For White Folks who Teach in the Hood...

By Dr. Chris Emdin

Dr. Emdin wants to shed a light on the urban youth for teachers rurally raised, and does an excellent job doing so by putting forth Reality Pedagogy. Essentially, many teachers have thought about teaching today's youth wrong, as society in of itself simplifies us to "depositors of knowledge," furthering the stereotype that the profession does not care about the students. Those same teachers don't take the time to reinvent the content to fit around what the kids think and care about. Ergo, the "cookie-cutter" nature of the class makes their education less meaningful than it should be, and they'll be more likely to forget about that knowledge in the future. This is unfortunately a reality, and in most cases, is the reason why most students proclaim they don't like school. While culture is difficult to understand, I believe we need to respond in a way that resonates with them - which requires teachers to have that cultural wisdom. While it takes time to develop that, having it puts one miles ahead of every other teacher in the social sense.