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!) I want to start off by saying that most teachers that worry about their legitimacy as a teacher because of something as small as this are more than likely a good teacher. The reason I say that is because many teachers out there that are truly not making an impact would not have cared or given a second thought about the poem and it wouldn't have crossed their mind that they don't make a difference in their students. Gina just needs to hear positive reinforcement that she does make a difference and that a poem does not define her legitimacy. Gina could also discuss the poem in her class and have her students reflect on their thoughts about the poem and if they believe that African American are still oppressed today. As a history teacher, I would enjoy this discussion to find out the opinions of my students and to know the reasoning's for their opinions.