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!) Gina will immediately be fighting her battles as she walks in the door, not just because she is white, but she is of a different culture from the rest of the school. I experienced a situation similar to this during my student teaching experience and I was able to overcome the obstacles by trusting in my faith and understanding my purpose here was needed. Gina needs to hold her own and be confident in her teaching skills, because in the end, that is the reason she is there. She can only do her best when it comes to teaching these students, and she must focus on this aspect of learning and teaching. She may deal with discrimination and after effects of the poem, but she can only prove herself by being a loving and giving teacher to those students.