Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: White Intern in a Black inner-city school My sister, Gina, who is a young White girl, started her student teaching in a predominantly Black school in inner-city America. She initially approached her job with optimism and purpose. However, she began to experience her first doubts with the presentation of an emotionally charged poetry reading at an all-school assembly. The poem painted a picture of the oppression of the African Americans by the European American majority. My sister was moved by the poem and accepted the historical truth of its message. At the same, she said she wondered what educational effects of the poem were and whether it would affect her legitimacy as a White teacher in a Black school. She talked to me about her experience. I am an experienced teacher, but I could not answer whether poems like that have any educational value, and whether or not my sister should worry about her legitimacy as a White teacher. I don't what she should do in this specific situation. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) Discussing the poem with the students will definitely show that Gina is interested in how they feel. If she can connect with the students, I feel like they should open up to her. Trust can be gained and earned if Gina tries with the students. Gina may even write a poem herself to share with the students to show on how she feels about teaching. The students seem to like poems because it is how they translate their feelings the best. Ginas's legitimacy of a white teacher should only be questioned when it comes to her morals. Regardless of her race, she is still a qualified teacher that is allowed to be in the school. Getting to know the students and take the time to show interest in them will show the students how Gina is not just "another white teacher."