As many of you may/may not know, I graduated from and education program that focuses on multicultural and urban education. I'm not teaching at Princeton Public Schools which is nearly as far from "urban" as you can get. So this coming school year I hope to be back in an urban high school in Trenton. I think that urban students have been put on the back burner for a long time. This is my philosophy on Urban Education


Booker T. Washington said, "Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others." If this is true, then it is easy to explain why elementary school rooms are covered with funny posters, inspirational quotes, bright colors, and a comfortable demeanor. But if one were to walk into most urban high school classrooms, the look would change dramatically. Instead of the funny posters with kittens and puppies there hangs an old, faded, yellow stained sheet of construction paper with the classroom rules. Gone are the inspirational quotes and bright colors and are now replaced with bare cream-colored walls and with the occasional school calendar. The comfortable demeanor now looks like a prison, bars cover the windows and cameras are found in every hallway and classroom of the school. The difference between fourth and ninth grade is quite dramatic and should sound some alarms for any educator. Urban schools, though sometimes more dangerous than suburban and rural schools, are still refuges where students seek safety and knowledge. Making an urban high school "user friendly" is essential if urban learners are to ever have a chance of success. The amount of culture found in just one school is enough to inspire hoards of minds to want to learn about each other and the world around them, but far too often the differences between the students is a barrier rather than an learning tool. For urban schools to increase the educational value of a school day, several key issues need to be addressed and new concepts considered. Cultural acceptance is mandatory for all students. This acceptance does not include only race but also gender, socioeconomic levels, religion, sexual preference, and disabilities. If educators are unable to accept the differences in their students then they have already failed them. Multicultural education is key to surviving in an ever-changing world.

When a problem arises the easiest solution is to look for the source of the problem. Undoubtedly, there lies a problem in the attitudes of mainstream society and their views of where other cultures fit into society. According to Cornel West, a minority should not be thought of as "included" or "integrated" and neither should they be thought of as "worth of acceptance" by "our" way of life. West claims that both fail to recognize that minorities are "neither additions to nor defections from American life, but rather constitutive elements of that life." West further contends that to find the solution, it is necessary to address the serious flaws "rooted in historic inequalities and longstanding cultural stereotypes." It appears that far too often educators are guilty of justifying minority students in the class because they deserve it instead of the mindset that they belong and need no justification. Imagine the difference a student must feel when he belongs because he is a student and not because he is a certain color, religion, or social class. The integrity of a teacher and a school dramatically increase when conventional thinking is thrown out the window and is replaced with welcoming acceptance to radial new approaches.

Another key issue for insuring academic success in a multicultural school is maintaining cultural awareness in the class. Gloria Ladson-Billings found in a study conducted for six years, that "culturally relevant teaching requires that students maintain some cultural integrity as well as academic excellence." It is essential that teachers combine both academic material as well as cultural material when teaching multicultural learners. It is simple for a teacher to require materials that talk about African-Americans, hang posters at Thanksgiving with Native-Americans, or verbally cheer for social equality, but to actually walk that talk, to completely imbed the idea of culture into everyday lessons is a completely different skill. If academic success is to be obtained in an urban school then culture must be completely incorporated. A teacher must not simply just include culture for an hour a day, but live the lives of his students and experience what it means to be a female, black, Hispanic, poor, disabled, or homosexual. A teacher must understand where his students are coming from and how they learn because of their culture if academic success is to ever be achieved.

While there are piles and piles of books on multicultural education and hundreds and hundreds of articles written on its importance, some things simply must be learned through living the multicultural life and experiencing an urban public school. A professor of mine once said that the secret to education, the key to its success is relationships. Education is about building relationships with the students, the janitors, the principals, and other teachers. While it would be difficult to produce academic writing on the subject of relationships, time spent in schools proves that the stronger the ties with students the more likely they are to listen and respect what a teacher has to say. Texts can dictate how to build a friendly classroom and facilitate an effective urban class, but they are unable to explain how to build a lasting relationship with a student. Gaining acceptance and trust from a classroom can only come with time and respect.
A school building might always look intimidating on the outside. There might always be bars on the windows, policemen in the hallways, metal detectors at the entrances, and cameras in every class, but the environment in a classroom is completely dependent on the educator himself. The classroom is a teacher’s canvas; ready to painted and decorated however he feels appropriate. It is a teacher’s duty to incorporate students into the lesson and to actively engage their minds. Education is an investment that can only be increased with time and patience. The educational mantra should uplifting for students. Learning should be a pleasure rather than a chore. It is a teacher’s obligation to create a positive pedagogy.