who allow students the freedom to express their own individual personalities, unrestrained and unconfined by labels that denote socioeconomic conditions into which they were born and other such labels, promote diversity on the whole. I had an interview for an internship position at Darien High School in Connecticut where the principal described the student population as largely upper middle class to affluent white. Within such populations where ethnic cultural diversity is limited, other forms of diversity, as described above, most definitely exist. Teachers must not take such situations for granted as limited. Diversity exists in many forms and is something I perceive as an asset to any learning environment. Is it fair that in Darien, too, there is some form of existing segregation that regulates almost unconsciously racial and cultural boundaries in our public schools? In my opinion, no. The ideal situation would provide more balance. But teachers are forced to work with what they have and make the best of a given situation. Hartford's North End is one example. Darien is perhaps another.
Reference:
Eaton, Susan. (2007). The children in room E4: American education on trial. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: Chapel
Hill, North Carolina.
Building Character Creates Diversity
