Discovery through photographs

Last week was a nice experience. I loved how we tackled our first reading. Ayers is a fairly easy read and I appreciated that we did not dissect it in an overly academic approach. The way we discussed the reading was comfortable and helpful. It was refreshing to allow people to relate the reading to themselves and allow the classroom conversation to go from there. You can really learn a lot more from the materials when you learn what it meant to each person and allow others to comment on what follows. Classroom conversation can be so incredibly stifled when teachers try to hard to “stick to the material”—when in reality students are learning so much more about the material when they are able to see it through 20 some odd perspectives and the responses to those perspectives.

Working on the image-ing project was fun as well. I learned a lot about myself just in looking back at all my photos. I wanted to choose photos that were my own for several reasons. First, I wanted the project to be personal. I wanted the emotional attachment and personal meaning to show through. Since we were only using images, I wanted the images to be as meaningful to me as possible. Really extravagant or professional quality images found on the internet may be more universally meaningful, but I thought this project would make the most sense to me if it was personally meaningful.

Secondly, as I dove into the project I began to realize that it is the people in my life that most inspire me. My close friends and family have been vital in every step of my education and a few of my closest friends and most immediate family have been incredibly influential in my decision to become a teacher. While I was in school, my parents were with me every step of the way. Whether it was help editing a huge essay, or a quick last minute review for a biology exam, my mom and dad were always right there, ready to help.

However, when it comes to my friends, it is not quite as simple of a story. I’ve always had two sets of friends: there are my the smart, academic and college-bound buddies and then there are my punk rock, blue-collar, just scrapping to get by, down to earth, friends that might as well be family. This duality in my choice of friendships has truly altered my view of education. My college-bound buddies assume they will graduate college, there was never any other viable option in their eyes. They kept me academically competitive and also provided a sturdy and supportive study group and student schedule. We all had midterms and finals time together—time to crack down on studies—but we also had the same weeks off to celebrate the end of midterms and finals. However, my punk rock family was what gave me the edge on all my university colleagues. Among my true friends, I was one of just a few who was able to experience college. They reminded me daily just how lucky I was to be able to get a college education, and they encouraged me to do the best I could and not just “go through the motions” of getting an education. It is my punk rock family that made me appreciate education, and it was this family that made me wish that all kids could have had an educational experience like mine. How was it fair that I attended a nice elementary school that prepared me for a competitive high school, which in turn prepped me and every one of my peers for university? Why did my closest friends not get the same value out of their k-12 education? Why were some of them so easily allowed to drop out before graduation? I know they are intelligent, some are even quite successful despite their lack of education. But why did they have to work so much harder than I did? This was my first step towards wanting to be a teacher. I wanted to show my punk rock family that education is a wonderful thing. I’d like to believe that if they had been in the classrooms I had, with the amazingly thoughtful teachers I had, that they would have been as successful in schooling as I had been.

As my university years came to a close, my mother was very influential in my choice to get my teaching certification. After I officially announced my plans to attend UWB’s education program, my immediate family was ecstatic and my grandparents were so supportive. At this point, I was the first of my grandpa’s grand children and children to pursue further education past college (and only the second to graduate from a 4 year university).

In addition to family and friends I included a photo of the students I worked with in Northern Ireland. I wrote a lot about how inspirational this was to my teaching career in my educational history paper:

"While studying political conflict and identity last spring in Belfast, Northern Ireland, I volunteered at Botanic Primary School. I worked one-on-one with English as a Second Language (ESL) students from Eastern Europe. This was both my second step towards teaching and a giant step in my own personal growth and education. Having worked with the top 2% of the Seattle School District fifth graders, the experience of working with ESL students was truly unique. Battling strong racism towards Eastern European immigrants, these kids
were often pushed aside by their teachers simply because of their ethnic backgrounds. In Northern Ireland discrimination is complicated. Race, ethnicity, hair color, religion, political affiliation and even physical location are all used in a myriad of complex combinations of discrimination and hatred. Irish
Republic Army ex-convicts hate Ulster Defense Force ex-convicts, peaceful protestors from both sides hate all ex-convicts, Catholics will throw stones at Protestants and red hair and freckles is enough to get a good beating in the wrong part of town. Unfortunately one thing is agreed upon; all Northern Irish residents equally hate the Eastern European immigrants. Determined the most racist place in the western world by multiple studies, not even the teachers are above the ridiculous hatred. After studying the discrimination issues and its effects on children in Northern Ireland for two months, my urge to become a teacher was strengthened. The few precious hours I spent with my students at Botanic Primary may not have taught them the English language, but it made them
feel welcomed and loved. Seeing their eyes light up when I asked them about their culture was more fulfilling than the fact that our entire conversation was being spoken in nearly perfect English. My time in Northern Ireland taught me that just one respectful and engaged teacher can inspire many young minds."

The last photo I choose to include was one of my boyfriend. I felt it neccessary to include Jonny for more than just the fact that he fully supports my decision to teach. He, being Northern Irish, introduces me to a whole new world of experiences which continues to inspire me. In addition, his mother is a nursery teacher in Northern Ireland. While visiting Jonny, I was able to work in her school and share teaching experiences from eachothers cultures over dinner. This multi-cultural influence has inspired me to teach to a wider standard, as I collect effective ideas and approaches used in different countries. What's the same? What's different, and why? What is the most effective aspects to each method? And how can I bring the best of both together?