How Esme' Taught For Diversity in Educating Esme'

1129 Words3 Pages

How Esme' Taught for Diversity

In the Book Educating Esme', by Esme' Raji Codell, Esme tells her experiences as a first year teacher and the trials and tribulations that she encountered first hand. "It's a painfully candid, often inspiring personal account… Esme' is a young, rash, exuberant, alternately innocent and street-wise, always child-wise and sometimes irrational" (200-201). She struggles to give each of the students her best throughout the entire school year. "She consumes [them] with wit, threats, music, poetry, pouts, compliments, and – always, daily – literature" (201). She does whatever it is that the children needs, but most of all she remains "…consistent, and [the children] know if they do not follow [the] guidelines" that there will be consequences (65). Esme' does an astounding job working with the kids as a whole as well as on an individual basis to reassure and nurture them; these are the things that they do not receive at home. She believes that, "'you have to be everything to them: counselor, mother, friend…' on and on" (161)

Esme' understands more on the level that the children are on. She herself "…Grew up in Uptown Chicago, the ‘inner city.' [She] remember[s] being a little girl in a rented apartment…with [her] little brother and divorced father" (59). This allows her to better see the lifestyles of the children, because she has seen it first hand. "…they are beaten…their parents are illiterate, in jail, turning tricks, making them turn tricks…they are hungry, filthy…they are living in the shelter…gangs are recruiting them…" (154-155). Esme' knows how to handle the situations that arise "…[She] just let[s] them live out the awfulness of childhood…and [tries] to advise them to make ...

... middle of paper ...

...nformation that they are able to attain through the critical thinking skills taught in school. They would be much better equipped to work at achieving the main goal of teaching; which is (subject to change based on different opinions, but for most it is) to touch the life of at least one child. Despite the fact that after one year of teaching Esme' quit; she touched more lives in that one year alone than the average teacher touches in his/her entire career. Esme' was able to do this because she started off thinking, "Even if I fail, I have to try and try and try. It may be exhausting, but that is beside the point. The goal is not necessarily to succeed but to be the kind of person who has ideas and sees them through" (8). More teachers need to try and emulate the goals and ideas of Madame Esme', by doing this diversity would not be an issue it would be an asset.

Open Document