A Heroic Enterprise

How Things Changed

I was in fifth grade in the Spring of 1971. I was aware of the civil rights struggles, Vietnam, and air pollution. These were not my priorities. I was all of eleven, playing sports, exploring woods, and imagining all sorts of scenarios through free play. My cloistered world changed at this time. In the spring of 1970, the Swann decision, and other similar decisions, was handed down by the US Supreme Court decreeing that busing could be a reasonable remedy to integrate the public schools. Although this ruling did not specifically impact Chattanooga, Tennessee, the greater community read the tea leaves and began to act according to individual interests.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Our school shrank from 3 classrooms per grade level to 2 in one year.

Many of my friends left.

Chattanooga did not institute busing for my grade level until the spring semester of 1974, yet many of the families at my elementary school chose options outside of the city schools. Our school shrank from 3 classrooms per grade level to 2 in one year. Many of my friends left. I learned that Families didn’t instinctively hang around to see how things would turn out when a school was about to change. If they feared the future, parents sent their children where things appeared safe. In this case, race was the motivating factor.

Those Who Stayed

There were families who chose to stay, mine among them. Normal Park Elementary School had a small group of professional families who determined that their children would get a good education staying in the city schools. Once we went to Northside Junior High School, the number of families who stayed came from other elementary schools. These families included doctors, lawyers, and businesspeople who believed fundamentally in the concept of public schools and what they provided a community. A dozen or so of us could have gone to private schools, but our parents kept us where we were.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After desegregation began, friends were still friends. We had teachers we

loved and a couple we loathed “The Wonder Years” remained intact.

Aside from us, many of the white families who attended our neighborhood schools held “working class” jobs, unable to pick up and move to the county schools or pay private school tuition. During the years that led to busing in Chattanooga, we were a normal school community. After desegregation began, friends were still friends. We had teachers we loved and a couple we loathed. “The Wonder Years” remained intact.

Defacto Segregation

The school community began to change within as well. In the fall of 1971, a third of the teachers left Normal Park. As I matriculated through junior high and high school, most of the teachers who taught my older siblings resigned, retired or moved on.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Although there was some busing of white students to center city Chattanooga

elementary schools after 1974, most white families opted out and urban

schools remained majority minority.

The Swann decision, even more than Brown V. Board, resulted in the slow transformation of cities to segregated communities. This fracture was evident at all levels. In 1970, cities were dealing with the decades old concept of urban renewal that resulted in the physical, emotional and psychological decimation of urban communities. Although there was some busing of white students to center city Chattanooga elementary schools after 1974, most whites opted out and urban schools remained majority minority. When I graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1978, it was 50% white/black. By the time my little sister graduated in 1980, it was majority African American and before the school became an arts magnet in the 1990s, it was predominantly minority.

How An Eleven Year Old Saw this

As a fifth grader I knew nothing of what was ahead. However, what I did notice was that many friends were coming to Normal Park and saying that they would not be there next year. Chattanooga was in Hamilton County with a city and county school system. In the Spring of 1971, many Chattanooga parents prepared to leave the city schools going to private schools when affordable or changing addresses to attend the county system. This 11 year-old had no understanding why this was happening, but did know what it would mean seeing friends leave. I remember one night going into my parent’s bedroom and asking if I could go to McCallie, a well-established private school, with my friends. Dad calmly said no and assured me that many of my friends would remain. I wasn’t reassured because it seemed that friends were telling me about their parent’s intentions daily.

___________________________________________________________________________________

We could have gone to private schools, but my parents believed

in public schools.

Normal Park was ostensibly segregated with only a handful of black students. Chattanooga had declared her schools integrated in the late 1960s hoping that would get the courts off of the city’s back. My Dad was considered one of the driving forces behind meaningful integration and was a vocal advocate for busing. When he came to Chattanooga in the 1950’s he turned down his church’s offer to send his children to private schools. He believed that money would be better used to serve the community. I didn’t know this until I was an adult. We could have gone to private schools, but my parents believed in public schools.

Parents Don’t Hang Around

I was not really concerned about going to school with blacks. By this time, I was about to participate in my third year of little league baseball, which was becoming more and more diverse. I just didn’t understand why families were leaving my school. The irony was that busing would not affect my grade level until the second semester of the 1973-74 school year.

What I learned then and would later experience as an educator in Charlotte, was that parents don’t really fight for their schools or determine that they would make the best of the circumstances. The ones who can, simply leave. The breakup of a school community was not their problem. Keeping their children safe from the bigoted perception of others was a priority.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Eventually, this became no different and a new normal with diversity began

to take shape.

As I recall, the year ended much in the same way it had every other year. I continued to play ball with the friends who would leave school that year, but as we all learn, people enter and leave your life as you matriculate. Eventually, desegregation did not change this experience and a new normal with diversity began to take shape. I was, for the most part, happy all the way through high school. Many of my good friends stayed and I made new ones. My parents were right, and I was better for it.

…

Assertive Teaching

Over the past 22 years I have played the dual role of school-based educator and father. Though both roles have affected my decisions as a parent, what I really noticed was what I wanted my children to get from school. I have 3 children, each exhibiting unique strengths and challenges. One was an honor student, another was classified gifted, and the third was successful when it mattered to him. As a school administrator I saw a plethora of teaching styles with varying degrees of success. However, there was one trait that seemed to be common with all teachers who produced successful students. These teachers did not allow students to settle.

______________________________________________________________________________________

An authentic approach by the teacher invites the student to learn.

Instructional strategies have limited results if the teacher does not get to know each student. Whole class, lecture, centers, or small groups can all work if the teacher convinces students that there is a benefit to doing better. An authentic approach by the teacher invites the student to learn. I once received an email from one of my former students where he told me the most important thing I said to him was that he could do better. After my 15 + years observing other teachers and reflecting on their success with students, I was relieved that I practiced assertive expectations when I taught.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Every student, from the most scholarly to the least proficient, knew that they

were going to be expected to seek and find the right answer.

In my 8 years as an elementary school Principal, I worked with many teachers who practiced assertive expectations, but two stood out, Mrs. Laney and Mrs. Ledbetter. Both taught fifth grade. Both used significant whole group teaching strategies. Neither was satisfied with wrong answers. Every student, from the most scholarly to the least proficient, knew that they were going to be expected to seek and find the right answer. If the students found the right answer they were expected to explain why. If they did not get the right answer they were expected to try again and told to look at the problem another way. The students were not allowed to settle with the wrong answer, nor were they simply given the correct one. Most importantly the students knew they were loved.

My Fifth Grade Teacher

My own personal experience as a student encountered another such teacher in 5th grade. Mrs. Stewart was hard on me. She often gave me poor marks for deportment, but never left me to live up to the reputation such marks could develop. Mrs. Stewart always expected me to do the work and do a good job. While I tended to blow off work I found unimportant, Mrs. Stewart made me do the work correctly. She recognized that I had gifts that could encourage me to take such work more seriously.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I never got a sense that she was satisfied with my academic efforts.

By 5th grade I had an aptitude for music and the visual arts. I drew all of the time and had a strong soprano voice. Mrs. Stewart often put me in charge of mural projects related to classroom content and she set me up as the featured performer in our 5th grade musical. I never got a sense that she was satisfied with my academic efforts. When my language arts teacher attempted to move me up to the advanced language arts class taught by Mrs. Stewart, she sent me right back to my mid-level language arts class. However, Mrs. Stewart continued to encourage me to work on my strengths and take my challenges more seriously.

­­­­­­­­ ____________________________________________________________________________________

What Mrs. Stewart did for me was help me realize that my talents provided

significant motivation to perform in school.

I left the fifth grade thinking Mrs. Stewart was glad to move me on, but when I finished third in a regional writing contest the next year, her congratulatory letter was the first I received. In 6th grade I became an honor roll student with good marks in deportment. Through junior high school and high school, I was typically on honor roll with some straight A report cards. What Mrs. Stewart did for me was help me realize that my talents provided significant motivation to perform in school. She taught me that I had gifts and that I could use them in a variety of subjects to be successful.

Back to Parenthood

I often think about what I wanted my children to get from school and it comes down to 3 things. First and foremost, I want my children to understand that there is an exciting world out there. I want them exposed to wonder, challenge, and possibility. Children should see things they have never seen before while in school and this should happen frequently.

__________________________________________________________________________________

…children need to know that good is a requirement and it takes hard work.

Second, children should never be allowed to settle for the wrong answer. When a response is incorrect, students should be expected to find the right answer. The right answer should never be given to them.

Finally, children need to know that good is a requirement and it takes hard work. When a child works hard to solve a problem or develop a project, they should know that it was the hard work that paid off. Yes, it is an advantage if the student understands the content, but it is more valuable when they are challenged beyond what they know.

A Meaningful Life

All three of the teachers I have highlighted in this installment exemplify what I wanted my children to learn in school. If they do learn to explore topics, never settle, and to work hard for things that are important, my children will be ready to take on a meaningful life with exuberance, hope, and wonder. I have observed many wonderful teachers and have also felt disappointment when students leave our schools with unfulfilled promise. As a parent, that was the result I feared the most: That my children could leave the school experience unfulfilled.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Know the child, help him understand that he is special, and demonstrate that

wonder is the result of the unique individual he is.

This should be the primary task for teachers: Know the child, help him understand that he is special, and demonstrate that wonder is the result of the unique individual he is. It’s a tough job. However, too many students move on seeing school as something checked off of the list because a teacher did not understand the task. Teachers should not only expect students to succeed but should demonstrate assertive expectations.