After two weeks at East Hartford High I have seen major cultural differences between EHHS and E.O. Smith, where I student taught.
For starters, EHHS has a much greater diversity in its students and staff. Just listening to the teachers and the students, there are so many "dialects" spoken. To me, each "dialect" is a representation of each culture in the school. The thing I admire about the students and staff is that all the languages and the cultures seems to mix together, at least to a greater extent than at E.O. Smith. It makes the culture of EHHS so much richer and vibrant.
E.O. Smith is a typical rural school. It is predominantly white with very little cultural diversity. When I student taught, I could tell the students had little to no exposure to cultures other than their own. Some comments the students made were border line racist. The students themselves were not KKK card carrying members, but it was obvious they had never been in a school system where saying certain words or certain jokes would end with a punch in the face.
The other major difference I see between EHHS and E.O. Smith, is the pride and personality of the students and teachers at EHHS. I attribute this pride to the fact that the teachers and students at EHHS have to work so much harder for what they get. They are a poorer school district and the test scores are not the best. I was pleasantly surprised when in the first staff meeting the principal put up a power point slide saying that the scores on the CAPT test had gone up 2% and all the teachers in the auditorium clapped. I can see the pride in how everyone in EHHS walks around the school. They have to fight to earn what they have, and they are proud of it.
E.O. Smith, though a good school, lacked personality and spirit. It was disheartening! E.O. Smith is a well supplied school and the students have little respect for the school property. Spirit Week came around during my student teaching and out of my 80+ students, only one student dressed up to show his school pride. That one student got teased by his peers in my class because he was showing pride in his school! As if that is something to be teased about! Even at the staff meetings, it was obvious that the some of the teachers would be more content to complain about little details than show some pride and fix it.
These differences illustrate how important it is to embrace cultural diversity and expose all students to diversity. Many students in rural schools act and say the things they do because they have had no exposure to outside cultures and haven't developed a sense of respect for other peoples. It is also just as important to develop a school culture and pride. Developing true school spirit will make school that much more energetic and exciting for both students and teachers.
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4 comments:
I am really glad to see what you wrote about EHHS. I grew up in East Hartford and went to EHHS. But I was really glad that you are able to experience the diversity at EHHS, in a way that the "insiders" feel. All my friends and acquaintances from high school, all agree on that feeling and we wouldn't change where we grew up for anything. Sure it's got it's rough points, but we fought and worked hard. I hate when EH gets put down, because the people putting it down, doesn't see the mix of cultures, the spirit and the fight we put up. I learned how to accept and appreciate different cultures, that I may never have had the experience to, had I grew up in one town over. I was exposed to so many types of people, but that's why I love it.
Have fun there, it'll be challenging at points, but it is a good school (even if the test scores don't show it.) Ps: just wait til EHHS spirit week ;)
-Kara
Hi Meg,
It's funny because people say that students in more diverse, urban communities are disadvantaged. In many ways yes, but in reading your post, there are ways that students in suburban, mostly "white" schools are disadvantaged too. These miss out on what diversity really means and the so many wonderful things we can learn from people who are different than us.
I loved reading this. I student taught in Hartford and I experienced some of the same things. Some of the teachers were down-trodden and negative, but many had so much pride when their students achieved because they had to work so hard for it.
NS
megan-
I liked your comparison between E.O. Smith and EHHS. I also student taught in East Hartford, but at the elementary level and now i am currently placed at Goodwin, an elementary school in Mansfield. I literally had culture shock the first week I was at Mansfield because the school is SO different than Mayberry in East Hartford. I feel like in Goodwin there is such a huge sense of community-the school even has a school song! So I wonder what happens between elementary school (where the kids are getting along and working together) and high school? Goodwin has some diversity, but that is only because most of the kids' parents work or go to UConn. Mayberry was different in that there was not much of a sense of community. There was so much focus on passing the CMTs, there was no time for the students to get to know each other. However, I loved my time at Mayberry.
It seems clear that being within a caring community can make up for lots of other problems. A well-funded school that has little cohesiveness is not a good place to work or learn. In some ways, it really doesn't matter whether the inhabitants are diverse are not -- it comes down to sense that people belong. An exclusive, all-white school can have community. It is only surprising when it doesn't and we wonder why nobody seems to care. On the other hand, I wonder why we're surprised when a more diverse school has cohesiveness. From the other comments, I don't see that it's just a matter of the age of the students. There's something more going on that causes pride (despite the rumors) but is not uniformly felt -- even within the same school district.
John...
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