Entry # 11: We have more time,
but how will we use it?

Schools were open on Monday, a tentative agreement was announced at 5:45 a.m., and the picket signs were laid to rest. I spent the rest of the day trying to regroup, exhausted from the stress and tension, elated that there was a settlement in the Philadelphia teacher strike, curious and concerned about the details of the contract and their impact on teaching and learning.

Since I'm no longer a member of the teacher's union, I did not attend the ratification meeting. I learned from others that there was a vocal minority present, a minority that hoped to delay the vote, in order to study the details. Those who wanted more time were not given a hearing. Instead the contract was adopted quickly, with little concern for democracy, or the details of what it would all mean in the classrooms.

I'm still trying to sift through the details. I know there will be an extra half hour of instructional time added to the workday next year. How will it be organized? If you add 30 minutes to instruction, do you divide it by 8 periods to get a grand total of about 3.75 minutes per period. On my best day as a teacher, there wasn't much I could accomplish for, or with, kids in 3.75 minutes.

Those of us on the other side of the teacher desk had been hoping for additional time for teacher planning and professional development. Since the 30 minutes has been earmarked for instruction, I'm worried that our plans are dead in the water.

The new package did add three days to the teachers' roster, but again, I'm concerned about when and how those days are scheduled. I have learned from experience that meaningful professional development must be consistently embedded in our day-to-day practice in order to facilitate changes in the classroom. The best workshop in the world, one with great handouts and activities, will lie buried on teachers' desks, if its lessons are not revisited and practiced on a day-to-day basis.

We have a year to configure the minutes and the days and we have many creative minds to work with -- but I'm worried that as long as the time is seen as the "spoils of war" vs. an opportunity to move forward, our hopes for progress will remain elusive. Unlike the child in the story of Solomon, our children's progress depends on the support and ability of both sides.

Banking time

And so, I have been toying with notions of banking time. I'm speculating that schools could pool the 30 minutes to create a weekly bank of 150 minutes, a good chunk of time. Those 150 minutes could be divided into two blocks of 75 minutes or remain as one whole. During the block, the kids could work on special projects, like those mandated for our kids in grades 4, 8 and 12, while half the teachers mentored them and the other half participated in professional development.

I can hear the roster peoples' cries already, but I know it could be done. The teachers could flip duties from week to week so that all teachers would get the training/planning time twice a month. I am excited by this possibility. I wonder if anyone else will like the idea...I guess I'll float it with some folks tomorrow and then we'll see what happens.

My second head

Last week it was contract stress and this week it's pre-election jitters. PA is a key locale in this tight presidential race, and both candidates are here this weekend. When the dust clears on Wed. morning I'm hoping we'll have a Gore administration supported by a democratic majority in the House and Senate. I am voting Democratic. I shudder to think of the repercussions of another Bush administration, but I'm not naive about the playing field under either party's direction.

I don't consider myself cynical either. I have very high hopes for our ability to support our students under the inequitable conditions we face in our schools and communities. However, on Friday at a meeting, I shared my view that we need to be straight with our kids about the obstacles in their paths, and my comments were met with looks that told me that people thought I had just grown a second head or worse.

I was at a meeting of other facilitators and we were discussing the Urban Learner Framework. In particular, we were focused on student resiliency, and I commented on the fact that our society would be in a fix if all our urban kids did begin to achieve.

It became very uncomfortable at our table. All eyes were on me as I stated that I thought our kids were wise to the mythology of the American Dream. I felt very alone in this situation, and I suddenly felt like the other teachers thought I was just burned out or something.

I'm not depressed, and I'm certainly not ready to quit, but I do think our kids today are wise to the lies of "equal opportunity." I told the folks at my table that I thought the kids in our middle and high schools knew there were only a limited number of slots available for people like them, people of color, people from the inner city. I was responded to with a pep talk about "new worlds of opportunity" and "the sky's the limit."

Boy, was I surprised, and a little bit worried. I think the very reason I'm not burned out, the reason I don't think my family members are slackers, is because I know the deck was stacked against them from the start. I grew up puzzled because my family worked so hard for so little gain. It didn't make sense, it didn't connect with what I learned in school.

School said that hard work and integrity brought success. School said where you were born did not matter, that we were all equal. We were told that hard work was what mattered and we responded accordingly. However, since success was generally equated with large amounts of money, something was not right with this picture.

Race, gender and class do matter . . .

So here I am some 35 years later and I've learned that race, gender and class most certainly do matter. Despite the rhetoric, I see too many good people who do not succeed, and I refuse to accept that the fault lies primarily with them. I refuse to believe that it's just a matter of their not trying hard enough.

Can we really reach our kids if we keep trying to sell them an unrealistic dream? Can teachers really believe in their kids and the false dream at the same time? I don't think so. If the dream's for real than the families we serve must be to blame for their conditions. If we blame them, we cannot really unite with them as equals in a struggle against the lies.

Yesterday morning, I got together for a meeting with the sponsors of the "Ask the Girls" clubs. We met at my house for breakfast and after the meeting the talk turned to the election. I shared my experience on Friday and we began talking about teaching kids to "transgress" as bell hooks would put it. We talked about empowerment.

I guess what I'm left with is my renewed belief that education is the key, but for me it's the key to uncovering the lies, not buying or burying them. Success for our children cannot mean turning their backs on their families and their communities as failures.

Understanding the nature of our society, its biases and flaws, will be a prerequisite for reforming it. I believe that my comittment to reform is a fundamental part of my role as a teacher and as a citizen.

[Editor's note: Deb is co-moderator of the new MiddleWeb listserve.]


Read next week's entry >>>

<<< Read last week's entry

Comment on this week's entry

Read some background about Deb Bambino

Back to Deborah's 2000-2001 Diary Index