| Human beings are shaped by their life experiences. We teachers bring our identities to the profession: our backgrounds, cultural norms, values, beliefs, and prejudices. Even with our initial and continuing professional training, we often maintain all that we have become as a result of a myriad of life experiences.
Recently, both African American and White teacher educators have acknowledged racial and cultural differences as major stumbling blocks for White teachers in their efforts to effectively serve inner-city students (Cochran-Smith, 1995a & 1995b; Delpit, 1988; Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; King, J., 1991a; King, J., & Ladson-Billings, G., 1990; Ladson-Billings, 1995; McIntosh, 1989). Studies have examined the practices of effective African-American and White teachers who teach African-American students (Ladson-Billings, 1990, 1994). Other studies have analyzed the components of teacher education programs in which student teachers reflect on their perceptions of race as well as unintentional biases that influence their teaching practices (Cochran-Smith, 1995a, 1995b; Sleeter, 1993). These studies, which represent a search for answers to dilemmas faced by teachers that inevitably affect the teaching and learning that occur in their classroom, raise sensitive issues. Still needed, however, are explorations of the possibilities for better teaching practices that result from teacher-to-teacher collaborations across race and culture.
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Through her collaboration with Jennifer, Karen discovered that her lack of familiarity and comfort with the racial and cultural differences that existed between her and her students were largely responsible for her inability to teach them effectively.
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The study on which this book is based addressed racial and cultural differences in this unique way. We, the authors, entered into a collaboration process in which Jennifer, who is African American, and Karen, who is White, investigated the impact of those differences on Karen’s relationship with her primarily African American students. When we refer to racial and cultural differences, we mean differences in (a) people's perceptions of the reasons for the current condition of various groups in American society; (b) expectations for the teacher-student relationship; (c) communication styles; (d) perceptions of such concepts as respect, pride, and authority; (e) community and home environments; (f) body and spoken language; and, (g) responses to Western literature, history, art, and theater, given that Western perspectives dominate school materials, assignments, and protocols in individual classrooms and schoolwide practices.
When we came together to do this work, we were in very different places in our teaching careers and in our previous experiences with African American students. We both brought important experiential knowledge to our collaboration, and we both were enriched by the partnership that developed over the years. Our story is a difficult and complex one to tell because it was quite an emotional process for both of us. Singly and simultaneously, we experienced such difficult emotions as frustration, confusion, pain, suspicion, disillusionment, fear, anxiety, and anger. On the other hand, we also found the process to be encouraging, rewarding, moving, thought-provoking, and invaluable.
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It was our belief in the potential of these students and our commitment to promoting their success in school that gave us the strength and determination to complete our work together.
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We want to stress how similar our two experiences were during the process; the toll it took as we recognized and then grappled with our differences was immense for each of us. We also want to stress the enormously important benefits we have gained from this experience. Karen is not proud of the kind of teacher she was with her African American students in the beginning, but what both of us are proud of is what she and Jennifer did about it. Karen recognized a problem; she wasn't as effective with her African American students as she had been with her White students.Her previously successful career as a teacher of White students helped her to recognize the differences, but she decided that she needed help to change her situation with her African American students. Through her collaboration with Jennifer, Karen discovered that her lack of familiarity and comfort with the racial and cultural differences that existed between her and her students were largely responsible for her inability to teach them effectively. From the design of lessons and her style of daily interactions in particular, Karen came to realize that she was contributing to her students’ resistance to her. However, through her own determination and Jennifer's perseverance, she was able to overcome the barriers, and to grow and change and become a better teacher for her students.
This then, is ultimately a story of success against many odds—of two women, one African American and one White, battling preconceived notions, prejudices, and unfair expectations about each other. We eventually began to understand and trust each other and gradually became the close friends that we are today. Most important, we learned about the work that is vital and necessary for teachers to do in order to effectively educate all of their students, even those who are the most racially and culturally different from themselves. We came to realize that the reason we persevered in overcoming the barriers between us was because of the kids--hence the title of our book. It was our belief in the potential of these students and our commitment to promoting their success in school that gave us the strength and determination to complete our work together. It is our hope that the findings from this study will encourage other teachers to collaboratively explore these issues, toward the higher academic achievement of all of their students.
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