"A 2005 report by the Rand Corporation called “A Portrait of the Visual Arts” argues that art education does more than just give students a creative outlet. It can actually help connect them to the larger world, ultimately improving community cohesion.A bold assertion, but not one without merit. Students from lower income families often get little exposure to the arts if they are not provided by schools. The report shows that arts education can help close the gap between socioeconomic groups, creating a more level playing field between children who may not be exposed to these enrichment experiences outside of school and some of their more privileged peers." NAEA and onlinecolleges.net
1. We are doing the best we can to serve our students, no matter where they come from, rural areas, the inner-city, the suburbs, wherever. How can we better understand our kids? If we serve an "at-risk" population, where can we find the extra support we need to help our students? Should we use a reward system to help reach underprivileged students?
2. Is there really that much of a difference between student cultures in a privileged, high-income area, and those students who come from poverty? From what I have read, I believe there is a HUGE difference in the way a teacher works and responds to students within a culture. In high-poverty schools, students have a tendency to want to "entertain" others in order to get attention. They will do just about ANYTHING for attention, both positive and negative. These students really do respond to extrinsic motivators like prizes and candy.
*Note: Respected author/teacher, Michael Linsin, of smartclassroommanagement.com and the book, Dream Class, strongly discourages teachers who serve ANY population, regardless of socioeconomic status, from using reward systems. He believes they are detrimental to students' growth, and wrote a great article about this subject: Why You Shouldn't Reward Students For Good Behavior. He wrote another terrific article about managing disadvantaged students; Are You Sabotaging Your Classroom Management Success? However, Mr. Linsin admits that incentives are effective for substitute teachers as well as elementary "specials" teachers because there is less opportunity to develop relationships and "leverage" with students.
When you call home about a discipline issue, the parents (in my experience) from underprivileged areas are tough on the kids and will more often than not apologize for their child's behavior. What about students from a higher socio-economic background? Are they just as rowdy and hungry for attention? When you call home, needing a parent to support you in your discipling a student, do they argue and blame YOU for their child's behavior? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
From Crazy Like a Fox; One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City, by Dr. Ben Chavis, 2009, p. 55
"We do what's best for inner-city kids: poor, minorities, immigrants, non-English speakers, and some middle-class students who want more structure in school.When you look at the areas in which minorities succeed - sports, military, and church - you realize what they have in common. They are all highly structured and have serious consequences for stepping out of line. Public schools in the inner city, for all their talk of being culturally sensitive and aware, don't put practices in place that work for the demographic they serve. Instead of using discipline and consistent role modeling, they impose an impersonal system on students, which causes chaos. American secondary schools tend to offer students more choices and less control than many kids can responsibly handle, which is a recipe for increased student under-performance and failure."
14 comments:
I have always taught in school with middle, to lower-middle class families. One-on-one conversations are best. Students are more willing to listen if they can’t “entertain” their peers. In that one-on-one conversation I call them out on why I think they are behaving the way they are. Sometimes I’ll tell them, “I have no idea what goes on in your life outside of this classroom. If you are behaving this way because of something bad that happened at home or somewhere else at school. Let me know and you can talk to the counselors. If you’re in trouble I want to help. ” I pause to get a response. Now I tell them how it is. “Otherwise, you’ve got to cut this immature behavior out. I don’t have time for it. I’ve got over 30 more students who sincerely want to learn and make art. I don’t have time to waste on childish behavior that should have ended the day you learned to tie your shoes.” Then I may explain repercussions of continued bad behavior. I’ve found, getting a student to correct a behavior is a mixture of compassion and straight forward honesty.
A middle school art teacher from an affluent school says, "Believe it or not, the tendency to "entertain" others in order to get attention is very common in our school as well. A lot of times it comes from students who's parents are too busy with their career and such to raise their own kids. As for parent support, in my case, most parents respond the same as you described, but there are a lot of parents around here who think their children are perfect. I have heard horror stories from other teachers. There are plenty of parents who will respond to their child's bad behavior as if the teacher did something wrong. The attitude is since they pay high taxes to live in the tiny kingdom, the teacher work for them."
An elementary teacher from an affluent school says:
"Well there is some overlap. I have my fair share of students who still act out for attention and would probably still do backflips for candy. My parents, well they are different. I always have had support from parents, and I have always kept with the rule, compliment the child first then voice concern, to put parent at “ease”.
Difference has been with highly educated parents wanting to analyze or make excuses while the more poverty stricken parents are more likely to threaten and hit kids. I had one mom literally slap her daughter s face, HARD and after that, I never contacted mom again. At (a middle school where I once taught), a child laughed because I got upset, I just let her know I loved her and would never want her to be hurt…period.)
Blaming me for child’s behavior, NO. I have been asked why I have said certain things to kids and have had to apologize, but never blamed for someone else’s behavior. Incident: told a kid he needed to follow directions. That they were written on the board, I had gone over them and had shown them the steps in the lesson. Finally I just had it and said, pretend like you are on the field with a coach, does he have to repeat himself over and over? Well, this kid did not play sports, so go figure… he told dad, dad thought I belittled him, Mom thought it was funny… go figure.
We all apologized, him for not paying attention, me for assuming he played sports, and all was good/ Weird huh?
The (school where I spent the majority of my career) is large, but not a mega school. The population is also 60% white and 40% black. When I was there, it was an unusual situation in that no one put their children in private schools. In fact, there isn’t one in Bay Minette. The point is, the affluent parents had some power in the decisions made. There is a lot of poverty as well. Lots of kids from projects and lots of kids from very rural areas where crime is bad. With that said, I think the real determiner of your classes is if it is an elective by choice, or is it a required class where students don’t have a choice? Mine was an elective, although every student had to have 1 fine arts to graduate. I had a reputation for being a good teacher who ran an interesting, fun class, yet students had to work hard to make a good grade. They also knew they were required to have their work displayed on campus. They also knew that they would possibly be seated next to a National Honor Society member for the WHOLE course. They also knew that some of the students were going to pursue careers in the visual arts and these students would not support thug behaviors that would ruin their experience. Of course, this took several YEARS to establish. So, why does this matter? It matters because the “right “ kind of teenager signed up to take art. If they were goof-offs, well, they took (another elective) depending on who had the loosest class. So, I trained the community to send me a good student, regardless of income or IQ or race. I wanted kids who wanted to learn and I got them.
(Mrs. Johnt is the author of "A Retired Art Teacher Tells All.")
My biggest concern is teaching/conveying/enforcing:
-proper respect and usage of community materials
-wise time management (taking time when needed, not wasting time on unnecessary activities or talking)
2. My best advice for a new art teacher would be:
Remember the most important part of your job is to help them learn and develop new skills. A circle they cut themselves is infinitely more interesting than one you die cut.
In that same vein, don’t do their work for them or finish their work. It creates an unnecessary dependence and a lack of confidence. It also gives the parent an unrealistic idea of what their child’s abilities.
3. I’ve worked with lots of different populations.
My first school was K-2 with about 800 children. The school was Title 1 with 43% free and reduced lunch and approximately 40% ESL. Many of our kindergarteners came in with no to very limited English.
I currently work at two schools. One has almost 800 4th and 5th graders. It has a mostly middle class to upper middle class population with about 9 – 11% free and reduced lunch. Our low income population is growing here and we also have a growing population of children who need more intense counseling services.
My second school is extremely rural. It is K-5 and has almost 200 students. It is Title 1 and has about 75 – 80% free and reduced lunches. Many families at this school are struggling with generational poverty.
The first school I taught in 15 years ago was a middle school in a high poverty area. My classroom was a maintenance closet where there was barely enough room to walk around the table. I had to walk through the gym to get to my classroom, and the boys playing dodge ball would purposefully try to hit me. I literally could not turn my back on my students because they would throw things at me. I went home crying every day, but I turned that art program around because I held the students to very high standards and was very strict. I understood the kids because I came from poverty, too. My dad was in prison and my mom struggled. The parents in that town backed me up when I called home. I heard later on that the art program had been shut down after I left because the school couldn't find anyone who could handle those kids. Later, I worked at a much more affluent high school. There, the parents ran things and tended to look down on teachers. They were all doctors and lawyers and would defend their kids, questioning me when their student earned a bad grade. I felt like the school's goal was to make the parents happy and the kids happy.
I currently teach at two title I elementary schools (and have been in this position for 7 years now). However, I did teach at a private Montessorri school before this and I can say that in my opinion there is a huge difference in teaching the privileged versus the underprivileged.
For one, when I taught at an affluent private school, I had longer class periods, fewer students at a time, basically unlimited access to funds for supplies and parent help whenever I needed it. I do agree though that the dynamic of parents is completely different. I had the same experience where the parents in the affluent community were much more curious about what I had planned and why and much more critical of me as a teacher and quick to defend their child before hearing my side of the story...while many of my current parents are apologetic of their child's behavior and I don't get much support financially or volunteer wise from my current students.
Yet, there is always an exception. I have some parents currently who always show up to volunteer during my art events and gladly volunteer to help out in the classroom when I need them. As you might expect though, they are the same parents involved with PTA and the rest of the school's happenings.
I also agree that kids will be kids and most all of them will put on a show and seek out attention if they can...regardless of background and financial status.
My main concerns teaching in impoverished communities and at the schools that I do are that I have little to no money to spend on art supplies. I also don't have as much support from fellow staff and parents as I did when I taught at the private school.
Some ways I combat this is that during my annual art show, I turned it into an art festival fundraiser where I asked local restaurants to donate food that I sold at a reasonable price ($4 a plate). I also sold tickets for students to participate at various booths. We had face painting, spin art, limbo, bowling (rented bowling lanes for free from Vestavia Bowl), photo booth (local photographer donated his time and materials). Last year was my first year doing my art show this way and it was a great success as many families in the communities that I teach in are always in search of activities to take their kids to on a Friday night...especially ones right in their backyard that they don't have to waste gas money on to get to.
I also apply for grants through Wal-Mart and other means and send home quarterly newsletters asking parents to donate items like toilet paper rolls, scrap lumber, bottle caps, etc. and do a lot of scavenging myself. I do a lot of recycled art projects.
The following is from an email conversation with middle school art teacher and pastor Dr. J.D. Bender, a 20-yr. army veteran with a doctorate in philosophy, a bachelor's in art, and a master's degree in theology. He teaches at an overcrowded, high poverty, urban school. This year he was honored with teacher of the year at his school.
Dr. Bender said,
"Hello, welcome to the realistic world of art teaching and student behavior in class. I'm not sure if I'm able to help, but I'll try and offer suggestions. Most art classes are made up of a variety students, especially since as an elective they sometimes pick us for a quick and easy grade.
However, my classes are strict and I let it be known to the students, we are just as important than CORE courses. Some students are willing to learn our craft and some just need somewhere to go. For those who just need somewhere to go, I have designed certain jobs within the classroom for them to stay active and participate. I give them jobs as being in charge of specific materials to hand out and pick up, making sure everyone starts clean-up on time and making sure that every project we attempt is worth a major grade (so at least attempt).
I have also assigned (Art Peer Mentors) within the classroom who assist me with low comprehension students that catch on and understand better with another student (Co-Op Learning). Small groups work better with students that are competitive with each other, friends, or feel comfortable with another student.
Behavior students are sometimes grouped together, but when they realize they are labeled disruptive and trouble-makers, they want to prove the teacher wrong. They either want to sit and work with other good students, move or sometimes they just refuse to cooperate. That's when the behavior is noted on their discipline log and a parent conference is requested. This is to try and get the student to cooperate or remove from your class to another elective. The attached document is used to cover YOU as a teacher that covers you from a non-participant, and is kept on file to show their is non-productivity from the student.
In conclusion, maybe another art teacher with more experience and easier classes can provide more advise. This is what I use in a sometimes in an over-crowed classroom (40 students), didn't ask for your class, I can't do that project or refuse to do that project, to make it work. And, in the end somebody, one day, will come up to you (5-20) years later and say, "even though I didn't care about art back then, I still can't forget how you taught us to do that specific art project today". Let me know the outcome if this was helpful. Good Luck!
Thank you so much for your response! I very much value your perspective. If you would be so kind as to answer another question or two, I would be appreciative! Does your administration allow you to recruit students to take more advanced classes or do they just "dump" them into Art class? I am finding out not all middle school art teachers have the same opportunities with students! We have a magnet visual art high school here in Jefferson County where my 8th grade students can apply, so that gives them a great incentive to sign up for advanced art.
I teach at a traditional school (not Magnet), so the students I get are not necessarily art skilled. But "I" have to try and keep the good art students on my own, by following a few procedures.
(1) Ask the student at the end of the school year if they are interested in taking art from beginning to intermediate to advance.
(2) Get permission from the parents with a request letter, that the student and parent sign giving approval.
(3) Try going to the guidance counselors (in the summer), who set up schedules for the following year, to place these students in your art class.
But, as you know this doesn't always work (it might become a dumping ground class), so just be patient and accept what comes. Who knows, it just might go your way.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer! I am very curious about your transition to teaching - my dad just retired from the federal program, "Troops to Teachers." In 2009 our National Teacher of the Year, Tony Mullin, had been a member of law enforcement for 20 years before becoming a teacher!
One more question - how do you balance being so strict with recruiting the students to take art again? I still have not found a great equilibrium in this area. My classes are elective, and I find that the talented students who sign up for the "advanced" classes somehow have this entitlement syndrome where they think I don't have the "right" to discipline them. They wind up resenting me if I have to correct them, and then the class dynamic goes straight down the tubes. Right now, the students who are about to rotate to another elective in January are helpful, cheerful, and respectful. However, in my all-year 8th grade class, for 2 days in a row I have given discipline assignments to kids who just won't be quiet even when I have warned them multiple times. Everyone is upset, including me. One student actually talked back to me (for the first time in 3 years!) when I asked him to move back to his assigned seat. When I handed him his discipline assignment, his eyes were brimming over with rebellion.
How do you handle this?
Keep in mind, sometimes students get so comfortable with a setting they, they tend to try and take advantage of the teacher. However, I let them know, they can be re-assigned to another elective (they don't like), with my approval with the Principal, or either a parent conference is required for them to stay within my class and produce. My classes are made up of urban, gang-banging, mentally-challenged, probation-officer monitored, low-income (Title I), homeless, foster-care, well-off good & bad parenting students and those being raised by great-great grandparents! The best way I handle each day (for the past 23 years) is one day at a time and choose the battle that's worth fighting for and go on.
It sounds like you have survived and succeeded against all odds!
I have been an art teacher for 10 years, serving the same blue-collar community where art is not very highly valued. My students are into football, hunting, and beauty pageants - most of them have never set foot in an art museum until I take them there, and the Birmingham Museum of Art is literally a 20 minute drive from our school!
One of the questions that has been in the back of my mind for a long time is, HOW to succeed as an art teacher when there is so much against us? Community attitudes, student behavior, the attitude of the school culture that art just isn't that important, other "core" academic teachers who look down on "elective" teachers, I could go on and on! I would love to interview art teachers like you and those who have made it to retirement who have SURVIVED this system to truly make a difference in the lives of their students and change their school cultures for the better.
I really believe that what we do should be CENTRAL to academics, not on the outside, ready to be cut out of the curriculum at any time. In my opinion, art is like the tapestry that weaves together all the academics - every class we teach involves a bit of experimenting and scientific inquiry, not to mention history, language/communication skills, and math.
I greatly appreciate the time you have taken to answer my questions!
You have valuable (priceless?) input because you have succeeded in a tough (impossible?) environment. If you get a chance, will you answer this question:
"What does an art teacher bring to a school?"
An art teacher brings the gift of his/her art skills to students who are willing to learn it, accept it, and use it later in life as a possible career or enjoyable way to relax your body, mind and soul (away from all the hustle & bustle of drama we tolerate most of the day). And finally, we bring a love of our craft to share with the whole school, community and world!
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