Jennifer Singleton is an elementary school music teacher with seven years of teaching experience in Portland metro area schools. She was born, raised, and educated in Oregon, and loves nothing more than connecting with kids through music. We’re excited to have her joining the conversation about teaching and education reform as the newest member of the ChalkBlogger team.
My seven-year teaching career has taken me to five different schools in the Portland metro area. Most of them, including my current school, have had low socio-economic status (SES), which refers to the income, education and occupation of the students’ parents. While there were definitely some advantages to teaching in a high SES school, I choose to teach in a difficult school because for me, the rewards outweigh the challenges.
Obviously, there were a lot of great things about working in a high SES school. For the most part our students were well cared for physically and emotionally. Classroom management mostly meant controlling chatty kids. My program was adequately funded, and our school had a supportive community with plenty of volunteers for classrooms and school events. In many ways, teaching in a high SES school was a breeze.
The learning environment I’ve just described sounds ideal, but there were also some frustrating problems. I have a few colleagues who, like me, have taught in both kinds of schools. And like me, they prefer to teach in a low SES school. When asked about it, one of my colleagues even exclaimed, “You couldn’t pay me to go back!” The question is: Why? With all of the advantages, why choose a school with so many struggles? The answer for us boils down to a lack of appreciation.
I remember how much I hated making parent phone calls over student behavior concerns. Parents would often blame my inadequacies as a teacher for their child’s behavior. One of my colleagues would spend most of her prep time not planning lessons, but crafting multi-paragraph responses to parent e-mails. Another colleague recalled a time that she went to make copies, and walked in on a gossip session about her. We all agreed that it felt like there was no basic trust or appreciation coming from some of our families. We were expected to defend our teaching style, lessons, and even personal decisions regularly but we were rarely thanked or commended. Rather than working together as partners, it felt like “Us against Them.”
I don’t believe that the communities we worked with intended to make us feel unappreciated. It is clear that our high SES families understood and valued the importance of education. I think that their own level of education gave them the confidence to be highly involved in their children’s education. These parents clearly want the very best for their kids, and I think offering their own input gives them a greater sense of responsibility and control over their child’s future. Instead of always thinking they knew better, though, we would have appreciated some trust and cooperation since we do, after all, share the same goal.
My current school is tough, I won’t lie. Classroom management is everything. Our kids need major help with social skills and problem solving. Parents are often too busy working several jobs to volunteer at school. Many of our kids are caretakers for their younger siblings, which takes precedence over school work. For many of our families, daily life is a struggle. Problems such as homelessness, hunger, neglect, domestic abuse and drug use are common. Sounds rough, right? It can be, but for me the trade off is totally worth it.
My students are sweet and loving. I am amazed by their strength. Many of them try their best every day even when their clothes are dirty and they slept on the floor the night before. Most of our parents are wonderful. They are thankful that we are educating and caring for their kids, and treat us with respect. Many of the parents at my school are not well educated, and understand the value of the opportunities their children have through public education. They cannot afford private lessons or sports teams for their kids, so they truly appreciate all of the things we offer their children for free. At school, they know their kids will be in safe and clean environment. They will be fed breakfast, lunch, and sometimes a snack, and they will be taught the important academic and social skills that will help them be successful in the future. Our school has a special feeling when you walk through the front doors. There is an amazing sense of teamwork amongst the parents, students and staff. What we accomplish together is inspiring.
I believe the rewards of teaching in a low SES school outweigh the frustrations. My job can be very stressful, but I go home knowing that I am making a real difference in our kids lives and that I am appreciated for it. That is why I became a teacher.
