By Anthony L. Hubbard
So, you just graduated from a 4-year college with a teaching degree. You did some student teaching at a local suburban elementary school – but that’s not where your passion is. You’re interested in teaching at an urban school in the most challenging neighborhood.
Why?
Because you want to make a difference. You want to change lives. You want to teach the kids who are the neediest and help them escape a terrible situation.
Or at least, that’s what you think you want. The truth is, most teacher education programs leave you unprepared to deal with the day-to-day reality of teaching in an urban school. To be completely honest, urban schools are a tough environment – for both teacher and students.
Poverty leaves its mark on every student – and many of them cope by turning away from teachers and authority figures. They enter your classroom with distrust and guarded. Many have suffered trauma that has gone untreated, while others don’t see the importance of education.
So let us take a look at some of the most common things that surprise teachers who attempt to teach in urban schools, and discuss why education programs don’t adequately prepare teachers for this educational environment.
Relationships Are At The Core Of Your Ability To Teach
Here’s the thing about young people in urban schools – they’ve seen it all before. A white, middle-class teacher comes into their classroom, freshly out of college or Graduate school. They’re raring to go – and they want to have their “O Captain, My Captain,” moment with their class, and change their lives.
Then, as the year goes on, the teacher gets frustrated. The kids are cynical, mean, or ignoring them – and don’t seem to have any interest in learning. Teachers become snarky, disengaged and frustrated. After a year, the teacher is so discouraged that he/she leaves – probably to teach in a charter school or a cushy suburban school.
The leaving of potentially great educators happens over and over again, and the reason is simple – relationships are more important in urban schools than anywhere else. If you want to have an effect on the lives of your students, you must connect to them on a personal level, and genuinely show that you care about them.
This is in contrast to the attitude that many first-time teachers enter with; the idea that their students need “saving,” and that they’re the ones to do it. Students don't need to be saved by you. They need to be empowered. Students in this environment don’t want your pity. They want to feel normal. And if you can connect with your students, be honest with them, and create a meaningful relationship, you will get through to them.
Conflict Is Normal – And You Need To Manage It
Poverty and the stress of life associated with it takes a severe mental toll – especially on developing children. Many kids will react by becoming combative and aggressive or withdrawing completely into their shells. These behaviors are especially prevalent in teenagers and pre-teens.
Most teacher programs have a minimal focus on conflict resolution skills. These programs operate in a sort of “bubble” where your classroom is obedient, respectful, and conflict-free – and this is never the case.
You’re going to need good conflict resolution skills. If the conflicts are minor and don’t escalate, it’s best to provide your students with the tools required to solve them on their own and act as a facilitator. Because if you rely on school administrators and school resource officers to solve the conflict, you’re going to alienate yourself from your students.
Some Things Are Out Of Your Control – And That’s Okay
There is no mistake that when you teach in an urban school, within a disenfranchised neighborhood, with students living in constant state of crisis - there will be things that are out of your control. You can’t make sure all of them have a warm bed to sleep in at night, clean clothes, or enough money for lunch. You’re not their savior, and you can’t do everything on your own.
But what you can do is teach. When students are in your classroom, you’re in control, and you really can make a difference if you persist, form great relationships, and connect with your students, you will be able to watch them improve – and that’s the best feeling you can have as a teacher. Remember, the mission here is to equip your students them with a strong educational foundation that will give them a fighting chance of improving their life outcomes.
Teaching In Urban Schools Is Hard – But Don’t Be Discouraged
If you’re looking to teach in an urban school, that’s great! I’m glad that you’re thinking about using your talents to reach young people who are disadvantaged, and who may lack a strong mentor or role model.
But it’s important that you understand that this will be difficult. There is a reason that some urban schools have a 3-year turnover rate of over 50% – most teachers are not properly equipped by their education programs to handle the stresses of teaching the nation’s most challenging students.
But if you understand that you’re a teacher – not a savior, that you must build relationships with each one of your students, and that you can encourage learning by facilitating an open, safe environment for your students, you’ll have a much better chance of success. Make no mistake, there will always be students that latch on to you, and you will become their superhero, the cool teacher, their mentor - but just let it happen naturally.
It will be hard. You may want to quit. But if you persist, you’ll be rewarded – and you’ll truly make a difference in the lives of your students.
