麻豆传媒入口

鈥淣ope,鈥� Luis said, pushing his assignment away.

鈥淵ep,鈥� I said, pushing it back.

鈥淲hy are you making me do this?鈥�

鈥淏ecause this is an English class, and that involves writing.鈥�

鈥淏ut I can鈥檛!鈥� Panic crept into his voice. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not supposed to make me! The other teachers don鈥檛! They know I鈥檓 dumb!鈥�

Low Expectations and the Seeds of Self-Doubt

Although it鈥檚 been a decade since I taught sixth-grade Luis, I鈥檒l never forget that declaration. The words tumbled out recklessly, but they had deep roots. Luis desperately wanted me to accept that he was dumb and leave him alone so that he could tuck that ugly word back inside where nobody had to look directly at it.

Luis was not dumb. He was an English language learner who also received special education services for a learning disability. Reading and writing were challenging, but he wasn鈥檛 dumb.

I鈥檓 sure Luis鈥檚 teachers never called him dumb. But the fact that we don鈥檛 say something doesn鈥檛 mean students don鈥檛 hear it.

Let鈥檚 imagine what Luis鈥檚 school experience had been like. Imagine how many times a teacher had asked the class to write a paragraph, and Luis scribbled just five words. The teacher, not wanting him to feel bad, said 鈥淕ood job!鈥� and accepted his work.

Imagine how many times he鈥檇 been given an easier text to read than his classmates. And imagine how rarely he was even required to read it. Imagine how many times his peers took notes or wrote stories while he did fill-in-the-blank activities. Imagine how many years he spent aimlessly flipping the pages of the same Captain Underpants book during silent reading.

His teachers didn鈥檛 call him dumb. They wanted him to feel successful鈥攖hey differentiated his instruction, provided sentence frames, allowed peer collaboration, and attended to his emotional needs.

But Luis noticed how little was asked of him, and he had an explanation鈥攈e must be dumb.

When Nice Isn鈥檛 Enough

Everybody has implicit biases, and left unacknowledged or unchallenged, those biases can affect the expectations we hold for students. Our beliefs about a student鈥檚 abilities might be impacted by language, disability, race, culture, gender, socioeconomic level, etc. In , Sonia Nieto explains the harm done by well-intentioned teachers who refuse to 鈥減lace the same rigorous demands on their students of color as they do on white students.... Such 鈥榓ccommodations鈥� may unintentionally give students the message that teachers believe [they] are incapable of learning.鈥�

There鈥檚 a fine line. The accommodations that Luis鈥檚 teachers likely provided are sound educational practices鈥攖he nuance comes in how they鈥檙e applied. Are we giving accommodations in students鈥� zone of proximal development, or their comfort zone? Do our accommodations empower students to access more content and higher-level thinking, or do they remove learning opportunities? Are scaffolds gradually removed as kids approach independence, or do the scaffolds anchor them in dependence?

Compassion and Rigor

One of my major pet peeves is when a teacher hears students speaking highly of another teacher and responds, 鈥淵ou just like her because she lets you get away with stuff, right?鈥� And it presses the same nerve when a teacher claims, 鈥淜ids don鈥檛 like me very much because I actually expect them to work hard.鈥�

The assumption is that one can be either a compassionate teacher or a rigorous teacher, but not both鈥攁nd there鈥檚 a belief that kids don鈥檛 want rigor.

For an equitable educator, it鈥檚 not only possible but imperative to be both compassionate and rigorous. It鈥檚 what students need from us, and what they want. Kids can tell when we鈥檙e lowering the bar. They want to reach high standards, and our compassion is an essential ingredient to get them there.

Effective teaching demands that we strive to boost the achievement of marginalized students. Neither high expectations nor kind hearts can do the job alone. Zaretta Hammond calls the ideal educator a 鈥溾�濃�攐ne who focuses on building strong relationships with students, then draws on that wellspring of trust to hold students to high standards of deep engagement with course content.

No good comes of teachers belittling each other鈥檚 strengths. Whether warmth or demanding comes more naturally to any of us, we should be seeking out colleagues who are talented in the opposite area. We can learn from them, and they might be interested in learning from us too. Students need the best of what we all have to offer.

When Luis told me he was dumb and all his teachers knew it, I responded quietly, trying to project the calm energy I wanted him to mirror.

鈥淚 hate that anyone ever made you feel that way. I鈥檓 sorry. I never lie to you, and I鈥檓 telling you right now鈥攜ou鈥檙e smart and capable of success in school. I鈥檓 going to help you prove it to yourself. Now let鈥檚 get started on this assignment together, and in a few minutes, you鈥檒l be ready to keep working on your own.鈥�

I don鈥檛 know if Luis remembers that conversation. But I do know that after years of testing at an intermediate ELL level, that year he scored proficient and exited our program. I鈥檝e never seen a more shocked, happy, and proud face. Luis finally knew he wasn鈥檛 dumb.