Thoughts from the classroom

Recently, a teacher in Idaho was ordered to pull two posters from her classroom that were deemed “too political”. One stated “Everyone is welcome here” with hands of different “flesh” colors. The other said “Everyone in this room is welcome, important, accepted, respected, encouraged, valued, and equal” in rainbow colors. She was ordered to pull down those posters because according to school policy number 401.20, which states that banners in the classroom must be content neutral and conductive to a positive learning environment.

I’m here to tell you that if I were ordered to take down those posters, I would promptly spend my next paycheck plastering my classroom in those posters. They would be everywhere. Every inch of my wall would be covered. There would be no doubt as to my opinion on that order.

I have one job to do in that classroom, and that is teach. I keep hearing that from a bunch of people, like teaching is in a vacuum that doesn’t take into account events in a child’s life. Teaching is not getting up in front of a bunch of kids, spouting off random facts, and expecting kids to regurgitate them on a test and get a 100. Are there teachers that do that? Absolutely. Those teachers are the ones with the worst outcomes, too.

I want everyone reading this blog right now to stop and take a moment to think back about some of the teachers that influenced your life, good or bad. Matter of fact, try to picture one of each. What was the difference between them? I’m willing to bet I can describe both, while describing the teachers in my life I’m thinking about.

I’ll start with the worst, without naming names of course. I had a middle school teacher that I felt like was going to verbally attack me as soon as I walked into the room. She would rip into me in front of the other students and it was humiliating. I didn’t really try in her class, although my grades remained good. I felt that nothing I did for her would ever impress her, so why try? I ran into her years afterwards when I worked as an ASL interpreter. She remembered me and told me that she pushed me because I was so intelligent. I just smiled, but I really wanted to tell her what I thought of her in that moment, although she made her exit quickly so I’m sure my face told my thoughts louder than I ever could. I never felt intelligent around her, I felt like the world’s biggest screw-up.

One of the best teachers I ever had was such a fantastic teacher that many of us who had her in fourth grade are still in contact with her today, almost 40 years later. She cared about us and build relationships with her students. I don’t remember an angry word from her to anyone, ever. She was kind and gentle, taking care to get to know all of her kids and we knew that she loved every one of us. We were all totally comfortable around her, and grew leaps and bounds as a result. Many of us had her for choir, and she hand-painted ornaments for us that most of us proudly display every year on our trees to this day. (My rotten cat shattered mine…)

So what’s the difference? Quite simply, it didn’t matter of we had a high IQ, fantastic artistic abilities, or had talents that were probably still hidden at nine years old. We were still her kids, and she loved us. We were all welcome, no matter what. We were safe in her presence. We could proudly show her all of our work, and she would make us feel like the greatest artists in the world while still instructing us. Nothing mattered to her except that we were her kids and she wanted all of us to feel special.

Back then, teaching in the 80’s was still a very teacher-centric approach. Texas was just starting the latch on to the idea of certification programs and pedagogy. The teachers were just then starting to get out of the idea that teaching was spouting off facts that kids are expected to remember, no matter what. I was very lucky…many of my teachers knew that developing relationships was the key to a successful teacher. They were ahead of their time in doing so.

If we are developing relationships with our kids, we obviously can’t discriminate for any reason. I feel like this shouldn’t have to be said, but clearly it does, if these posters are considered political. I’m going to go one step further and say that I don’t even feel the urge to discriminate. If we accept the fact that those posters may not be neutral and people may feel they are untrue, then we are accepting that discrimination is acceptable for the teacher to do. If students feel attacked by it, then they need to learn to do better. As teachers, it then becomes our responsibility to model that behavior.

Further, the law they quote says that posters “must be conductive to a positive learning environment.” Why would they not be? Is your child triggered by people different from themselves? Maybe you should exam what you’re teaching your kid. Kids are not born hating each other. They learn that from the world.

My job is to form the relationships with every single one of my kids, no matter what race, nationality, citizenship status, disability, background, religion, sexuality, or color of their shirt. Only when I do that, can I teach them the subject material. I will never discriminate against any child no matter what. Every child will be welcome and treated with the utmost respect, even if they don’t treat me with respect. It’s more than our jobs as teachers, it’s us just being good human beings. These posters should be a facet in everyone’s everyday life, and maybe this world would be a better place.