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Inspiring Students to Keep Searching For Stories

Brooke Ramos' Teaching Philosophy

 

About a year ago I watched a TEDtalk that changed my interpretation of Social Studies and gave me the words for my teaching philosophy.  Chimamanda Adichie warns us of the “danger of single stories” in her TEDtalk.  By a single story she is referring to stereotypes, one version of a story, and one perspective of an event.  A stereotype is not necessarily 100% false, it is simply one story.  The application of a single story can be as detrimental as Hitler wiping out an entire race based on his story of Arian supremacy, or it can be as mundane as an American looking for chips and salsa at every restaurant in Mexico (you’re more likely to get bread and salsa on the table and “chunky” salsa is Americanized salsa). 

 

Mother Tongue Week.  We invited parents to read in their child's classroom in their mother tongue.  This mother-daughter duo went above and beyond to teach her classroom about Korea!

Outside the classroom my goal is for my students to see the many stories of their peers as well as strangers who are different from them.  While other kids see a Vietnamese student with an unusual accent and wildly different food at lunch, I hope my students will see an opportunity to meet someone with a different perspective, family, and possibly religion from their own.  I want my students to see an opportunity to grow through shared knowledge as opposed to staying away for fear of the unknown. 

 

As is evident from my life story and experience, I have evolved from a social worker to a teacher, but I haven’t lost my social worker side.  Often we, and especially young students, fear what we do not comprehend.  Poverty often scares people away.  It makes the privileged uncomfortable.  I do not want my students to have a single story about poverty or those who are plagued by it.  I want to teach them to see beyond one’s poverty and through to what they have in common- a desire to make something of their lives and a beating heart.  We are all human; we have simply been dealt different cards.  Impoverished or privileged we all have the same needs and desires.  Through exposure to stories of real people who live in, have overcome or helped overcome all odds, I hope to inspire all of my students to make a selfless decision to improve the world we live in for the sake of everyone in it, not just ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

My teaching philosophy evolved when I listened to Adichie’s shameful stories of Virgin airlines announcing that they were doing charity work in “India, Africa and other countries.”  It irked me when she explained how she is often referred to as “the African representative” instead of Nigerian.  Would we call a Spaniard a European representative?  Or a Thai the Asian representative?  Africa is made up of 47 unique countries, but there is often only one story told about Africa as a whole: it’s poor, riddled with AIDS, and in need of saving.  There are so many other stories about the continent of Africa!  For starters, there are 47 unique countries that contribute to Africa as a whole.  Nairobi, Kenya is not the richest of cities, but it is a big city nonetheless!  Contrary to popular belief, people live in houses and attend schools just like the rest of the world.  Not everyone in Africa lives in a hut, and everyday isn’t a safari. 

 

These single stories about the continent of Africa are not completely wrong.  They are overgeneralized stereotypes, but they stemmed from one true story.  Yes, some tribes still live in huts.  Yes, you can go on a safari in Kenya.  Yes, there are poor areas on the continent and they have been fighting a battle against AIDS.  No, these stories do not define the continent.  No, Chimamanda Adichie is not just African; she is a well-educated Nigerian writer who was raised by parents who were professors.  Single stories are not all incorrect, they are just one version. 

 

 

 

As a teacher, I do not want to teach my students one version of the world’s stories and I do not want them to stop at one story.  I want to spark their interest to constantly inquire for more than one story, whether it be about the current conflict in Egypt or the history of American slavery.  In practice this can take many forms. 

 

When teaching Language Arts I will always remain open to different interpretations both by students and scholars.  I’ll encourage my students to consider the feelings and opinions of the other characters instead of just the narrator.  When my students have a different idea of what their poetry should look or sound like, I will give them the benefit of the doubt to explore their ideas. 

 

With regards to Social Studies, the subject is bursting with single stories.  When I teach history I will teach it from two different perspectives minimum.  I will do this through branching away from textbook answers and encouraging students to research another perspective of the same story.  When we study the early Americas and Christopher Columbus we will give the Native American’s story equal attention and voice. 

 

 

 

 

Mother Tongue Week.  A high school student from Korea read to a class and taught them how to write their names in Korean.

Serving food in the soup kitchen for young people in Guadalajara on a Missions trip. 

 

When I see my students or even fellow teachers it is easy for me to form a single story about them too.  I am only human and it’s hard to break old habits.  When I see my students I will constantly remind myself that they too have their own stories to tell and they too are made up of many stories.  Many people have a single story about me.  They think I’m barely 20 (the guards at school often don’t let me leave because they think I’m a student) so I couldn’t possibly be well educated or experienced, and they think I’m a typical American because I have light skin and blue eyes.  Truth is I have a Bachelors and Masters from two distinguished schools, I have traveled to six continents and countless countries, I am married, I have experienced love and loss, I feel out of place and uncomfortable in the United States, I speak Spanish fluently, and I am prepared to be a life-changing teacher for each of my students because my work is personal.  There is always more than one side to a story.  It is my responsibility to expose the stories I can for my students and to teach them how to be on a continuous search for those I cannot.

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