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!) It is good that Gina began her student teaching with purpose and optimism. She needs to understand that learning about African American history and culture through poetry is a wonderful opportunity for her students. The assembly was designed to educate and empower children form a culturly dominated ethnic group. Since African Americans are from a traditional dominated group it is cultruly relavent for them to feel the need to assert their identities. Gina needs to continue to share her culture with her students in a professional way. She could do so by teaching culturally divers lessons which would enable students to learn about others. She should also provide a friendly, positive, accepting classroom environment which promotes cultual awareness and accepance for all students.