Megan Layton

EDL 318, A

March 5, 2015

Essay Prompt for Thursday, March 5th

The Maroon Within Us and Teacher Leadership, Chapter 5
Both Hilliards The Maroon Within Us and Poetters Chapter 5 of Teacher Leadership for
the 2st Century discuss the intense benefits of building school communities that, rather than
being structured and organized like businesses with bosses and clients, instead exhibit more of
the characteristics of a close and supportive family unit. In The Maroon Within Us, Hilliard
likens the relationships between the most inspiring and dedicated of teachers and their students to
a nurturing relationship similar to that of a mother and child (p. 19). He goes on to describe the
impacts of several outstanding educators, including Abdulalim Shabazz and Jaime Escalante,
who, rather than focusing their attention purely on the content to be taught, worked to truly
understand the lives of their students, creating a classroom environment in which each student
felt safe, respected, and free to experiment, explore, and make mistakes. Just as importantly, the
educators described in Hilliards essay set high expectations for all students, and viewed every
pupil as capable of success and meaningful learning. Hilliard goes on to say that teachers should
be the mediators who provide, or fail to provide, the essential experiences that permit students
to release their awesome potential (p. 7). By this, he means that teachers, similar to parents in a
family unit, must provide their students with the rich and varied experiences they need in order
to thrive and be successful.
In a similar manner, Poetter states in Teacher Leadership for the 21st Century that in order
to build a positive and nurturing classroom community, teachers should genuinely care for
students and help meet their needs, whatever this may look like (p. 63). According to Maslows
Hierarchy of Needs, higher-order thinking skills cannot be accessed until a childs basic needs

for safety and belonging are met first. As teachers, we see our students almost as much, and
sometimes more, than their parents during the course of a week, and as such, must accept
responsibility as critical players in meeting their needs. When schools are structured to behave
more like family units, learning becomes a richer experience and is able to occur at a deeper
level as a result of the mutual trust, respect, and appreciation that is built between teachers and
individual students. Similarly to a family system, school communities that are structured in this
way have a sense of place and memory through traditions and customs, and base their decisions
on shared goals and directions, (p.64). In these types of schools, students are able to play a role
in the decision making process, and this increased autonomy and democratic structure helps to
further their intellectual development.
Both works go on to discuss in great detail the importance of making learning applicable
to the everyday lived experiences of students so that content is able to become more relevant and
engaging. Poetter goes on to describe such learning communities as relying on local knowledge,
contexts, situations, and shared values, just like a healthy and functioning family system does.
When schools view curriculum in this manner, learning is able to become increasingly accessible
to students because they are able to see it as useful in their own lives outside of school because it
builds off of what they already know and are familiar with. Both authors also go on to stress the
necessity for every teacher to create a foundation for learning in his or her classroom that is
based on genuine care for each individual students growth and wellbeing, as well as the
significance of fostering such caring in the students themselves when it comes to their
interactions with others.
In my field placement so far this semester, I have witnessed numerous instances in which
my cooperating teacher, Mrs. C, creates a nurturing community of learners in her classroom by

practicing a philosophy of teaching that works to meet each students social and emotional needs,
first meeting their needs for unconditional love and belonging. Then, once this strong foundation
of mutual respect has been established, she uses this trust and respect to set high expectations for
all of her students and to push them to their limits as they engage with the content in thoughtful
and authentic ways. For example, every morning when the students arrive in the classroom, Mrs.
C takes the time to call each individual student over to the table in the corner of the room so that
she can not only collect their homework from the night before, but also so that she can take the
time to check in with each child, ask how they are doing, give them a hug, and let them know
that she is glad that they are at school each day. I have never seen anything like this, and feel that
it does wonders when it comes to students belief that their teacher truly cares.
Mrs. C also treats not only her most academically talented students, but all students, even
those with special needs, as being capable and valued members of the classroom community
with ideas and feelings to share that are valid and important. It is clear that she truly believes in
and supports the success of each child, even though success for each of them may take place in
different forms. Additionally, unkind words or bullying are simply not tolerated in the classroom,
and Mrs. C expects all of her students to treat one another as they would want to be treated. She
does an excellent job of modeling this behavior in her own interactions with fellow teachers and
other members of the school staff. Even when a child misbehaves or makes a poor choice, Mrs.
C still expresses her unconditional care towards him or her, and I have never heard her raise her
voice.
I cannot possibly describe all that I have learned about creating a nurturing and familial
classroom community in the short three days I have spent in filed so far. I could not be more
excited to begin extended field next week, because I know that this semester I am going to take a

away a wealth of knowledge, beliefs, and ideas to incorporate into my own teaching practices
someday as I work to create a classroom environment in which each and every one my students
is able to feel safe, respected, supported, and valued, and is provided with the meaningful
experiences, resources, and tools that they need in order to reach their own awesome potentials.