Classroom Dynamics and Not-Learning at Holyoke High School

Classroom Dynamics and Not-Learning at Holyoke High School

Hector enters the classroom speaking Spanish loudly to another student

“Hector, you need to quiet down and get seated”

Hector lowers his voice a bit but continues an animated conversation in Spanish with another student as he makes his way to his seat

“Hector, we’re ready to start class, please sit down and be quiet”

Hector looks toward Mr. Conway and says something to him in Spanish, laughs, and resumes his conversation with his classmate

“And in this classroom we speak English, not Spanish.”

Class immediately quiets, and Mr. Conway begins passing out papers

“Yo, man, can I have one o’ them papers?”

“Hector, you don’t call me “yo.” My name is Mr. Conway. Now sit down and raise your hand and—“

“But I call everybody ‘yo,’ look, just give me—“

“Well you don’t call me that, now show some respect. If you want one of these papers ask me, ‘Mr. Conway—“

“Mister Conway, can I have one o’ them papers?”

“That’s much better, here you go, Hector.”

Mr. Conway is a white middle-aged biology teacher who lives a few miles outside Holyoke. Most of his 10th grade students, like Hector, are Puerto Rican and live in the run-down parts of the city of Holyoke. While Mr. Conway does not think of himself as racist, condescending, or a strict disciplinarian, episodes like this occur in his classrooms everyday as his values, mannerisms, and perceptions of authority and deference meet and clash with those of his students. He thinks he is teaching them the manners and values they will need in order to succeed in the (white, middle class) world beyond high school. They don’t identify with his skin color, his speech patterns, his dress, or his power, not to mention what he trie...

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... to assess why students refuse to comply with teachers’ wishes and to then respond in a way that makes the students feel at ease and motivated to learn. The ideal education for these students will be one that simultaneously affirms their identity and motivates them to appropriate manners and values that will afford them the opportunity to converse with and maneuver through white America if they chose to do so. Teachers (of any race) who take the approach of the Inuit teacher whom Delpit discusses would be positive role models who could convince students of the need to become fluent in standard (white) English while showing by example that to do so is to enrich rather than give up one’s first culture and language. Mr. Conway could learn from the example of such a teacher the importance of separating race and class differences from power dynamics in the classroom.