Exploring School Context at Pocasset Middle School

Exploring School Context at Pocasset Middle School
A few miles make an amazing difference. When I leave my house in central Cranston to volunteer at the Pocasset Middle school in Providence it feels like I'm traveling through a gradual transition zone. My neighborhood has a majority of people that are white but is a somewhat diverse working-class neighborhood. However the transition zone from the predominantly white culture of power to the diverse multicultural community in Providence appears to have started a couple miles west or south west of my home. These neighborhoods to the south and west are primarily comprised of white people who identify with the upper middle class. Their neighborhoods are filled with 1-2 acre lot sizes and oversized contemporary homes. By the time I arrive at Pocasset middle school the scene has dramatically changed. Many of the stores and businesses near the school use English and Spanish bilingual signs, but some don’t appear to bother using English.
Instead of the mostly single family homes and duplexes in my neighborhood, there are large numbers of triplex apartment buildings on “postage stamp” lots around half to two-thirds the size of most lots in my neighborhood. The Providence housing authority has one of their housing projects and an office within close walking distance of the school. A Physical education class is playing soccer in the grassy field behind the school. While parking my car it is easy to see that this is school is different from the Middle School at the end of my street. Instead of white students making up the majority at 62% of the student body, Pocasset Middle School has a small minority population of white students who comprise less than 10% of the student body. Approximately 70% of the students at Pocasset are identified as Hispanic and another 21% are from other ethnic minorities. These percentages are quickly evident when I observe the physical education class playing in the field behind the chain link fence.
Pocasset Middle School is an impressive brick building probably built in the early twentieth century. It was obviously an era of great craftsmanship and fine attention to detail. The school itself looks somewhat foreboding similar to a fortress. The chain link fence and heavy steel doors out front contribute to the feel of entering a castle or fortress. It is here, at this school that I conduct my service learning project. In our class at RI College, we have talked about the Foucault quote “we know what we do, we know why we do what we do, but do we know what we do does.” I have had the opportunity to observe how the educator I volunteer with (Ms. Cabrera) uses Space, Curriculum and Pedagogy in her classroom and I have a few ideas about some of the results. I have the feeling that her class is very different from most of the others in this school. Another teacher told me on the first day that Ms. Cabrera’s methods are a little different, but she is getting good results. It appears that Ms. Cabrera carefully considers the impact of what she does on the students in her classes.
During my tutoring sessions, Ms. Cabrera usually arranges the desks in a circle or oval in the middle of the room. Her classroom has 3 sections. One area contains her desk, blackboard and new (pre-owned) whiteboard. The middle section is where the desks are arranged in a circle and then the other end of the room has a stage with some computer stations that students can use. I have the feeling that Ms. Cabrera values student interaction and the opportunity for students to learn from one another. She has encouraged me to stop class readings whenever I have a good question for the students to think about and discuss. It appears to me that she is trying to help her students learn how to communicate with one another and listen to each other’s ideas. When I asked “why she has her students sit in a circle?” she said that she is trying to foster unity in her classes. She expressed that this enables them to all see one another and experience a sense of togetherness. She did say that she uses variety in her seating and at the beginning of the year she arranges the desks in rows looking facing the blackboard so she can go over procedures and uses other arrangements depending on her teaching purpose.
I have the feeling that it is difficult to build authentic unity and communication in diverse classrooms like the ones Ms. Cabrera teaches. Approximately 70 % of the students at Pocasset Middle school are Hispanic, 16% are African American, 9 % White, 4% Asian and 1% Native American. There is also a great deal of diversity within some of these broad ethnic people groups. Ms. Cabrera’s classes also reflect a similar ethnic and cultural diversity. It is hard to know how the space layout has impacted these students but I have the impression that her students feel valued and cared for. This is evident, since Ms. Cabrera seems to have more than her share of drop in visits from students, both before and during classes. I think it is difficult to create a culture of unified class interaction in middle school because the students will often talk to one another instead of focusing on class content and topics. It seems to me that this probably results in Ms. Cabrera being more limited in the amount of content she can cover, but hopefully students will learn the content they cover more effectively. They may also have a greater appreciation for the material.
During my tutoring experience, Ms. Cabrera has primarily used the book “Children of the River” as the curriculum for her students. Her classes also worked together to write a school newsletter. The book “Children of the River” is a good example of the literary type known as realism. The primary character in this novel “Sundara” was a Khmer refugee who came to the USA with her aunt. This book helps the reader understand some of the issues and situations that many people experience when they leave their country of birth to settle in the United States. Sundara wrestles with a number of cultural issues such as her inner conflict that results from her desire to follow Khmer tradition and marry the man her parents made arrangements for her to wed and the feelings she has for an American boy she knows at school named Jonathan. The story brings many other issues up for students to think about such as the genocide in Cambodia that Sundara escaped from and the many who didn’t escape. There are many other cultural overtones evident in the story such as how the book portrays Sundara’s accent and her thoughts about American life and how it relates to Cambodian customs and culture.
I think this is a very interesting choice of content for Ms. Cabrera’s multicultural classes. Many of her students can relate in various ways to Sundara’s experience since they were born in other countries. This morning several students actually indicated that they were born in the Dominican Republic. In Lisa Delpit’s article she discusses the need for students to learn the codes and rules of the culture of power. If students who are not members of the culture of power learn these codes and rules, they will have an easier time gaining power and success in this society. I think that Ms. Cabrera is hoping that this book will help equip her students to understand the codes and rules of the culture of power and what it can look like for them to adjust to American life, while continuing to value their personal heritage and culture. Since, I have only read some of the book, I’m not sure how effective it is. However, it does seem to raise many issues for Ms. Cabrera’s classes to discuss. The book appears to be a good tool for helping them discuss and learn more about the culture of power. It also enables the students in Ms. Cabrera’s classes to see how Sundara wrestled with issues similar to the challenges that they encounter. Sundara valued her own culture while striving to learn how to have success in an unfamiliar culture of power.
Ms. Cabrera’s pedagogy is another significant factor that impacts the learning context of her students. She exhibits a significant degree of trust and belief in her students. She has established a fairly open classroom, where students have freedom to get up from their seat to throw away trash or chewing gum or take a Kleenex if needed without asking permission. She has also chosen use a very different teaching method than I anticipated for literature study and analysis. She usually plays a tape of the book her classes are currently reading in class instead of reading out loud in class.
Whenever there is a theme, issue, or literary device she would like to discuss or teach about she stops the tape for discussion. When I asked her why she does it this way instead of reading out loud, she told me that they read the first few chapters out loud, but that her aim right now is greater reading comprehension. She said that when the students read out loud they tend to focus more on how they read or sound instead of the content. In light of the diverse cultural backgrounds and the varied accents of Ms. Cabrera’s students, I think there is merit to using the tape. It has potential to increase reading comprehension and also limits the self-consciousness and anxiety of several students who have learned or are learning English as a second language. However, I wonder if it would be better for these students to read out loud in class more often. This would enable them to practice their English out loud and I think it may help increase their confidence in other settings where they need to interact with the culture of power. I don’t know the right balance of reading or speaking out loud for practice and listening for greater comprehension but I wonder if it would be better for these students to have some additional time reading out loud.
I have had some interesting conversations with students in Ms. Cabrera’s classes. On either my first or second day of tutoring I spoke with Manuel about what college is like and asked him if he had any ideas about where he would like to attend college. He expressed a great deal of interest and wants to go to school but he hasn’t thought very much about where he would like to go or what he wants to study. Since he is still an eighth grader this isn’t very surprising. This has actually been a great classroom for informal interactions and conversations with students. One of the days that I tutored, the students were working on a newsletter. Since the students were working in small groups they had plenty of opportunity for casual interactions with each other. During this time, I visited several small groups to find out what they were working on and how it contributed to the newsletter. Some students were much more focused then others but it was a great opportunity for those with special interests or talents to use them. I have really enjoyed getting to know some of the students and interacting with them.
One team of students was working on developing a comic strip for the newsletter. Calvin wrote the words while Jerome drew the illustrations. A few other students sat with them and occasionally offered input or ideas. Another group was searching for recipes to include in the newsletter and one student wrote a short political column related to the upcoming election. The informal nature of the small groups provided opportunities for students to connect with one another and build relationships.
Ms. Cabrera has demonstrated some of her values by her teaching methods and classroom use. She desires to promote unity and communication to bring students together. She also believes in showing kindness and encouraging her students to be kind to one another. This isn’t always easy for eighth graders to practice but she taught the students the rules and codes of her classroom and in the process given them the opportunity to earn and keep trust. She is careful to respect her students and many of them will informally visit her classroom in between classes. She has demonstrated true care for her students and a desire to help them learn what they need to in as safe an environment as possible.
In regards to this school, it is difficult for me to use my limited observations to identify the values of this community and how they are reflected here. I believe that this in itself is a statement about the values of this and other communities throughout the state. Pocasset Middle School doesn’t have any sports teams, and I also have the impression that there aren’t many extracurricular activities or programs here. It feels like this school and others in the district struggle to receive the funding needed to provide diverse subjects and extracurricular opportunities for students. It appears that our society marginalizes schools like Pocasset Middle school and the students from many diverse cultural backgrounds who attend here. It seems that those who need opportunities the most receive the least! When I hear about middle schools in the suburbs, they appear to have many more opportunities for students. Why is it that small wealthy towns can have art and music classes and sports teams, while a city school goes without? When will this change? So that the cycles of oppression and injustice can end.