Dreamkeepers

For this week, we had to read Dreamkeepers, a book that complimented my experiences with African American children in the classroom well.  One of the important premises is that despite popular opinion, African Americans and inner city children can attain the same educational standards as any other student in the classroom.  I think that it is very important that as teachers we engage every audience in our classrooms regardless of culture or background.  In this way, the book verifies other readings we have conducted over the semester that talk about the importance of engaging students and their prior knowledge to help them learn.  Therefore, African American history and the histories of underrepresented populations that may be in our classrooms is something that needs to be integrated into each daily lesson, rather than on one or two separate occasions during the year.  Therefore, I will try to find readings from varied authors of varied backgrounds for as many assignments as possible. 
Another way teachers can engage African American students is by embracing their experiences and by encouraging them to share and stay active within the classroom, something the book highlights as well.  While race relations have come a long way in contemporary America, the book highlights how there is still separate educational practices in modern schools.  As a teacher with limited power, I will attempt to make sure African American children are being included as much as possible during class assignments.  One of the strengths of this book is that it not only discusses the history of the education of African Americans, but also provides possible solutions and practical applications teachers can use in the classroom.  Furthermore, the book explores issues from every perspective, something other readings have not done so well.  I believe a very important point in this book that we should all take away is that teachers need to accommodate to student's needs and not be rigid and inflexible, as it does a disservice not only to African American students, but all students in the classroom.  Another point that stood out to me in the reading was how many new teachers assimilate to their school's cultural environment and practices.  This could be a challenge to myself as a first year teacher because I will be focused on just getting through the year while not creating any trouble or tension, something that might pressure me to assimilate and not truly be looking out for the interests of my students.  This is something I will be sure to keep aware of, as my responsibility is to educate EVERYONE in the classroom.  I find it appalling that African American students are blamed for their own failures, when from the beginning they never had a fair chance due to unintended oppression even within the educational system from an early age.  We as teachers need to be less focused on blame and more on solutions.  As a quick side note which relates to the topic, in another class many of us tutored K-12 students who were almost exclusively African American and I found that these students were more motivated to learn than many white suburban students I had come across in substitute teaching.  They were fun and easy to work with.  They did not fit the educational stereotypes of how African American youth "should" perform.  Overall, this book made me more aware of any possible unintended discrimination I may have  been at fault for in my future classroom had I not read this book.