Justice
Justice
As a graduate of the Colgate teacher education program, I…
…am committed to the principles of social and environmental justice.
*This section is copied from my college, pre-service teaching portfolio. One day I'll get around to revising.
To read a reflection on my experiences working with inner-city students from Philadelphia and with students from a rural, poverty-stricken county in NYclick here
To read my paper on confronting the cycle of racism, race, and white privilege
To read my paper on personal understandings from Race & Education that shape my social consciousness
To read my term paper on urban environmental issues
It is my future goal to find work teaching in one of Philadelphia’s public schools, if not some other inner-city high school. Working with students of color from families with a low socioeconomic status has been very rewarding for me because I feel I am doing my part to mitigate social injustice. I believe that low-income school districts too often lack the resources their students need to compete with peers in private schools or schools in more well-to-do areas; motivating teachers who are “in it for the long haul” are included in my list of deficient resources. I will be the voice my students need encouraging them to believe in themselves, to climb the mountain of adversity, and to accomplish the goals they set out to reach. In February 2006 Clifford Adelman from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education, in a report titled The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School Through College, found that the greatest indicator determining whether a student will successfully earn a four-year Bachelor’s degree is the level of mathematics reached in high school by the student. In other words, and generally speaking, students who take math each year until graduating high school and who take the highest level trigonometry and/or calculus courses, not stopping at algebra or geometry, will be more likely to finish college.
As a teacher who presents the option of higher education to my students who often do not receive encouragement to pursue college, believing they are restricted or will not perform at a passing level, and as an instructor of mathematics courses that will better prepare my students to be a success in college, I am substantiating the claim above. I must clarify one thing: it is not my belief that an individual’s success and worth in life is determined by the degree they attain, how much money they earn, etc. There are many roads that each of us must choose to follow in life and college is not always the road that is meant to be taken by everyone. While I believe that higher education is important, it is not one of the essentials of life. Should a future student of mine come to me and announce that they are not going to college I will most likely be disappointed if I feel they have not maximized their potential in math or any other subject, but I will be the supportive mentor my student will need and hope that whatever they choose to do will bring them happiness and fulfillment. As the math teacher that I am and will be, however, I know that I will have done my job to challenge the student and prepare them for the successful pursuit of a college degree, occupational promotion, or any other life alternative that will be a reality for them after high school.
