Building Opportunities

This Chapter is titled “White Male Teacher, Diverse Urban School.” Miler recognizes in this case study that teacher and student relationships do matter, regardless of the content area. In this case study was a science teacher who had been teaching middle school science going on his third year. During his first year of teaching he felt that his students were unwilling to engage in the class and were resistant because students claimed that they did not know him. Milner focuses on the role of the science teacher and the relevance of race in the classroom and tries to make a connection to address opportunities. The opportunities that Milner addresses are forming relationships with students and the teacher so students can begin to build a relationship with their teacher. Because students are struggling to have a relationship with the teacher influenced the kinds of learning opportunities that were made available in the classroom.

“The students were resistant [to me] because that did not know me when I first started teaching here. There was all this pushback because the kids were like:  “I don’t care who you are, I don’t know you.”

                                                           -Mr. Hall, urban middle school science teacher.

During Mr. Halls first year teaching, and understanding that there was tension in the classroom Mr. Hall decided to step back and learn from what his students were offering and was willing to make changes to his instruction accordingly. In this case, Mr. Hall Started where he was and quickly adjusted his thoughts so he would not stay there. Mr. Hall was beginning to understand that in order to maximize the learning opportunities within his classroom he would need to 1. Learn from his students and make continual adjustments throughout the way. 2. Develop a deeper understanding of the impact of race within his classroom. 3. Create opportunities to develop relationships so everyone would learn about each other in class including Mr. Hall.  

Reading this chapter I feel that Mr. Hall was ignorant of the fact that race and culture both play a role in learning opportunities in the classroom. Mr. Hall did not see (at first) that race and cultural differences needed to be discussed in his science class. This case study really reflects how Mr. Hall’s students helped him transform and become responsive to what the students needed from him. I feel that students may put up a wall and not want to get to know someone if they feel that someone does not want to get to know them. These middle school students saw Mr. Hall a white teacher who is only going to teach science. In return the students put up walls because their teacher knew nothing about them. Once teachers open up to students and show their concern and that they truly care students will be more responsive to learning. Teaching is all about building relationships with students and creating opportunities for learning for both the teacher and the students. In this case study, great evidence was shown how learning began once the teacher started listing.