Yesterday, the Times published an interesting piece about school culture at private institutions. The article took the following position: while many elite, private schools are becoming more and more, "diverse," students of color are really struggling to find their place at many of these schools.
Without blabbling too much, reading the article reminded me of stories that my peers shared with me as an undergrad. Because my crew was proudly "the po' kids," I talked with a few friends who attended elite schools on scholarships. The words of two close friends, with two completely different experiences, come to mind when thinking about school culture. One friend said, "I hated it. I never fit it and no one ever cared that I didn't fit it." Another friend, who had a positive experience, said something to this effect: "I made the school. The collective was centered around our individual identities." Reflecting upon these conversations and the recently released article, I have to pose this question: are schools creating their culture around the students? Are we, as a society, keen to reinventing traditional school in order to ensure that all classroom spaces are comfortable? These ideal, rhetorical questions are still important to consider.
As a former po' kid turned Ivy-League scholar (brushes stache and sips coffee) and student-teacher at a school with the most incredible school culture ever, I can't help but reflect on all of these questions both as a student and a professional. What can i contribute to the classroom/ school culture? How can I ensure that all students are comfortable and feel represented during those precious seven hours of their day? And also, where do I fit within my own (Penn) school culture?
Hmmm.... questions to consider.
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