Know Your Community

It is not enough to only know your students in the context of the classroom. Although it is important to know their academic strengths and what their modalities are, it is just as important to understand the background knowledge they are coming to school with. Take the time to get to know the community your school is in. Even though each student comes from a different home, most of them come from the same community. When you learn about the community, you are learning about the societal environment most of your students grew up in and live in now. You will begin to see what schema your students may have. For example, I grew up in “railroad country”. A major railroad cuts straight through the middle of my town, and since I was old enough to notice I have heard train whistles at all hours of the day and night. In elementary school we learned about train safety and the railway system. However, being in the Midwest, we had no understanding of oceans or beaches. Our teachers knew these things and capitalized on the understanding of our upbringing. One math teacher in particular used trains in many story problems. Others worked hard to give us new experiences, such as state studies, where we were assigned different states to research and watch videos about. 

Not only will knowing your community help you understand your students’ background knowledge, it will help you understand roles and expectations within the community. A teacher should know if a certain community puts a low priority on education, or expects children to follow the occupational footsteps of parents. Do parents expect teachers to carry all of the academic needs of children, or will they want to be involved? Having a knowledge of unspoken rules in a community will prevent culture clashes and misunderstandings. 

These unspoken rules in a community are like a different language, which can be learned with time and exposure. Get out into the community. This is just as applicable for a middle class teacher who teaches low income students, as it is for an American teacher who teaches in Liberia. Spend time in the area your students live in. Go to the same parks, take walks on the same streets, frequent the same restaurants/stores. Find ways to get into their community, especially if you do not live there. Keep your mind alert to differences and similarities. Your eyes will be opened to cultures and subcultures you never expected to find. In my town, the railroad creates a North side and South side. The two halves have different cultures in some ways. One is richer, and the other poorer. You would not know this by simply stepping into the school, but even a drive through town would suggest the variances. This may take extra time and effort, but the understanding you gain will be worth it. 

As you spend time in communities, you will recognize that each has its own unspoken language of rules and expectations, but each community also has its own spoken language. Of course, most communities you go to in the United States will be speaking English, but it is important to pay attention to the dialects as well. There is a great discussion about whether students should be allowed to use their own dialects in school, or whether they should speak “Standard English” only. It should be understood that students must be learned in Standard English in order to succeed in society. However, it is also important for teachers to learn to balance this necessity with the fact that students often place some of their identity in the way they speak. Therefore, native dialects, regardless of the kind, should be respected in the classroom. If you make the effort to know the community and culture your students come from, they will likely feel understood and respected.